There were too many special moments to list them all but the ones which stood were as follows...
The moment my mom pulled the curtain to the side and my dad saw me, standing in my wedding dress, he walked towards me and dived into my chest - we stood for about a whole 5 minutes crying and holding one another as i whispered "Does my wedding own look pretty Daddy?" which came up in the lyrics of our dance later to "Butterfly kisses".
I came into the gardens, to the right of the ceremony area, on a horse carriage with my dad. We were laughing and chatting the whole time until all the guests gasped as we entered... that's where the butterflies began.
As my bridesmaids walked in front of me, i kept my head down and listened to my dad say how proud he was of me and as my song started playing with the first words being "One look at you", i raised my head and looked directly at Mel (my husband) and we both were so emotional as I took my first steps towards him. That one look consisted of tears, smiles and weak knees because we knew we could never be happier, and we were exactly where we had dreamt of for 10 years.
One funny part of our day was Mel constantly tried to kiss me during me during the ceremony. Pastor Andrew had to constantly remind him to wait a little longer.
For our first dance, we chose a song which represented the path we were beginning to take - "From the ground up". It speaks of how we will grow old together, have our own beautiful little family and one day, when we old and grey, we will look back on all the moments we have shared. One of the best moments was at the break of the song when Mel picked me up and we were showered in confetti while we stared into each others eyes with the biggest smile.
In the middle of our reception, I led Mel to the bottom of the pathway where we had full view of our glorious venue and special guests, where we took a moment to appreciate our day and the love, happiness and joy we felt.
At the end of the night, our guests made a tunnel and we ran through it with each of them hugging us goodbye, it was so special and magical.
I am so thankful to Mel - he made my whole life's dream a reality and our wedding day was nothing but perfect from start to end!
Mel and I had made a promise when we met that our first trip overseas would be with one another.
Little did we know, that would be on our honeymoon to the Maldives!
Mel was slightly nervous about the sea plane but what we saw when we arrived was absolutely unimaginable - we snorkled, jet skied, visited a deserted island and went to the 6 meter underwater restaurant - It was life changing!
On our way back home, we stopped in Dubai for 6 days where we went to the Palm, petted camels, went dune bashing in a buggy and made it to the top of the Burj Khalifa.
We never wanted to leave!
My wedding look was modern romantic.
- Wedding dress – My wedding dress’ lace was pure white modern lace in flower and leaf shapes – this spoke to the setting we got married in. It was a tight dress which flared out slightly at the bottom. The day I tried it on, my Ouma was with and when I saw a tear roll off her cheek and my mom say, “You look like a queen”, in between my tears, I said “Yes!”. The straps were a single line of diamonds with one diamond placed on every flower piece of the dress. I found my dream dress at *Bridal Wardrobe (Melrose Arch) and the stoning was done by *New Generation Designs*.
- Veil – I had always dreamt of a long veil which trailed behind me as I walked to the man of my dreams. I had a 4-metre Cathedral veil with a half-moon of my dress' lace scalloped at the end to complete my dream wedding day look.
- Shoes – I wanted to be comfortable and enjoy our day to the fullest. I chose a pure white heel.
- Earrings – On the day, a gift from Mel arrived at the bridal suite with a message he wrote explaining these as my “Something New”. The message made the whole room emotional as I read it out loud, the cinematographer even cried! The earrings were rose gold, tear drop Swarovski earrings.
- Hair – My hair was down in curls for our wedding day, swept to the right-hand side complimented by a diamond Alice band – Again, appealing to the classic feel with a touch of sparkle.
- Bracelet – On the morning of our wedding, my mom sat me down in our bed and gave me a diamond tennis bracelet and another one engraved with “MBF” – My best friend. The tennis bracelet was exactly as my straps were and she placed it on my wrist just before my dad walked in to see his little girl in her wedding dress.
- Make-up – I wanted as much make up as possible while still looking like me. It is not everyday a girl gets to have her own make-up artist and everyone’s eyes are on her. Candice from *Blink Make-Up* used rose and mauve tones with a slightly darker eye.
- Lingerie - Attached to my lingerie was a blue ribbon my bridesmaids gave me with our wedding date embroided on.
- Garter - My Ouma personalised my garter and added extra sparkle to the custom made one we had made.
Mel and i got married at *Oakfield Farm* - Homestead venue - the gardens and rose bushes were in full bloom.
The greenery of the venue complimented our theme and my bridesmaids decorated my bridal suite before i arrived - it was spectacular.
Mel and I stayed in the honeymoon suite that night while our guests stayed at various surrounding venues such as *Misty Hills*, *Nice By Nature* and *Overnight B&B*.
In order to look perfect for our perfect day, I did the following:
Health and fitness - I ran each day that i could in between work and wedding planning and was as active as possible with our two gorgeous puppies.
Skin - I went for a facial once every month for a year before the wedding at *Classica Beauty Salon*. I also went for a few laser hair removal sessions.
Teeth whitening - I had my teeth whitened twice at *BettaSmile*.
