Netballer Gretel Tippett shares details of her dream Gold Coast wedding

As she walked down the aisle to a Calum Scott tear-jerker, netball star Gretel Bueta, nee Tippett, couldn’t hold back her emotions. See the photo album from her dream Gold Coast wedding.

Netballer Gretel Tippett and Niko Bueta married on the Gold Coast on March 7 surrounded by family, friends and fellow netballers.

NETBALLER Gretel Tippett will take the court this season as Gretel Bueta after tying the knot in a dream Gold Coast ceremony.

The Queensland Firebirds star, 26, was in tears as she walked down the aisle to Calum Scott’s You Are The Reason at beachside venue Rick Shores on March 7, with fiance Niko Bueta waiting at the altar.

Gretel Tippett and Nikoe Bueta at their Gold Coast wedding, held at Rick Shores.

“I couldn’t stop smiling the whole day. It was so special. When I first walked down the aisle and I first saw Niko I was a mess,” she said, adding that she would take his surname both privately and professionally.

“I’ve always envisioned as a young girl getting married and taking my husband’s name just like my mum and nana did. I do love Tippett but I’m really excited to be a Bueta.”

The couple, who got engaged in November, planned the wedding in less than four months after Tippett called Rick Shores, which is near her parent’s Miami home, and was told there had been a cancellation on the March date.

Former teammates Clare McMeniman (far left) and Laura Geitz (far right) were among Tippett’s bridal party

Tippett wore a gown by Gold Coast label Made With Love Bridal

Tippett got a rush order on her Made With Love Bridal gown and called in help from loved ones – family friends stepped in as florist and celebrant, a school best friend’s partner was the musician, and her nephew was the ring bearer.

Former teammates Laura Geitz and Clare McMeniman were bridesmaids while netballers including Romelda Aiken and Gabi Simpson as well as Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke were among the guests.

The couple wrote their own vows and Bueta, who selected all the music on the day, chose Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You for their first dance.

“It’s a slow one. I can’t really dance so that was fine with me,” Tippett said, laughing that her brother, who has six-month old twins, let loose on the dancefloor, challenging her Australian Diamonds teammates.

The newlyweds shared their first dance to an Alicia Keys song

All of the children in her family, as well as Geitz and McMeniman’s young children, were involved in the ceremony. Tippett said Geitz’s son Barney had a cry and her nephew went rogue as ring bearer.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.

Of starting a family of her own, Tippet said: “We’d love to start a family in the future. It’s not on the cards in the near future, but definitely one day.”

The couple spent a week in the Margaret River region for their honeymoon, a last-minute change from their planned trip to Japan amid the coronavirus outbreak.

She has since returned to pre-season training and is hopeful the netball season will go ahead.