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The day we got married, Jacob and I had been together in a long distance relationship for over four years. With Jake managing M21 Butchers in Taupo and myself at University in Auckland we planned our lives around visiting each other, and, for the past two years I planned my life around visiting Jake plus organising our wedding! We had a two year engagement as I wanted to finish my degree before getting married.

Our bridal party consisted of us, my sister Deborah, my brother Ephraim, Jake's brothers Jamie and Adam, Jake's son Levi, my nieces Johanna and Annelise and our closest friends, Piers Harvey, Keri Harper, Kylee Daniel and Alice Burnett. Jacob, I and the girls spent Friday decorating my mum's garden and the reception venue so that our colours white, green and chocolate were a theme that continued throughout. Each table had a cylinder vase as centre piece containing coffee beans and a cylinder candle, at the base of the vase were masses of green hydrangea florets to tie in with our bouquets, we used white swaging cloth and fairy lights around poles and draped around the bridal table.

The whole bridal party had a wonderful evening the night before the wedding, the rehearsal was full of fun and laughter and then we all, including the bridal party's partners, went out to dinner at a lovely BYO Thai Restaurant before the bride and groom parties separated for the night.

The day finally arrived, the 3rd of February 2007. It was perfect weather for our outdoor wedding, sunny but slightly overcast. I woke up and watched the sunrise over the sea through the Nautilus apartment window in Orewa, which is just north of Auckland. My bridesmaids and I had stayed the night together there. We had arranged to stay in the apartment all morning and have everyone come to us; this made our morning so relaxing and enjoyable, sitting around sipping champagne as we took turns to have our hair and makeup done. Our hairdressers were Clare Murphy, one of my bridesmaid's cousins and her friend, and our makeup artist was Tristine Sauvat of Professional Beauty in Whangaparaoa. Around mid-day our florist, Cynthia Hoban dropped in with our beautiful bouquets made from green hydrangeas and white roses.

Time to get dressed. The grooms party all wore black open necked shirts, black belts with silver buckle and black dress pants, all from Meccano in Glenfield mall. My dress was from Xian Bridal in New Lynn, Auckland. A bridal white strapless gown with chiffon overlay that fitted to the bodice then floated to the ground, the best buy of the wedding at less than $600! I had a long, fine tulle, satin trimmed veil. The girls wore chocolate brown A-line dresses made by Jan Bach, they were two slightly different styles to suit preferences and figures, one of my bridesmaids was even 6 months pregnant! The videographer, Robyn Shearwood of Waihi and the photographer from Simply Photo's arrived and the apartment began to buzz with excitement and anticipation.

At 1:45 the super-stretched SUV limousine arrived to take us to Cauldrey House at Wenderholm National Park for photographs. Although initially I was hesitant to have the photo's before the wedding, the photographer suggested it and outlined the benefits of having the photo's first, for example the timing and the cost. In the end we decided that it was important to us to be able to go straight to the reception with our guests after the ceremony to greet them and have a drink with everyone. We are so glad we made that decision now. Before the photo session the photographer set up a 'special meeting' between Jacob and me. The groom party arrived before us and the photographer hid Jake in the garden, then, when the bridal party arrived the photographer sent the bridesmaids away too and I walked along the gorgeous garden path in amongst the old trees and palms looking for my husband to be. It was the most emotive and unforgettable experience, I walked towards him and he turned towards me to see me for the first time, without crowds looking on, we were both able to laugh, cry and hold each other close, taking some special moments to treasure our meeting and what lay ahead of us.

The bridal party then came to greet us, this was a chance for hugs all around and champagne started flowing again! We all had a great time together, then the boys were off to the ceremony venue (my parents garden in Orewa) to greet the guests, and the girls headed back to the apartment for last minute touch ups before heading to the ceremony.

Our ceremony was unique and special to us in many ways. We arrived in the limo and I walked through my parent's garden on my Dad's arm to our wedding song 'Far Away' by Nickleback with Jacob's brother Adam playing the guitar and friend Cory singing. My Auntie Ruth St George married us, we spent time selecting our vows to suit us and we each wrote a special ode to narrate to each other during the ceremony. And then, one of my brothers, Ephraim Smith and my dearest friend, Keri Harper, both in the bridal party, gave a moving performance singing us a duet 'For a While' by Stellar and Breaks Co-op.

We had quiet a large wedding with 130 guests, we both come from big families and it was important to us to invite all our nearest and dearest family and friends. The reception was held in the Presidents Lounge at North Harbour Stadium, we had a plated menu which was nice - no cueing to be served! The service both leading up to the wedding and at the reception was exceptional. Our cake was from Chocolate Earth in Albany, a two tier chocolate fudge cake iced with real chocolate - decadent and delicious! During the reception Jake and I took moments to stand back and take it all in, it was so amazing to look at all those people there for us and all having a wonderful time. I would just like to say to those brides out there planning their wedding - when your wedding day arrives take a deep breath, RELAX and enjoy yourself, have fun with your bridal party and take moments to slow the day down and take in the experience.