Trish Peng was living the fairytale. In late 2023, the bubbly wedding dress designer married the love of her life, suit designer Tim Begg, at a sprawling luxury estate in Queenstown, donning four – of course! – glamorous wedding dresses throughout the celebrations.
Her bridal gown dress business was going from strength to strength, and home life with Tim and their two dogs was bliss. It was expected the next step would be the pitter-patter of little feet joining them. However, in October last year, Trish suffered a devastating miscarriage.
Being 1 out of 1200 pregnancies
“It was a molar pregnancy, which I’d never heard of,” shares Trish, 34.
“They’re super-rare, affecting something like one in 1200 pregnancies. Essentially, it’s when the placenta forms as fluid-filled sacs, but no embryo develops – what some call a ‘ghost pregnancy’ because, despite a positive pregnancy test and symptoms, there’s no viable foetus. It’s dangerous because the tissue can turn cancerous. It was just horrific.”
Feeling heartbroken and alone in her experience, Trish bravely shared her news with her social media followers.
Being vulnerable with her followers
“I thought if I’d never heard of a molar pregnancy, then surely other women hadn’t either. Sharing it was actually quite healing because suddenly women from around the world were reaching out to me with their stories.”
This was Trish and Tim’s first pregnancy, and it was at the nine-week scan that doctors couldn’t find a baby. The bridal designer had to undergo a dilation and curettage procedure to remove the tissue, then endured six months of blood tests to monitor her hormone levels. Unlike many women who can try to conceive again soon after a miscarriage, Trish and Tim had no choice but to wait.
Hope, setbacks, and miracles
“It was just layers of trauma,” she recalls.
“Not only did we lose the pregnancy, but we couldn’t even start trying again. And every week I felt like a pin cushion, having more blood tests.”
Just before Christmas, Trish’s hormone levels unexpectedly spiked. Her doctor warned she might need chemotherapy if it turned out the tissue had turned cancerous.
“I was mentally preparing myself for the worst,” she says.
“Then miraculously, on Christmas Eve – which is my birthday – I got the call that my levels had dropped. It was the best gift ever.”
By April 2025, Trish was pregnant again. She was elated – even more so when she found out two close friends were also pregnant and they’d be experiencing the journey together. Under close medical watch, her hormone levels were tracked weekly – yet they weren’t climbing as they should.
At first, scans showed a heartbeat, but by the nine-week mark, there was nothing.
“I was in total disbelief,” she says softly.
“It just felt like bad luck all over again.”
Finding strength through heartache and family
Trish miscarried a few days later, an experience she describes as “traumatic, like a labour but without a prize at the end”. Sadly, one of her two pregnant friends went through the identical thing on the same day. Still, Trish is determined to keep perspective.
“I definitely went through the motions – mourning, crying, all of it. I had to take time off work to just sit with it. But I also know it will happen. It’s just been a pretty shit journey so far. I’ve always been resilient and my work keeps me busy, which helps.”
Trish also had a distraction in the form of an amazing Peng family holiday in July, travelling for a month to Malaysia (Trish’s dad’s homeland), Taiwan (her mum’s home country) and the Maldives. If there’s been a silver lining, it’s the way heartache has strengthened her marriage.
Reconnecting through Hinge
Trish and Tim, 36, wed in Queenstown in December 2023, after reconnecting years earlier on the dating app Hinge.
“I actually found an old photo of him at my 21st – he was someone’s plus-one!” she laughs.
“We re-met at Fashion Week, when he was working for a suit company, but it wasn’t until Hinge that it clicked.”
Tim has been by her side every step of the way, attending each blood test and holding her hand.
Trish smiles, “I hate blood – I usually faint – so he drives me and sits with me every time. That’s more than 50 blood tests! He’s just the best person.”
The couple is already parents to two Maltese-Chihuahua crosses named Stella and Ollie, whom Trish affectionately calls “stage-five clingers”.
She laughs, “Honestly, they’ve helped heal us. It helps to feel like we’re not empty-nesters – we’ve got these two little fur babies keeping us busy.”
Trish Peng goes international
While navigating fertility setbacks, Trish has thrown herself into work.
“I may as well grow my other baby while we wait!”
Nearly 12 years after launching her bridal label, she now has her own store, stockists in 13 countries and is a fixture on the global bridal circuit. She laughs when sharing how she took Trish Peng global.
“I shared this 10-second clip of a behind-the-scenes moment of a model on a photoshoot tripping in her gown and it went viral, racking up millions of views overnight! Suddenly we had brides and stores from all over the world wanting that dress – it was crazy!”
The brand continues to grow internationally, with new stores opening in Sydney, regular trips to New York Bridal Week and a Paris campaign shoot planned for this month. Her ultimate dream?
“I always say two words: Vera Wang – to be that globally recognised.”
Hopeful for the future
Despite everything, Trish chooses to focus on hope. A psychic reading earlier this year predicted she would have two children, with “something happening in November”, and she’s taking comfort in the possibility. In the meantime, she and Tim are casually house-hunting for their dream home, caring for their dogs, and continuing to grow both her business and their bond.
“I don’t like being the victim,” Trish says firmly.
“Yes, this journey has been traumatic, but it’s also shown me how strong we are and how deep our bond is. We’ll keep trying and I truly believe it will happen for us.”
