In February 2003, Jason and I went for a week holiday up to Byron Bay and then stopped in at the Hunter Valley on the way home to celebrate our 6 year anniversary on Valentine's Day. During the dinner Jason was extremely fidgety and I thought something was wrong with him. He suggested we go for a walk after dinner. As we were walking through vineyards across the road from the restaurant, under the bright moon he got down on one knee and proposed. I said yes.

With just over 1 year to organise the wedding I realised there was much to do. Planning to get married up at the Hunter Valley, 2 1/2 hours from where I live in Sydney, was a little more stressful than I expected. I was aware that things always go wrong with wedding plans and that there is a lot of "blood, sweat and tears" - but I really had no idea until I had to plan my own wedding (we also did the stupid thing of buying a house at the same time).

• First our photographer died which was extremely shocking, sad and unfortunate. Then due to this, we ended up with the photograph company double booking us with a different photographer, and then changing our second photographer about 2 months to the big day. This unfortunate occurrence with the photograph company was totally understandable after all that they had all been through, with the sudden death of their lead photographer and on the day, they were absolutely fantastic.
• Then we arranged an appointment with three months to go with the people we decided to hire to make our wedding cake. We drove 2 1/2 hours only to have them send us a text message to my mobile phone that morning(when we were already up there) saying they had to cancel the appointment(with no reason provided), and to advise they were not at home to meet us any earlier. They then promised to call me the following Tuesday, I am still waiting for that call.
• We organised accommodation up at the Hunter Valley for the bridal party for the night before the big day. I organised a beautiful home stead for the girls as I knew the photographer would be there the next day to take photos of us getting ready. With 5 weeks to go, I received a phone call from the owners to advise they had sold the homestead and they were settling the week before my wedding and that I had to look for alternative accommodation. Finding accommodation up at the Hunter Valley that close to the big day was difficult as there were at least 3 other weddings on at the Hunter Valley on the same day as ours.
• I took my mum up to the Hunter Valley a few weeks before the big day to come with me to discuss the flowers with the florist. Once up there I rang her only to discover she had totally forgotten about the meeting, was sick and could not arrange anyone else to meet with us.
• Our wedding coordinator resigned with only 4 weeks to go, and so we were allocated a new wedding coordinator.
• The night before the wedding at 7.30pm the florist rang me to advise she never received the ribbon I express posted to her at the beginning of the week (to make sure she got it on time) and that it was too late to go out and buy new ribbon.
• I got really sick 2 weeks before the wedding day - probably all the stress and late nights doing last minute wedding things (as I am sure brides everywhere can appreciate).
  

There were plenty of highs leading up to our wedding. Importantly, realising how much our families love us and want the best for us. Learning how to "multi-skill," working long hours at work and juggling the gym, family and friends, buying a new house, maintaining our first investment property AND planning the wedding and honeymoon.

Other memorable moments included, after months of searching, trying on a wedding dress whilst in the city on my own and having that "I think this is the one.." feeling. Our engagement party. Our Pre Wedding Photo Shoot was a blast and many moments with Jason leading up to the big day.

Our ceremony was at the Hunter Valley Gardens Chapel in the middle of the wine country of NSW. I wore a white strapless A line gown made by Maggie Sorrento with the bodice encrusted in swarovski crystals and a small train. The bridesmaids wore deep red satin 2 piece dresses bought from Harts. I chose red because to the Chinese, it signifies luck and fortune (makes me laugh when I say that now after all that happened ... read on).

We had a 45 min Catholic ceremony, which comprised of a candle lighting ceremony. Our parents had family candles, one for the Lee family and one for the Nori family. They lit their candles and then Jason and I lit our own big candle after the Nuptial Blessing. This was to signify our two families coming together.

One memorable moment, was when Jason was saying his vows and he had watery eyes. I fell in love with him all over again when I saw that. Jason say she was blown away when he saw me for the first time walking down the aisle. It truly was one of the best days of our lives so far.

Our wedding was formal with a red and silver theme, we had 4 bridesmaids -my sister, best friend and 2 sister in laws. Jason had 4 groomsmen, his 2 brothers, his best mate, and his other close friend. Our ring bearer was Jason's 7 month of nephew who was carried down the aisle holding a ring bear. We also had a flower girl.

The reception was at the Hunter Valley Gardens also, in the Shiraz function room where we hosted for around 100 guests. It was decorated with rose petals and candelabras. We also had ivy wrapped around the poles of the room and a white chiffon backdrop on the wall behind the bridal table. I am Chinese and usually Chinese tradition is to hold a Tea Ceremony the morning of the wedding. Jason's family are anglo saxon and I have lived in Australia all my life so did not want to see Jason before the wedding ceremony. To make my parents happy, and to keep some of the Chinese culture, I decided to hold the Tea Ceremony right at the beginning of the reception. The ceremony involves Jason and I presenting my parents with a special "bird's nest" tea as a sign of respect and in return they give us a "red packet" with money, or gold. We do this with my Uncles and Aunties and it signifies my family accepting Jason into the family with open arms. It was beautiful.

Although it was 2 1/2 hours away, our guests all decided to make a weekend of it and thoroughly enjoyed getting away up to the vineyards for the weekend, so celebrate this special day with us. We had so many people from interstate, as well as an Aunty from Malaysia who made her way over here especially.

The Tuesday following our wedding, (Tuesday 23rd March) we departed for our 17 day honeymoon in Thailand. In Phuket on our 6th day into our honeymoon in Thailand, whilst riding a motorbike on our way to get a traditional Thai massage, we went around a sharp corner and the bike slipped on gravel and came out from underneath us - Jason and I, plus the bike, slid across the road.

We count ourselves extremely lucky we didn't get hit by oncoming cars, or slide right off the cliff. Jason ended up with almost 40 stitches on the inside and outside of his mouth due to a laceration straight through his chin (we think it was the brake lever which penetrated through), plus bad abrasions to his legs, hands, and feet. I was lucky considering I was only wearing board shorts, a bikini top and thongs at the time, I did however come out with a bad abrasion wound all the way down my left leg, plus abrasions to my left hand and foot and thigh and bruising.

Ending up on a hospital table, rather than a massage table was something Jason and I did not plan, but it certainly makes for a honeymoon we will never forget. We hope to return to Thailand next year to finish our honeymoon, depending on cash flow (weddings and medical bills are expensive!) - but we will definitely stay away from motorbikes. We are on our way to recovery and laugh at this story we will now have to tell our children.

At the end of the day, if you get to marry the man of your dreams, nothing else really matters, and when you say in your vow "...through sickness and in health..." you may find yourself having to live up to that vow sooner than expected!!