As told by Mrs Mary Parks:
Jeff proposed the day after our 4th year anniversary. He took me out on the pretense of getting me an anniversary gift. We ended up in a jewellery store picking out an engagement ring!
We decided to keep it secret from our family until the following weekend – which was extremely difficult as I had lunch with Mum almost everyday that week!! We invited both sets of parents to dinner that weekend and told them the news – they of course were thrilled.
We initially decided to set the date for October the following year but ended up bringing it forward to May.
 We didn’t start looking for venues and dresses till late December. There were the usual disagreements on the guest list – it started out as being a small intimate ceremony with 14 close family members but soon grew to 70 guests!
We booked the Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre as our venue in early February and then everything started to piece fall into place.
Our colour scheme for the wedding was pretty much determined by the bridesmaid’s dress. We, by chance, came across this beautiful Thai silk in electric blue. It was very different and suited my sister beautifully. From then on electric blue, silver and white/black were the wedding colours.
I handmade all the invitations and place cards - which was quite a task, but very fulfilling in the end. My bridesmaid boxed and tied ribbon around the 80 Devonport Chocolate Truffles. I also designed the thank you cards, and had them printed.
 I used hearts throughout the cards as a way of linking them all together without having a specific theme which worked well.
We decided to keep the bridal party small and just had Jeff’s younger brother and my younger sister as Best Man and Bridesmaid.
I knew exactly what my dream dress looked like and even tried it on in the shop. In the end, I decided to get it made and definitely don’t regret this decision as the dress was “made for me”!
The dress had a “puddle” train and a queen-anne cut neckline with long poet shaped chiffon sleeves.
 My wonderful dressmaker, Arlene Graham, painstakingly hand-stitched over 8,500 tiny pearl beads on the bodice as additional decoration for the gown.
I also wore a blue crystal tiara in my hair and borrowed my mum’s veil which was very special.
Sarah, my bridesmaid, wore an a-line cut skirt with sleeveless singlet top made of course from the electric blue Thai silk.
Jeff and his bestman chose dark suits with ties of matching electric blue.
 Even though Jeff and I had been living together for a year or so, we decided to spend the traditional 24 hours apart. It was very hard to say goodbye!
The morning of the wedding, I woke to wind and rain which just didn’t want to stop. They say rain is good luck (although I’m sure someone made that up to make us feel better!!).
Anyway, despite the rain, everything went to plan. I’m just so glad we had decided to have the day all at one venue.
We made the journey to the venue in two Ford Falcons. We were very lucky and a couple of our family friends chauffeured us – one even dressed up in his suit even though he wasn’t attending the wedding!
 The ceremony was short and sweet. I wrote our vows and my closest Aunt read a special love poem for us. The most romantic, yet funny, moment was when we had to say “I do” and Jeff answered "Absolutely!!
The speeches were hilarious but everyone spoke from the heart. Despite nerves, I think we all surprised ourselves – it must have been the champagne!
All the guests came together and got along fabulously despite major background differences – it was East Auckland meets West Auckland !!
 Later in the evening, Jeff and I retired to our honeymoon suite reasonably early as we had to catch our honeymoon flight at 4am !! My Uncles’ had paid for a week’s timeshare on the sunny Gold Coast, which was wonderful!!
We are loving married life and are in the process of looking to buy our first home. The best thing about being married, is knowing that you’re a pair and there is always someone behind you no matter what.
The best piece of advice I can give to those getting married is to enjoy your wedding day no matter what happens - and HAVE FUN because it will be over before you know it!
Photography: Alyson Young, Auckland
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