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My name is Amy and I recently got married on the 27 th January this year. Someone recently suggested we should enter Bride of the Year and how could I resist another chance to talk about our perfect day! So here goes;

Darren and I have been together 5 years, and were on our first over-seas holiday (Sept 05) in Fiji when he proposed. It was our first night there and we were taking a moon-lit walk around the tiny island when Daz got down on one knee and said the most beautiful few words I had ever heard (sorry, can’t tell you exactly what he said, but it was just gorgeous) and of course I said yes! When we arrived home, he had already told a few people about his plans, so it was celebrations all around! We had decided not to set a date for a little while, but by the time Christmas came the anticipation of the fact we were getting married was growing, so we decided on early 2007 sometime, and began looking at options.

We had no trouble deciding who we wanted to be our bridal party – my three best girlfriends, Darren’s cousin, brother and best mate. I had chosen Mum as my first pick to walk to give me away, and she couldn’t have been happier. My brother, who has Downs-Syndrome was the perfect pick as the ring bearer – and took the task upon him with complete precision. To him, it was the most important part of the day and to see him walk down the isle, with his had on his hip and completely in time with the music was beautiful. My step-dad Allan was stoked to be the MC, and everyone did such a fantastic job – but back to the planning!

Darren had said that he would really like to get married in a church, although neither of us is religious. So we started searching the net for Church’s and a reception venue. We came across St Matthew’s in the city and decided to go to Mass one Sunday to check it out. We were awestruck by both the Church itself and the Priest – Glynn Cardy. We immediately asked him about weddings and arranged to sit down together. Once we had that meeting sorted, we started looking into reception venues. We wanted somewhere tranquil and quiet, and what better place than Cornwall Park, in the heart of Auckland City. We arranged a meeting with Cornwall Park Restaurant and after a few phone calls backwards and forwards, we had set the date of 27 th Jan 2007 – yippee!

Although I had plenty of offers to help, I wanted to do most of the planning myself, after all – this was the one day I had been dreaming about all my life! The invitations were out (thanks to Darren’s parents for organizing such wonderful stationary) and everything was coming together. We had chosen a pink & sliver theme as I had always dreamed of the fairytale wedding, and am a bit of a gilry girl.

My Mum came down from Dargaville to start looking at dresses with me, the last place we went to was the place I found my perfect dress! Astra Bridal was not somewhere we had planned to go, however we went in for a look and they were having a sale! I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted and found it, for half price! With the shop closing in half an hour and a quick phone call to soon-to-be-hubby, I had my dress. It was a strapless gown that was fitted around the top and then A framed out into a big beautiful train. It had lovely beading around the bust and train and I couldn’t have been happier with it – it was perfect.

Flowers, transport, shoes, music and all those things took up most of our weekends to find, however we were so pleased with all of them. We knew we wanted Limo’s as our transport and I knew I wanted Roses for the flowers – we had thought about it all quite a lot before we started searching the net and meeting up with people to discuss.

By now it was coming to the end of the year and we were beginning the count-down, ohmigosh! We had the Hen and Stag party’s the week before so we had plenty of time to recover and boy did we need that! All our friends and family did such a wonderful job of showing us both fantastic nights.

Hair and make-up trials were the week before, the make-up artist I was planning on using cancelled on my a few weeks out, luckily I managed to find someone that a friend of mine recommended and she was fabulous. The cake was from City Cake Company and was lemon and gin. It was so scrumptious and very light, which we thought was perfect as something too heavy when you have had a few drinks isn’t appealing.

The rehearsal was the Thursday before the wedding (which was on Saturday), that went very smoothly, considering how nervous we were, however Glynn was wonderful – he was so helpful and friendly and made you feel no reason for nerves.

I woke up and 5am on Saturday, and was so excited I had to call Daz and talk to him one last time before we met again at the alter! The sun was shining and it was going to be gorgeous all day. My mum and the other bridesmaid’s arrived around 8 and Ange, my hairdresser was not far behind! We had 3 bridesmaids, Mum and me to get made up, however we were in no rush – I wasn’t due at the church till 3.30. Darren had to come back to the house and pick something up, I will never forget seeing him that day sitting in the car while his brother came in and picked up what he needed. I knew the next time I saw him would be at the alter and that still gives me butterflies thinking about it now!

The limo arrived at 2.30 and the girls piled in to go for a drive around Auckland and relax. That was so exciting and nerve-racking, we went up to Bastion Point to have some photo’s taken (ourselves, the photographer was at the church) and then before we knew it, it was time to head to the church.

The moment we pulled up to the church – my Mum looked at me and said “this is it!” Wow what a feeling. We were greeted by Glynn and ushered into the corridor at the entrance. I could see Darren standing at the alter and he looked so handsome! He had this huge beaming smile. First, Glen (my brother) was sent down the isle, followed by the 3 bridesmaids. Mum and I were told to wait a minute, then we were prompted to enter and stand at the end of the isle, where my train was set and away we went to the traditional Bridal March. Mum and I were both trying so hard not to cry. We had written our own vows which were very dear to us, we promise to love another and be faithful to each other always. People asked us why we wanted to get married in a church when we are not religious, but when you are kneeling at the high alter, you know you are making your vow’s to some higher power, the over-whelming feeling of emotion, and warmth was like nothing we had ever experienced.

On to the photo’s, I had chosen bright pink for the girl’s dresses and the boys had their ties made out of the same material, with hot pink roses. In the photo’s they look stunning! Our photographer Robert (Robert and Donna Photography), was great – we are so pleased with the outcome and would recommend him to anyone! We also had a videographer, Johnny Max to capture the day – he too was fantastic. We have watched it several times, and cannot get sick of it – to be able to hear all the speeches again, watch the emotional ceremony and see all our friends and family’s having such fun is just wonderful.

The speeches were fantastic – some very heart felt words of wisdom and a lot of laughs. Darren thanked me for always being there for him, and told me how he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Marriage to me is not only a deep commitment of love to one another, but a commitment to work through the tough times and come out of it stronger as a couple – I told Darren that I was so happy he felt he could do that with me. My Mum had some wonderful words of wisdom, including “Some people say marriage is a 50/50 partnership, whoever said that knows nothing about women!” Mum also went on to say how Darren and I make each other’s lives complete and how she could not be prouder of both of us. Darren’s cousin Mike, the best man went on to tell the story of the stag night and his run in with the law when he arrived from England , he was busted for being in possession of an apple! A NZ one at that – that drew laugh’s all around. He said that after spending some time with us, he understood why we were getting married, as both our lives are so inter-twined. There were many more and they were all great.

We had gone to dancing lessons for our first dance, and this was my favorite part of the day! It was so romantic, and when Darren dipped me the whole crowd cheered! We had chosen Shania Twain’s ‘From this moment’ for the dance. The words are so special to me; I really didn’t think there was any other song I would have loved as much. Then the bridal party and our parents got up and from there on in the party got started! People say the day goes so quickly, and they are not wrong – before I knew it, Darren was ushering me towards the Limo to take us to the Hilton, where we spent our first night as a married couple.

Well, I have nearly written a novel but feel I have left so much out. All I can say is it was the most perfect day. Marriage like any relationship is not with-out its hurdles, but as I mentioned earlier, as long as you are both committed to working through the tough times and learning from them, there should be no room for worry. Darren and I have agreed we will have to do it again for our 20 th wedding anniversary – can’t wait!