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Quick History

We were college sweet hearts (well I was anyway). I was 17 and James was 21. We met through mutual friends and one night at a college party James asked ‘Can I kiss you’? This is where it all began.

We were quite inseparable – Young and in love.

The Engagement

James proposed on my 21st Birthday. The proposal was quick and simple.

We were in a hurry, just walking out the door. I was stressed; running late for my 21st Party, and James said, “Can you hold this – I’ve left something inside”. I held out my hand without paying much attention, and saw that he’d placed a ring box in my hand!

My ring fit perfectly, it was gorgeous and needless to say I said, “Yes”.

We announced our engagement at my Party. It was the best birthday present ever!

Planning our Big Day

Now I am not the kind of girl that can start planning a long way in advance.

We had been engaged for just over three years and in September 2006 James and I decided we wanted to get married in January 2007. We had about four to five months to get everything organised for our Day.

We discussed, chatted and conferred for about a month, but nothing was in concrete, and we had not made any real decisions! If our Wedding was to be, we needed to make some decisions fast! So the date, the venue and the guest list evolved.

Our Wedding Date was to be on 26 December 2006. Why this date (the number of times we were asked this!!) Although a stressful time for some, this day suited us perfectly. Both of our families would already be around as Christmas was to be hosted locally at James’ Mum and Dads, and my Nana’s.

The Venue was my Mum and Dad’s on the Kapiti Coast . This is a place that held a lot of memories and meaning to me, not to mention it was very cost effective! The Wedding and Reception were to be held in their garden.

We placed our order for picture perfect weather for the day!!

The guest list consisted of around 100 close friends and family members.

We chose silver and a deep blue/purple for our colour theme. I handmade the invitations, which was very time consuming, but worth the effort as they looked great and I think were more meaningful than purchased invites.

Once the invitations were posted, we had six weeks of intense preparation ahead of us…

It was a whirlwind of fun, stress, laughter and a few tears and it would not have been possible without my Mum. She was amazing and helped every step of the way.

My Dress

I absolutely loved trying on wedding dresses. Mum, my sister and I headed off to Wellington and went to a few of the Bridal Wear Shops. It was not hard to find dresses that I really liked, but all needed major alterations.

Mum suggested I have a look on Trade Me. I really didn’t think I would find anything. I scanned through the ancient, moth bitten, shoulder padded dresses and actually came across a beautiful looking gown for sale in Lower Hutt.

I contacted the seller and arranged to try it on. It was gorgeous, perfect and under a year old. It had been worn once (obviously!), but looked new. I bought it then and there for a fraction of its original price.

James’ Suit

We hired James’ Suit. It was black, very simple and he looked oh so handsome! He agreed that he would have to shave his ‘mo-vember’ moustache which he was still sporting through December and had become quite attached too!

Dressing the Bridal Party

I had four bridesmaids (my sisters and two good friends). For our first attempt we all went shopping for their dresses and this was hopeless – there was far too much indecision. So Mum, my sister and I decided to go out together and choose the dresses. I ended up buying them from Stax, and actually purchased them (guessing the sizes) with only one bridesmaid present (my sister, Kristin).

The girls tried their dresses on over the next few days and all fit well. It was a rather blasé way to pick the dresses, but ended up working out absolutely fine.

The groomsmen wear was fairly simple. Black pants, black shirts and ties to match the bridesmaid dresses. Finding the right colour was the tricky part.

We must have spent hours looking at ties – we had ties coming out our ears!! We ended up going to the tie factory in Otaki for the ultimate tie selection and finally we found them. They were a perfect colour match!

I also found a beautiful, white, silk tie for James. The owner of the factory even gave us a discount, which was a lovely and appreciated gesture.

Our flower girl, my youngest cousin, Emma and our page boy, my nephew, Jayden looked adorable. Emma in her ‘Pumpkin Patch’ dress and Jayden in his little black suit. So cute!

Wedding Supper

We spoke to numerous caterers and looked at countless menus and eventually decided that we would prefer to do the food ourselves.

We met with both our parents and came up with a menu. We would start with finger food – Big platters of fruit, cheese and crackers and canapés.

Dinner would consist of a mixture of warm and cold meat platters; chicken, roast pork, lamb and ham, salads; pasta, green, seafood, salmon & egg and roast vegetable and little baby potatoes – Yummy!

