We met when I was 16 (he was 17) we dated for a few months but I was at boarding school and it didn't work... 2 years later we met up again and started dating- after 4 years of long distance, and a further 6 and a half years of being in the same area code... we had the happiest wedding on our 10 and a half year anniversary with all our favourite people in our lives!
He isn't the most romantic man...I was lying on the couch when he came through with a worried expression telling me my little princess pooch had something wrong with her neck and thought it may be the collar causing a problem... she looked ok... but I checked her out... I said she looked ok and he kept saying he is sure it's her collar... when I looked closer... there it was, my dream ring attached to her collar :) I was so excited I screamed and chased the dog off with my ring- the rest is history :)
I have never smiled and laughed so much in one day! And to have all our favourite people all together in one place to celebrate our love was just amazing! My husband hates photos... so watching him in the styled shoot was a bit of a laugh!!!
We have not been on a proper honeymoon as yet, we went away for 3 days after the wedding to a nearby reserve, however we are saving up to do our honeymoon properly!!
I had a beautiful white dress that made me feel like a princess! I am short so I wanted pretty high heels... but comfortable... my amazing friend in London couldn't make it to our wedding so as a gift she bought me my dream shoes in London and sent them over to me. I wanted either floral or blue (something blue) and she nailed it with a combination of floral with blue wedges! They are just gorgeous!
We had both our hair and make up done by friends, who are in the makeup and hair industry which made it all that more special!
My bridesmaids were also in floral, so it all worked beautifully- we wanted relaxed an comfortable to be the priority as well as classic and pretty!
We got married at Shalwyn. It is a beautiful venue based on a sugar cane farm in the midlands. All the guests stayed either at Shalwyn or down the dirt road at local bnb's and lodges- so we could all have a huge party without having to drive too far!
The bride and groom stayed at Chinook cottage just down the road which is a honeymoon suite- so quaint and beautiful with outside showers and a bath in the bedroom!
All the decor was supplied by shalwyn, however we did rent a few things from Natural Nostalgia. We live in a very small town so huge amounts of freshly picked Garden flowers were dropped off the day before the wedding which we lugged to the midlands and used as decor!
We had an amazing florist who did all the other formal flowers and boquets, which were stunning!! Giving my mom a break over the special time!
The groom wore a navy suite- and groomsmen navy suite pants and white shirt. They were all hired from Belle and Brovado. None of them are the suite type of boys... so we thought renting would be the way to go!
They all had snazzy socks as keep sakes which look awesome in the pictures!
The bridesmaids all wore different cut dresses. All had white cotton tops, and flowy floral skirt- we searched everywhere for them! As I had my heart set on pretty floral! We eventually found the dresses at Forever New! And they were stunning and fit beautifully- even my heavily pregnant bridesmaid- who we were worried about not fitting into the dress on the day!!!
We wanted someone special and close to us to bless our marriage, so we asked a close family friend Carolyn Harris if she would do it! She was hesitant and said she would have to think and pray on it.... she then called back to say she would love to do it! It was just perfect. Special, personal, and relaxed. We loved every moment of it!
We later got legally married in court... as our initial date to get married before our wedding... was a fiasco... so we did it all in a bit of reverse gear! Bit wouldn't have wanted it any other way!
We used SL photography
No we didn't, however the owner of Shalwyn Leanne was amazing as well as Mel from Hamblins!
My mum was a super star at coming with me to all our venue meetings and tastings- couldn't have done it without her!
Our wedding transport was my uncle in his Fortuna... it was a farm wedding so didn't need anything fancy.... he nearly arrived in the land Rover... so let's be happy it was the Fortuna!!
Hamblins did the amazing food! And we opted for a cheese board and harvest table in place of a cake! So we had a stacked cheese cake!!! Also done by hamblins
I designed all our stationery! And got it locally printed!
We had no dance classes... I think my husband would have found that his worst nightmare! We got a local DJ to do our music, he was fantastic and kept the party going all night!
