Real Wedding: Dean & Danielle
The wedding of Danielle and Dean was nothing short of magical, a dazzling celebration that perfectly captured the essence of their love. Surrounded by a stunning display of warm colors and soft floral arrangements, the couple’s joy was palpable as they danced under the twinkling lights and vibrant bursts of sparklers. The atmosphere was as enchanting as their connection, with every detail— from the delicate draping to the elegant decor—coming together to create a breathtaking backdrop for a night filled with laughter, love, and unforgettable memories.
Tell us a little about yourselves. How did you meet?
Dean and I met at university back in 2017, although we were studying slightly different degrees we had a few geology classes that overlapped. We initially connected and became friends through mutual friends of ours and our connection grew over time. We became closer over the years, with many geology field trips often involving group camping trips and a lot of hiking! We became very good friends and spent many late nights together at uni studying for exams and working on assignments together, and were texting constantly. Dean then invited me to a free donut day at UQ, I had assumed that this was him asking me out (he assures me to this day it wasn’t, but I disagree haha), and I wasn’t sure what to think so I initially declined. We later went on yet another geology field trip together and spent many hours together camping and chatting on the long bus trips between field areas and one fateful night me and my friends had a few too many wines. My best friend and I were sitting in the tent together happily chatting when Dean came in and told us to be quiet as it was late and other people at the campsite were trying to sleep, we both laughed and continued talking as Dean left the tent. I mentioned to her that I thought Dean liked me, and she agreed and proceeded to convince me to leave the tent and go speak to him. After a few minutes I was convinced and I stumbled out of the tent to go speak to him, I proceeded to chat with him and ended up asking him out for coffee. The next morning we continued our conversation over text and in the following weeks Dean asked me to be his girlfriend on the 18th May 2019. Who would have thought that 5 years later we would be getting married, with those same friends from uni standing by our sides!
Can you share your engagement story?
Dean and I got engaged on 5th September 2021 at the Emporium hotel in South Bank. Dean and my brother actually worked together to surprise me with the engagement! My brother messaged me saying that he had won a special industry award (very believable from my high achieving brother), and that he would be presented with the award at a special dinner event in Brisbane and asked us to go to support him. Dean and I weren’t living in Brisbane at the time, but we took it as a good opportunity to have a little holiday, a friend of mine had recently stayed at the Emporium and it looked very nice and had been pestering Dean about staying there one day, so as a surprise for me he booked us a room at the Emporium! We travelled to Brisbane and checked into our room at the Emporium, when we arrived at the room there were rose petals on the bed and a bottle of champagne on ice, it was beautiful and I was very excited at the stunning gesture and ran excitedly around the room! Dean was a little less excited, as they had forgotten the chocolate coated strawberries, so he called reception and we got the strawberries delivered and received a complimentary breakfast due to the mix up (winning!). We ate the strawberries, so good!
What made you choose Victoria Park?
Did you have a specific theme in mind? And how did you find your inspiration?
Tell us a bit about your dress
Did you have a specific theme in mind? And how did you find your inspiration?
A moment you will cherish forever from the day?
Dean: I was going to say, Dani walking down the aisle was the best moment of my day because in that moment I felt this deep feeling of love and confidence that it was the best decision I had ever made. However, since Dani already spoke about that, if I was to choose another one it would be saying our personal vows to each other. At the end of our night, after being on such a high from our surreal day that we felt was perfect, Dani and I just escaped without telling anyone with the photographers and videographers to do our personal vows that we hadn’t done as yet. In that moment, it was just the two of us looking each other in the eyes and making promises to each other with full conviction, feeling all the butterflies in my stomach, so powerful and loved to know that we were going to have each other through thick and thin for the rest of our lives, re-establishing our commitment from 5 years ago when we first started dating.
