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The ceremony was held at St Davids where my Grandparents were married, Graeme's dad, a minister, married us in a traditional ceremony. I didn't cry, which i was so nervous i would, but there was lots of laughing! Graeme is a high school teacher and his school choir sung the hymn which brought a few people to tears. I had some very special friends sing a song and a reading.
There were about 300 people there as we had sent invites out for our ceremony as well as reception. There were so many people to meet and greet I didn't get around everyone- so I'm glad its all caught on the dvd! Instead of standing nervously at the front Graeme mingled before the ceremony and greeted our guests (he hugged them too- there was makeup all over his jacket shoulder from hugging all the aunties!). Many people said this was a very special and personal touch. All the music at the ceremony was live: I walked down to "what a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong, during the register signing it was "top of the world" by the Carpenters, a special family song, and we walked out to "Cheek to cheek" by Eva Cassidy. The feeling of being married finally truly put us on top of the world!
 
We had our photos taken at the University of Auckland grounds, Albert park, and on Cheltenham beach outside our reception venue. Our photos were by Dreamlife photography and are fantastic, we had so much fun on our photo shoot (yummy snacks provided by my sister in-law, so important for a hungry buzzing bridal party). We had a dvd made by Vanessa at Indigo Moon, who i cannot recommend enough - she was fantastic!
I have always loved McHughs at Cheltenham Beach and was so thrilled we had our reception there, they were so helpful and friendly, it ran flawlessly, even to my neurotic bridal standards! My brother and twin sister shared the MC job and were hilarious! My mum and dads speech was a real highlight for me and very special. we danced our first dance to "without you" by Brooke Fraser performed by Graeme's band, we had practised furiously in my parents kitchen and our guests assured us it looked good! we then had a Snowball Waltz which was so fun and got the dance floor packed for the rest of the bands time, lots of old classic and favourites.
A surprise from Graeme was him singing "Shouldn't you oughta be in love" by Dave Dobbyn, it was incredible! One of my favourite things of the day was our cake! Made by my dads workmate and a very special friend made gorgeous icing figures of Graeme & I on the top in our wedding attire with Graeme playing the piano! When we finally left the reception we made our getaway in Graeme's family's classic red Morris Minor "Margo", which promptly stalled and parped the horn at the same time, our guests were in stitches!
 
As well as the moment above leaving the reception and the chimney sweep kiss, the funniest moment was my twin sisters speech at the reception, she brought the house down!
Graeme's most special moments were watching me come down the aisle and saying our vows to each other. Coming down the aisle on the Dads arm towards Graeme was definitely the most emotional part of the day for me. During our reception we slipped outside onto the beach and looked back into our reception and saw our family enjoying themselves and celebrating with us, they all made such an effort to be there with us and those same people will never all be together again!
Set your priorities before you set your budget! We knew we wanted as many family and friends as possible to be able to attend our reception so we compromised on other areas. I also knew there were somethings I felt more strongly about then others, like having amazing flowers (which I definitely had), rather than Jimmy Choo shoes! but each bride is unique!
Don't let your wedding planning get in the way of your marriage planning, the wedding is one day, one amazing and special day, but the rest of your lives is what it's all about!
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