It began in 2015 — unwritten, unplanned — at a bar in Melbourne, under dim lights and loud laughs, during one of Steve’s best mate’s 30ths (who, by fate and poor judgement, is now our MC).

Alessia was just in town for the weekend, visiting from Sydney, not expecting much — but a few shots of Patrón and some seriously flirty banter later, and suddenly, the whole "love at first sight" thing didn’t seem so far-fetched after all.

What came next was a crash course in long-distance love: Airport reunions, Sunday night goodbyes, and a bold trip to Perth where Steve was hurled — headfirst — into Alessia’s world of family, chaos, and constantly checking “how flat” the ocean was (it’s a WA thing).

Soon enough, Alessia packed her bags and moved to Melbourne (not just for Steve, she insists —though no one’s buying it) — And from there, the chapters wrote themselves:

Roughly fifteen house moves (we stopped counting), an attempted international escape (thanks, global events), a home that’s finally theirs, two wild-hearted, beautiful boys, countless bottles of wine, even more laughter, and a love that somehow kept expanding to fit it all.

They’ve felt married for years — in all the ways that matter — but now, they’re beyond thrilled to make it official with their favourite people, in one of the most beautiful corners of the country.