When Koalea Jackson and Mathew Sutton locked eyes from across the school yard, Matthew knew they were destined to be together.
He was right.
At just 16, the pair were ‘going steady’ and, two years later, they wed.
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But after five short years of marriage, the couple were worried they had walked down the aisle too young — and they waved goodbye to one another.
Now, 21 years after they divorced, the Victorian couple, both 44, have rekindled their love.
And, after a public proposal in a jewellery store, they plan to marry — for the second time.
“Mat’s parents always thought we were soulmates,” Koalea tells 7Life of their reignited spark.
“It’s one of those cases of, if it is meant to be, it is meant to be.”
Now with eight children combined, the couple are planning on saying I do in more casual fashion than their first wedding ceremony.
More than two decades ago, Mat and Koalea exchanged vows at their local church.
Both 18, they were surrounded by love and support from their community, with the church sourcing and supplying flowers for the big day.
Koalea, then seven months pregnant with their first child, will never forget her dream wedding day with her dream man.
Her crisp white dress was fitted perfectly to her growing bump, with raised shoulder accents and a matching head piece — style markers of the 1980s.
Mat was dashing in an elegant black suit with bow tie, slicked-back hair and a simple white rose boutonniere which matched Koalea’s bouquet.
Married life started well, with the couple welcoming a second baby boy 13 months later.
But soon, the stresses of the young family began to weigh on both Mat and Koalea.
“We were just so young. It was a lot,” Koalea says.
So, after five years of marriage, the pair called it quits and filed for divorce.
They continued to co-parent their two boys amicably, and both soon settled into new relationships.
Building separate lives, Mat and Koalea went on to have children with their partners.
Then, after almost a decade apart, Mat and Koalea were single again.
And, as they continued their strong co-parenting relationship, they found themselves back in each other’s arms.
“I think after a while you realise the grass isn’t always greener,” Koalea jokes.
Rekindling their love in 2010, the couple went on to have two more children together.
As the years ticked by, and their love strengthened, Koalea began to think of the possibility of marriage.
“It’s just something that I thought would be really nice, to share the same surname as my children,” the mum says.
Mat, however, wasn’t as keen to walk down the aisle again, so wedding bells were put on hold as the duo focused on family life.
But earlier this year, Mat surprised Koalea by confessing that marriage had, indeed, been on his mind.
In early April, he went down on one knee — in their local jewellery store, Hoskings — and proposed.
With a smile stretched across her face, it was the easiest “yes” of Koalea’s life.
The pair are now planning their second wedding, agreeing they want to keep the celebration casual and small, with just family.
The date is set for February 8, 2025, and their eldest son, who is now 26, will walk Koalea down the aisle.
“Mat’s parents have always said we were soulmates and I agree,” she smiles, thinking of their upcoming nuptials.
“We have always been really close and nothing changed that.”
