With sand between the toes and romantic vows, Rove McManus married sweetheart Tasma Walton in a winter beach ceremony in remote Broome this week.
“Rove McManus and Tasma Walton are pleased to confirm that they were married on Tuesday June 16 in a private beach ceremony in Broome, Western Australia,” a statement from the couple read.
“They celebrated the day with a small group of close family and friends. It was Tasma who proposed to Rove, having first asked his mother for her blessing. There are no honeymoon plans and both Rove and Tasma will be returning to the east coast for work commitments.”
Confirming the happy news Tasma said it was just as she had wanted her wedding to be. “The day was everything we hoped for: simple, quiet and intimate, in a beautiful Broome landscape with a small group of family and close friends celebrating beside us,” the new Mrs Rove said.
The bride was all in white with Walton opting for a simple, yet elegant vintage 1970’s sundress while Rove was casual and ditched his shoes for the ceremony.
And for Rove, it was a blessing to have his nearest and dearest around him. “Tasma and I are very happy and look forward to that continuing for a long time to come. It was wonderful to get to share that happiness with both our families and friends around us.”
While the pair have been friends for more than a decade the newlyweds began dating in 2007. Their wedding follows Rove’s heartache at losing his first wife Belinda Emmett to cancer in November 2006.
The beachside ceremony in beautiful Broome shared a theme from their childhood with both growing up in beachside Geraldton, Western Australia.
A former Blue Heelers actress, Tasma became friends with Belinda when they were both working for Channel Seven, Belinda on the soap, Home And Away. Now a City Homicide star, the 35-year-old says she acted as a shoulder for Rove to cry on following her friend’s death. It was Tasma who introduced Rove to Emmett at the opening of Sydney’s Fox Studios in 1999.
As she prepared for her private wedding earlier this month, Tasma revealed the depth of the couple’s love in one her most revealing interviews yet. “He is just a beautiful soul and I feel very blessed, very lucky. I’ve had my fair share of disastrous love affairs. So I’m thanking God I’ve found the guy who’s actually the perfect specimen,” she told the Herald Sun magazine. “He’s faced some very big challenges and has come through them with strength and grace,” she said.
While the pair have remained intensely private throughout their relationship, Rove also recently revealed how he’d opened his heart up again. He said a recent trip to Africa made him realise the depth of his love. “There’s a great mix of happily going and getting dirty looking for animals in the wildest jungles. Not only that, it’s wonderful to have someone to share it (life) with again. It’s going great, all is well,” he said.
“We have a wonderful harmony together, and I think that has come through years of friendship,” Walton told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s actually really great because I can tend to be a little bit glass half empty and he is certainly glass half full. It’s a really nice balance and he helps me just to see the light in life really.”
