Mum, Granny shocked at Mackay couple's wedding

LUCKY in love, Tanya Tulloch knew from the moment she met her partner Blake that he would be the man she married

And on the afternoon of December 31 last year, that hunch became a reality.

The couple chose to elope on a secluded beach at Shoal Point in the presence of Tanya's mother and daughters and Blake's grandmother.

"We picked that area as we love going for walks there and taking the kids to look for shells and fish," Tanya said.

"It has a couple of beautiful dead trees in the water and you can walk up to them when the tide is out, beautiful backdrop."

The guests unknowingly travelled from Babinda and Sydney to attend the ceremony, but were only aware they were coming for a visit.

"One of the best parts of the day would have to be not telling anyone that we were getting married, the only people who knew were our celebrant, photographer and florist," Tanya said.

"We were going to have my Mum and Granny at our place over Christmas and New Years for a holiday so we decided to keep it a surprise.

"Blake and I then shocked Mum, Granny and the girls with a sign on a chalkboard saying 'Guess what... Blake and I are getting married today at 5pm, Surprise!'.

"My mum thought we were pulling some sort of New Year's Eve joke and the others were just in shock, but then, after we told them we were serious, it was just lots of hugs, kisses and congratulations."

Reminiscing about the day, Tanya recalled feeling nervous as the wedding crept closer and her two daughters being overwhelmed with excitement.

"When it was getting close to 5pm, Blake came and picked up Mum and Granny and took them to the beach, I followed with the girls not long after," she said.

"It actually didn't hit me that I was on the way to my wedding until I had to wait around the corner for five minutes because they had a couple of last-minute things to do.

"I sat in the car with Charlize and Charlah and asked if they were excited and of course they were, they had been bugging Blake and I to get married and have babies for months and months.

" I drove around the corner and when I hopped out of the car I took a deep breath and walked down the beach, all I could think of was how did I get this lucky and was I really getting married right now."

During the ceremony each member of the family filled heart-shaped vases with coloured sand to symbolise the two families uniting and Charlize and Charlah carried the rings.

"In the last bit of the ceremony Charlah then got to say 'Daddy you may kiss Mummy' and then Charlize got to say 'Introducing Mr and Mrs Tulloch'," Tanya said.

"After the ceremony we took Mum, Granny, Charlize and Charlah to Mount Pleasant Tavern for a nice meal, then they looked after the girls and Blake and I got to spend our first night as husband and wife.

" We went on a mini honeymoon for four days to Airlie Beach where it rained 99% of the time. We still had a great time going for walks, snuggling up watching movies, going out for meals, and just having time to ourselves without the kids, which we rarely get."

According to Tanya, the best part about being married is being able to spend the rest of her life with her best friend.

"We have talked about having a baby and one day it will happen," she said.

"But in the meantime Blake is being an amazing dad to Charlize and Charlah."

The couple is now enjoying their first year together as a married couple and despite Blake still working away from time to time, they are confident his absence will simply make their love grow stronger.

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