Dessert was fruit kebabs, brandy baskets, meringue towers and numerous slices and sweets.

We simply decided which family members would prepare which dishes and allocated them accordingly. James and I both have large families so there was no shortage of help. James’ Mum and Dad took on a large number of the dishes themselves and they did a fabulous job. Everything looked and tasted beautiful.

The Cake

My Aunty Karyn offered to make the cake. I sent her a picture out of a wedding magazine of this white, three tier, chocolate mud cake and she set about making ‘trial cakes’. She even couriered us a sample to taste, which unfortunately got lost in the mail. When the courier finally tracked down the delicious package it was about 7 days old. However, the recipe was a special ‘long life’ mud cake so it was fine. We ate it and it was delectable! It was a true testimony to her wonderful ‘cake making’ ability.

Other Special Bits and Wedding Bobs

My Mum’s cousin, Les, who is a paster from Auckland married us. It was wonderful to have a family member leading our ceremony. He is lovely and his role in our wedding held special meaning as I was the flower girl for his eldest daughter, Sharon, when she married over 12 years ago. Sharon was also there and read Corinthians 13:4-7 & 13 during the ceremony. We truly appreciated their contribution to our day.

James’ Aunty Pippa and Uncle Peter agreed to do the photography. I think the pictures speak for themselves. They are everything we could have hoped for and are a very precious reminder of our fabulous day.

Our bouquets were made by our friend Brigette. She is a very talented florist and we were so lucky to have her prepare our flowers. They were stunning arrangements of lilies and hydrangeas. Yet another generous contribution to our Day!

We borrowed the tables and chairs from a local hall and all the dinner wear was kindly provided by a local Marae.

I made the centre pieces (incorporating hydrangeas here as well) and every guest was given a wine charm which was pegged with their name tag to a wine glass at their place at the table.

Some guests even pegged the name tags to themselves, which I hadn’t even thought of, but it was a great way for our families to learn each others names.

The wine charms were made by a local lady who owns a shop that is accurately named ‘Gorgeous Things’. The charms were gorgeous and a special memento for our guests.

26 December 2006 – Our Big Day

We awoke to a rainy, gloomy day. It was devastating!

Although we had a back up indoor venue it was decided that we would set up at Mum and Dad’s as originally planned.

We were busy! There was no time to relax. There were people working everywhere and food was arriving from all directions. Our ‘angels’ Brenda and Sandra were working in the kitchen and spent hours preparing and serving food. We would simply not have coped without them.

Finally at about mid-day it was time to get ready. All the girls invaded my sister’s room and we had our hair done by my bridesmaid’s sister Jacqueline, a gifted hairdresser. We chose to do our own makeup and had a nice time, drinking bubbly and getting beautified for our entrance at 3pm (which ended up being more like 4pm )! We were hassled about the fact that only girls could be an hour late to a ceremony that was being held only a few metres from where they were getting ready and that although it was simply a matter of walking out the back door we were unable to get there on time!

God heard our prayers and the rain finally stopped at about 1.30pm and although it was overcast it was warm. Perfect weather for photos!

We peered through the curtains as guests arrived. Harriet and Monique (more angels) served bubbly. James and the Groomsmen also appeared. The anticipation was killing me!

Finally our song began to play – ‘I Love You Just The Way You Are’, by Billy Joel. My Dad walked me down the aisle. I tried to hold back the tears, as did he, as he ‘gave me away’. It was the most emotional moment for me of the entire day.

James and I exchanged our vows and our rings and we were married.

(Our dog Cody could not quite handle the excitement, so found a comfortable place to relax throughout the ceremony!)

We had planned to have our photos on the beach, but the cloud was low and the beach was dull and grey. One of our groomsmen pointed out an old barn that we could see from the garden. He knew the owners and assured us that they wouldn’t mind us borrowing it for our backdrop. It was ideal!

We stayed up partying and celebrating until early hours of the morning!

Our Day was just so special. Sharing it with our loved ones is what made it special. It may not have been perfect, but it was close!

My advice for future brides would have to be – relax and have fun.

It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of planning your wedding, but remember what it’s about – Two people committing and declaring their eternal love for each other. It’s as simple as that.