Newsletter & Wedding Planner

Gift Registry

Real Weddings

Bride Diary

Discussion Forum

Product & Services Directory

Articles

Dresses for Sale

Advertise

Contact Us

First Meeting

Dean and I first met in Auckland , NZ in February 2003. We were training for our pilot licences at Ardmore Airfield and immediately struck a close friendship. Dean was over on a training program from the UK and so at first we were a bit worried about a long distance relationship. After about 7 months we liked each other so much we had to give it a fair chance. If it’s meant to be, it will work out. Three years later we celebrated our marriage after many trips to and fro, expensive phone bills and countless emails, worth every bit.

The Proposal

It was September 2005; I was in the UK with Dean when he surprised me with two tickets to Venice, Italy for a romantic long weekend getaway. The first night there – the 16th he finally popped the long-awaited question. Looking back now I should have seen the clues but I didn’t expect it. He took me to a very romantic dinner in a gorgeous Italian Café on Piazza San Marco, accompanied by a beautiful bouquet of 80 roses. After dinner we had a stunning private night tour of the Grand Canal on a Gondola, the day so far had been perfect. A quarter way into the tour, looking in his camera bag for spare batteries, I stumbled onto a little wooden box hidden in layer upon layer of wrapping paper. I was expecting to find a pair of earrings or a necklace but was stunned when I opened the box, saw a dazzling diamond ring and heard him say “Will you marry me?” I was so shocked, surprised, happy, excited, overwhelmed – I couldn’t believe it, all I could say was “Are you serious?” until I burst out with “Of course I will!!” At the same time bursting into tears of excitement. We hugged and kissed so much we missed the rest of the tour, we popped a bottle of Bollinger, the first drink we ever had together, and the rest of the night and weekend was like walking on clouds. I can’t even find words to describe what a wonderful feeling it was.

Wedding Planning

Soon after our engagement we chose a date. We wanted a spring wedding and wanted to get married in Auckland, where we first met. Originally we were hoping to get married exactly one year after our engagement on the 16th, but September weather in Auckland isn’t great. So we looked to Ken Ring’s weather forecast book for help – 4th November 2006 – one year and 2 months away, and immediately started looking for a venue. We were lucky in that we knew more or less what we wanted, and that was a traditional church wedding. After 3 months of searching around Auckland we found, fell in love with, and booked both St Matthew-in-the-City and Formosa Golf and Country Club. The church was an impressive, historical venue and Formosa offered a wonderful setting with views across the Hauraki Gulf. Although Formosa is a 40 minute drive from the city, it offers 50 stunning exclusive and very private villas which meant once we got there, we had the entire evening till the next morning to celebrate our special day. We were very hands on and wanted to do everything ourselves. It took sometime for us to choose our colour scheme but once we did, everything started to flow. Dean was in the UK for most of the time, so it did make the planning a little harder, a lot of phone calls and emails were sent, but luckily I had my mom and sister by my side and things soon started to fall into place.

Wedding Theme

Our wedding had a smart traditional theme with black, white and silver as our colours.

Our flowers were soft, mostly white in the bridal bouquets but tropical and colourful at the reception. A large part of our theme was our initials, M&D, and we incorporated that from the stationary and personalised initial confetti even onto our cake topper. We stuck to this because we wanted the wedding itself to be the theme, so little things like naming the tables ‘love’ in different languages added to the occasion.

What we did ourselves

We wanted everything to be as personal as possible so we designed and made all our wedding stationary from the order of services, combined menu-place cards, favour boxes, thank you cards, seating plan, welcome board to personalised candles. These were all made to our black, white and silver initial theme, including decorative items such as clay calla lilies, Swarovski crystals and paua shell. Each item of stationary had a different quote about love and marriage and all in all the stationary probably took the most time. We designed all the flower arrangements and also our bridesmaid dresses. The evening before the wedding the five of us girls, our moms, bridesmaids and myself decorated the entire function room at Formosa which took 6 hours and meant we didn’t get to bed till going on 1am!

