Tisse and Mal got married at a private Airbnb backing straight onto Lake Tinaroo, on the Atherton Tablelands — around 40 friends and family, a self-made cake, batched cocktails, and a ceremony officiated by their best friend. Almost everything about the day was handmade by the people who love them, which is exactly how Tisse and Mal wanted it.

They met at Trans Pride in Brighton two and a half years ago, introduced by a mutual friend and sharing cheap cider because, as Tisse tells it, everyone else there had more sophisticated taste. What started as one day hanging out turned into two — breakfast, a queer art market, cleaning a fresh tattoo on the train home — and when Mal held onto the sign Tisse had been carrying at the march instead of handing it back, Tisse knew exactly what that meant. They've hardly spent a weekend apart since, even through long stretches of long-distance.

Mal's proposal came wrapped inside what Tisse had framed as a "last hoorah" weekend before starting a PhD thesis — a trip to England's south coast with friends, ostensibly for fossil hunting. Every friend on that trip had a small job to keep the plan running smoothly, except Mal, who still managed not to see it coming despite what their friends later insisted were fairly obvious clues. After a picnic on the beach, Tisse and Mal walked up a hill overlooking the town and coastline, where Tisse got down on one knee. They headed back down to champagne in the garden and a dinner their friends had spent the day preparing.

For the wedding, Tisse and Mal wanted the same spirit carried through: chill, personal, and mostly handmade. A caterer handled the meal, but the drinks, desserts and even the wedding cake were entirely DIY — Tisse baked it themself. Their vision for photography was just as clear: nothing staged, no forced formality, just genuine, candid moments as the day unfolded around them.