Hair extensions and treatments - Lizelle at *Passario Hair**
Microblading - Robyn at *MintBrows Microblading*
Lash extensions - Amber at *Dollface Eyelash Extensions*
All the ladies who were a part of my bridal party had their nails done the day before by *Nails on Fleek*.
Flowers and decor - Our flowers were done by the talented *Bliss Floral Creations*. Sam understood exactly what we wanted and brought it to life... from our floral arch at the ceremony to the double floral arch at the reception. She had O'Hara roses imported for my bouquet and created our perfect, floral fairytale.
Glass candelabras and Under plates - *Happily Ever After*
All of our signage, including the Welcome to the Wedding sign and seating chart as well as various other elements such as our monogram, table numbers and main table signage was provided by *Papermoon* - Rochelle took every idea we had and turned into a real life masterpiece.
Furniture - *Oakfield Farm*
M structure behind the main table and fairy lights - We wanted a structure which would frame the main table and fairy lights which surrounded the entire reception area which came to life thanks to *CME Decor Specialist*
White bars at our canapes - *Urban Tonic Events*
Mel wore a off-white suit custom made by *OS Man Tailor Made* with tan accessories.
One of the gifts i gave him on the day was a rose gold Diesel watch with a large face which he fell in love with. His bow tie was made by my Ouma as we wanted something on each of us from her.
Mel had custom made rose gold cuff links made by *Silvery*, while his groomsmen had personalised cuff links provided by *Everything and Wedding*.
The groomsmen attire was made up of white shirts, dusty rose trousers with tan accessories. Each bow tie being made by my Ouma as well. Their outfits were sourced from various local retailers.
Each bridesmaid wore a dusty rose bodysuit with a matching tulle skirt. Their shoes were rose gold block heels and my gift to them for the day was rose gold Swarovski studs. I gave my sister-in-law a matching necklace to thank her for being my maid of honour and for all she did for me leading up to the wedding.
We decided on the look from a photo we saw on an Instagram story of a lady who made the skirts for charitable purposes. Unfortunately, we could not get in touch with her to order the skirts and so each was made by a retired local business owner.
Pastor Andrew from Willow Hill Vineyard Church was our marriage officer. We took part in his pre-marital seminars and he made our day that much more special. His sermon at our ceremony spoke to us as a couple in so many ways and he led us through the entire ceremony with some laughs in between. We not only look to him as our Pastor but a friend for life should we need any guidance.
Our special day was captured by *Mighty-Fine Productions*. We had done our engagement video with Elsabe and Sebastian so we were extremely comfortable with them on the day. They were superb! They captured every little detail and gave us the opportunity to capture the special moments which took place such as between my mom and I, my bridesmaid's reveal and the moment my dad saw me for the first time.
We had a photobooth which took photos and boomerangs in the reception with a personalised frame provided by *Chocolate Turquoise* - the guests had so much fun, they queued to part-take!
I stayed with all my bridesmaids and moms the night before in the guesthouse at the venue.
Mel, together with his groomsmen, mom & both dads had a fun filled morning being chauffeured to breakfast and then to the wedding venue in a White Hummer Limousine - provided by *5-star Limo Hire*
The delicious food for our wedding was prepared by Oakfield Farm's in house chef.
We were treated to an immaculate duck terrine as an appetizer and enjoyed a well balanced buffet, ending off with the sweetest desserts to celebrate.
Our wedding cake was a 4 tier cake made by the talented Kevin from *Baker Boys Wedding Cakes* with the following flavours - Strawberry & Champagne, Ferrero Rocher, Espresso & Salted caramel and finally Lime & Ginger. The cake was mind-blowing from its design to its taste! We cut our cake at canapes among all of our guests who then enjoyed each slice as we took photos.
Our wedding theme was greenery, white, clear with hints of rose gold - A reflection of Mel and I being outdoor lovers and romantic with a touch of sparkle.
Seating Chart, Signage, Table numbers, Laser cut guests names, Ring box, Envelope Box, Monogram, Guestbook, Directional Arrow and Cake Topper - *Papermoon*
Menus, Tissues and Programmes - *Vanilla Bridal Couture*
We cut our cake at our canapes to the beautiful background music of an impeccable violinist which entertained guests thereafter - *ES Music*.
Our reception started off with our introduction as husband and wife setting the tone - We were led into the reception by *Alf_Layla_Drummers* (as Mel is Lebenese), who danced and drummed around us as the men of our families dusted my me with white napkins - it was so much fun and we got to bang the drums too!
My dad and I's dance had the guests in tears, not to mention his heart felt speech that became one of the highlights of the wedding.
Mel and I took dance lessons once a week with his sister/my maid of honour who owns *DRI*, her own dance studio. We had many a late nights perfecting our dance and a grande finale in which confetti showered us as Mel lifted me in the air.
The guests danced and sang until 2am with non-stop hits being provided by Clint from *Cream Cheese Productions*.
Oakfield Farm ensured each guest was attended to throughout the night.
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