We had our ring box personalised (www.salmonstone.co.nz), and etched champagne flutes made for all the bridal party and attendants. The glasses had our initial monogram etched on, and on the opposite side the role and name of each person who received a glass i.e. Chief Bridesmaid, Janine. The glasses made a lovely keepsake and everyone loved them.

Flowers

My trailing bouquet was completely white with stargazer and calla lilies, and Singapore orchids. The bridesmaids had matching bouquets except their orchids had been dyed an intensifying bright blue and were hand tied.

The buttonholes for the groomsman were white roses, and a stunning red rose for Dean. For our parents and grandparents they had matching blue dyed Singapore orchids.

The flowers at the reception were tropical in theme, hand drawn by myself and created by our florist Kerry Mitchell from Mona Daisy. They were quite tall on the tables and consisted of a stargazer lily base with blue orchids and from that, stemmed red anthiriums, white calla lilies and birds of paradise. All our flowers, bouquets and buttonholes were sprinkled with glitter. We had fresh red and white rose petals as confetti.

Must Haves

Both of us being pilots, we wanted flying to form a part of our day. I also wanted to surprise Dean with something special, so I got a mass release box of Monarch butterflies from the Butterfly Company in Auckland – which Dean knew nothing about. We opened it after the ceremony in front of all our guests. Dean was a bit weary because the butterflies were lazier than expected, and he didn’t want to touch them from fear of hurting the tiny little fliers. The confused, yet surprised look on his face was priceless and led to the discovery he’s a little frightened of them!

After the reception, I knew Dean would be choked, so I secretly planned a short air display carried out by a very good friend of mine and the NZ Warbirds Association. The timing was critical, as we arrived at the reception with not one minute to spare; the three aircraft, two WW2 Harvards and a Piper Seneca flew over the top of us in formation, and ended the display with a heart drawn in the sky.

Our Cars

My dad and I arrived at St Matthews in a Black Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (1958) and the bridesmaids in a Bridal White Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Limousine (1956), both hired from First Class Classics in Auckland. We liked the contrast in having my white dress in a black car with white ribbon, and the girls in their black dresses in a white car with black ribbon. After the ceremony Dean and I left in the RR Silver Wraith and our bridal party in the Armstrong Siddeley where we were taken to Albert Park for photo’s, accompanied by champagne and canapés. The vintage cars suited our traditional smart theme.

The history of the cars is that the Rolls Royce Silver Wraith was

built for the Royal visits to Australia by the Queen, and the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Limousine for the Queen Mothers’ Royal tour in Australia.

Our Ceremony

The ceremony was the part of the day we were both most nervous about, but it ran like a dream. Reverend Glynn Cardy was the most sincere and comforting Vicar we could have had and whispered reminders throughout on what to do next. The church pews were dressed in our favourite white stargazer lilies. The bridesmaids walked in first to the traditional ‘Bridal Chorus’ by Wagner, and my Dad and I followed behind. Once we were at the alter, in front of all our friends and family, our nerves went away and it felt as though it was only the two of us in the room. We exchanged traditional vows, and for both of us it was beautiful and perfect in every way. We signed the register to ‘Canon in D’ by Pachelbel and left the church to ‘The Wedding March’ by Mendelssohn.

What was totally unexpected and added such a special touch was the attendance of a lovely elderly couple we had met at our rehearsal on the Thursday before. They were celebrating their 62 nd wedding anniversary also being married in St Matthews! Dean and I took it as a meaningful omen of good fortune in our marriage. They were the first people I saw when entering the church and the last to see us off. You can’t plan something so special.

After the ceremony, the butterflies were released and family photo’s taken before all our guests made their way to Formosa, and Dean and I with our Bridal Party went off to Albert Park for photos.

