Dumbo ride proposal leads to Zoe and Mitchell’s elegant garden wedding

Because Mitchell and Zoe, both 24, met as “awkward teenagers” training for athletics, it wasn’t immediate romance.

“We parted ways and after a few months of talking on Skype Mitch asked me to be his girlfriend,” recalls Zoe. “We had been dating almost one year when Mitch said he was offered a four-year track and field scholarship to the University of Kansas. I was sad and had no idea what the next years of my life would look like, but there was no hesitation, no question of if we would stay together, we just did.”

The pair would often go six months without seeing one another, but Zoe made trips to Kansas when she could. “On my second solo trip to America, Mitch and I arrived in Disneyland and he surprised me by staying on site at The Disneyland Hotel!” He proposed on the Dumbo ride and the rest is history.

“When i finished my graduate year in nursing, I moved from Melbourne to Brisbane to begin a life living with Mitchell. He had just competed at the Commonwealth Games and was continuing to train hard whilst i found my feet at a new hospital, and planned our dream elegant wedding,” says Zoe.

Photos courtesy of Perla Photography.

“We wanted to get married back in Melbourne, as I was the one who moved away,” says the bride. “Ballara Receptions was the place I kept coming back to and we eventually decided it was the place for us.”

“Our wedding was seven difficult years in the making. everyone says long distance doesn’t work but we prove that if you find the right person, distance doesn’t matter,” beams Zoe.

White Classic Jags transported the couple.

“Disney had to be a huge factor; Mitchell’s brother sang Disney songs whilst we signed our registry, our first dance song was from the movie, Tangled, and many other Disney songs rang throughout the night,” says Zoe.