Aidan & Bonnie Shotbolt

By Bonnie Shotbolt

What sort of wedding makes everyone say "that was the best wedding I ever went to".

We had a tight budget - so it sure wasn't the amount of money spent on it!

One guest said that "it had a neat touch of humour and a relaxed feel about it" and they didn't feel "bustled around to this and that all day".

For the girls, the morning was spent doing hair and makeup, getting dressed and (where possible) eating! I was more relaxed than my two bridesmaids, and had a good solid nights sleep!

The guys got ready at 10.30, having got all the hire gear the night before, and were at the church at 12.00.

The ceremony started at 1pm - I was (unintentionally) 15 minutes late because of the unforeseen slowness of the Bambina getting there!!

We had a comical start to the wedding, with a wee practical joke played on the guests. The wedding march started booming out (Dum, dum dee dum .), expectant faces turned, but no Bride . until the R&B beat of Whitney Houston's "Your love is my love" cut in over it!

At the steps to the stage where Aidan was waiting, Rob (my Dad) couldn't resist leading me back down the steps, before finally escorting me onto the stage!

We felt that the ceremony had number of nice touches. One was the wedding party standing in a semi-circle facing the congregation. Another was lighting two individual candles at the start of the service and then, after our vows, lighting a marriage candle to signify two people coming together, retaining their individuality, but bonded together by marriage and love. Our marriage candle was hand painted with a triangle representing our marriage and lives, with God at the top and Aidan and me on each end.

After the ceremony we did the rumba down the aisle to the "Mas Que Nada", then all mingled outside taking photos of the guests by the Bambina, before leaving for the reception.

We arrived at Forget-me-Knot Café & Nursery in Pukekohe to the sound of smooth Saxophone notes being played in the Gazebo by the pond.

The guests mingled and ate under the weeping willow by the water while we had our photos taken in the nursery. We had speeches when we got back to the Gazebo, and then a time for everyone to dance, or sip wine under the shade of the trees. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to our guests and relax ourselves!

We loved the day - it went without a glitch - and we are now loving our marriage!

We did a lot of reading and pre-marital counselling to find out about each other and how to make our marriage last. We would recommend this to everyone.

We hope that you too have a wonderful day when it comes!

Aidan and Bonnie share their $3018 budget - how did they do it?????