Our Reception

Ken Ring was right and the weather on the day was perfect. All our guests enjoyed drinks and canapés on the veranda before we arrived, then we all enjoyed the air display. We were then taken away for more photos and a very romantic “private gift ceremony” between Dean and me. Once we returned to our guests our Groomsman called each guest one by one into the reception room so we had a chance, along with our parents to greet each and every one of our friends and family. The reception was decorated in white table cloths and chair covers, with black satin sashes tied back to hang down off the chairs. Dining tables were decorated with colourful bouquets and were covered in silver hearts and personalised initial “MD” confetti. Each place card doubled as a menu and the favour boxes containing our favourite strawberry champagne truffles were wrapped as mini presents. We placed two disposable cameras on each table so our guests could capture their side of our story. The bridal table chairs were covered in contrasting black chair covers with white satin sashes. We projected a black and white photo slideshow from the ceremony onto a white wall in the background. Once seated the MC went through the order of events for the evening, the meal orders were taken and the speeches followed, which finished just in time for dinner! Between the main meal and desert Dean and I cut our ‘Cinderella’ type cake, which we then had alongside our desert, and then the dancing and celebrations began. We had our very romantic first dance, to which we forgot our steps, to “Endless Love” by Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross. We were running later than our planned schedule but everyone was enjoying themselves so much we didn’t worry. Our bridal party were fantastic and took care of everything so that Dean and I could really absorb every part of our special day.

Our Cake

We looked at millions of cakes; this was one of the hardest decisions as there are so many beautiful ones to choose from. But as soon as we saw it – we fell in love and knew we had to have it! It was a four tier Cinderella type fantasy cake. Each tier was oval shaped and joined together by cascading blue dyed Singapore orchids and pearlescent icing pearls. The cake itself was patterned with different shades of blue and silver and had our initials, M & D studded with Swarovski Crystals on the top. Flavours varied from tier to tier, on the bottom we had Russian white chocolate mud cake, then milk chocolate with brandy and cointreau mud cake, the third tier was non-alcoholic carrot cake, and the top tier that we’ve kept is Russian white chocolate mud cake again. It was so delicious and it all went very quickly! We cut the cake to the beautiful sound of Kenny G’s “Wedding Song”.

Bridal Attire

I was extremely lucky. I decided I wanted a princess style dress with a semi long train so was able to narrow my search down significantly. I had seen my dress in a magazine and instantly fell in love. It was the first dress I tried on while still in the UK. It comes in 5 different colours but I got it in diamond white. I tried on a lot of dresses around Auckland too but had already made up my mind the first was my perfect dress. An obstacle arose when the nearest Maggie Sottero retailer to us in Auckland was in Sydney. It took two trips there with my mom and sister but it was worth it. It’s a one-piece, satin, strapless, corset back gown. The style of the dress is created through the use of contrasting satin accented with embroidery and crystals, decorating the inverted pleats on the full A-line skirt. The embroidery and crystals also ornaments the neckline, matching bag and train which we were able to bustle for dancing. We got my Swarovski jewellery which matched our bridesmaids, and my beautiful Gina shoes in the UK. My tiara and lingerie we got in Auckland. Faye Marmont cleverly had a sash made with matching embroidery just in case the weather took a turn for the worst, which luckily it didn’t. I love my dress so much, it’s so beautiful and I just want to wear it everyday. Along with all my sparkly jewellery and shoes it really made me feel like a princess.

Bridal Party

The Girls

We had seen a similar dress and used that to start the design, which changed a few times during the making. But in the end we wanted something modern and fun, and I think we ended up with beautiful dresses that the girls will be able to wear again. Our two bridesmaids wore black halter neck cocktail style dresses which had a white skirting frill on the bottom and up the slit. The dresses were locally made by Faye Marmont Couture and Surane Fabrics in Remuera. They were studded with a spray of Swarovski crystals in the front, and in the zipper on the back. Both girls wore matching black satin open toed high heels, black clutch purses and Swarovski Jewellery.

Dean and the Boys

Dean, our Bestman and Groomsman, along with both our dads wore traditional Morning suits with matching silver Euro ties hired from Exclusive Suit Hire, New Market. Dean was distinguished by a red rose buttonhole symbolising England.

Most Romantic Moment

It goes without saying for both of us it was our first kiss, we didn’t make it too long or soppy and even though it went nothing like we practiced, it was perfect. There were many other extremely romantic and special moments and one that especially sticks out for me was Deans face both while I was walking down the aisle, and when he heard the sound of the WW2 Harvard aircraft approaching. For Dean he especially loved our “private gift ceremony” because we had some time to ourselves in an otherwise overwhelming, and beautiful day.

Funniest Moment

Dean with the butterflies – he was very wary of them and later confessed he was a little afraid!! Also our Chief Bridesmaid, my sister, bursting into a fit of nervous laughter just before walking down the aisle in a panic, and again at the alter! She was even more nervous than Dean and I!

Special to Us

Every part of the day was special to us. But what stands out would be our private gift ceremony. After the air display at the reception, we went off with our photographer to exchange our wedding presents to each other and also it gave us some time, although short, to ourselves. Dean was so thoughtful and had a heart shaped pendant made for me with five floating diamonds inside representing, health, wealth, happiness, fertility and a long life! On the back he engraved:

‘MV DS 04 Nov 06 Love you Always and Forever.’

Our Bridal Party was very special to us as we went untraditional and had a boy & girl from each side of the family. On my side I had, my sister as our Chief Bridesmaid and her partner, a great friend of mine for many years as our Groomsman. Dean had his best friend from the UK as our Bestman, and his cousin who lives in Australia as our Bridesmaid.

We were not fortunate enough to have all our Grandparents with us, so in attempt to make up for it, we placed some beautiful photographs of them on display by the guest book to show they were in our thoughts. It also meant we could glance across the room and still see their faces.

Tradition

Something old - Deans Grandmother, who was unfortunately unable to attend, had given me brooch to wear on the day. The brooch has been passed through the family over the years and 8 brides marrying into the South Family have worn it. All their marriages are successful and there has not been a single divorce. I was extremely honoured and pinned the brooch onto my garter.

Something new - My wedding dress.

Something borrowed - Along with Nan’s brooch, my mom sewed onto my garter her engagement and wedding ring.

Something blue - My garter had a blue ribbon on it.

We stuck to the 5 almond tradition for each of our guests and kept our wedding vows traditional, as well as the music at the ceremony as previously mentioned.

We took an untraditional approach to removing my garter as Dean and I did it privately away from our guests. Only a couple guests managed a sneak and the odd photo from a distance.

What we would do differently

It has only been five months and already there’s new stuff popping up that we think, “That would have been great to have at our wedding.” But in terms of the stuff we’re going to remember in 10 years when looking back – absolutely nothing, everything that mattered most was perfect thanks to a wonderful bridal party, friends and family, and our photographer, Chris who was brilliant on the day. The only thing I should have done was made his day easier by drawing up a list of the particular photos we wanted.

Best Decision

Most importantly getting married! But also the little things like calling out each guest by name to be greeted, and then taken into the reception to be seated – this made everyone, old and new friends feel an important part of our day, and gave us the opportunity to really thank and welcome everyone. The aeroplanes and butterflies go without saying. We made our own website through www.mywedding.co.nz which was really helpful in getting information to overseas guests and enabled us to put photos on of our special day for all to see.

Honeymoon

Because of our family coming from all over; the UK , South Africa & Australia and our increasingly tight budget, we decided to only sneak away for a weekend break to Wellington. We wanted to enjoy having almost all our family in New Zealand. Giving us something to look forward to, we have booked our honeymoon in the beautiful islands of the Maldives in the in November 2007, for our first year anniversary. White sands, stunning beach villas and turquoise lagoons await us there.

Married Life

It’s wonderful! To share such a commitment with the person you love and your best friend is the best feeling in the world. We love being married and we still get goose bumps and giggle like teenagers when we call each other ‘husband’ and ‘wife’!

Advice for couples

No matter how many times you get told, enjoy YOUR day. Not everything goes to plan, but that’s part of what makes it special. Don’t panic about it on the day, just improvise and remember the day is all about celebrating your love, commitment and marriage so appreciate every moment. At the end of the day it’s about getting married, and if that’s the only part that goes to plan – well done! That was the whole point. And take 10 minutes to spend alone just for the two of you.

Photography by Chris Dillon - Dillon Photography