The Romance
Not long after moving to Kalgoorlie I went out with some friends that were staying with me from Perth. Justin and I met that night, on the dance floor and danced the night away. We shared a lot of interests, mainly footy, cricket, the beach, food and each other’s company.
The ProposalAfter five years Justin asked me to marry him down on one knee whilst overlooking the beaches of Esperance. We were about to share a wine and cheese platter. It was his birthday the next day and looking back that threw me off the scent; I had no idea it was coming. Shortly after asking me I heard my name being called by some of my former students who had witnessed the whole thing. I was very overwhelmed and excited. I didn't sleep a wink that night.
The Planning
We had about eighteen months to arrange our wedding. I never knew how much was involved in planning a wedding! I now appreciate every detail that goes into planning one's special day. Planning our day was fun! I had lots of fun choosing and designing things! We decided to have our wedding in Perth, 600kms from where we live in Kalgoorlie.
Almost everyone travelled, my family from Adelaide and Justin's from Kalgoorlie and Geraldton. Sometimes it was difficult planning things when we weren’t in our wedding destination but we learnt to be resourceful and we had help from my bridesmaids, groomsmen and families.
My bridal party was amazing and I can't thank them enough for making our day so special and fun!
My Bridal Pary included:-
- My matron of honour - My little sister - Elizabeth
- Bridesmaid - my high school & forever friend - Amy
- Bridesmaid - my uni & forever friend - Sara
- Bridesmaid - my beautiful and talented sister-in-law - Gemma
- Best man - Robin - Justin's best friend
- Groomsman - Morgan - Justin's best friend
- Groomsman - Brendan - Justin's brother
- Groomsman - Jarrad - Justin's brother
- Page boy - Sylas
The Wedding DayOur day was wonderful. My parents and Aunty and Uncle hired beachfront accommodation in Fremantle where all the girls got ready. It was lovely. Gemma, my bridesmaid and sister-in-law and my cousin 'Bronwyn', did our hair on the day. They are both very talented hair dressers! We were very lucky to have them. Our make-up artists from 'Artists at Play' were fabulous also! One of the artists ended up having a minor car accident on the way but still made it and was professional as ever. I gave the girls a bathrobe, clutch and jewellery on the day.
The boys had a few beers and got ready in Fremantle also. Justin gifted the boys with socks, jocks and a Bundy.
Flowers were delivered not only to us but to the boys also from 'KB Flowers'. Our photographer, Justin's Aunty Kerry (K J Image) took some great shots of the girls and boys getting ready and throughout the day. The videographers from (Lensmunky) were fabulous, we didn't even feel like they were there. We have some fabulous memories that were captured that day that we can look back on and treasure forever.
The CeremonyOur ceremony was held at The Chapel of St Michael the Archangel. It was so special to me as my father walked me down the aisle to 'Ave Maria'. I'm so privileged to have had him there as he was battling cancer. It will always be a precious memory to me. Our priest, 'Father Nelson', was so lovely. He was one of Justin's Priest when he was at school. Our page boy, Sylas, walked down the aisle first carrying a sign I had made that said, "Justin, here come's your girl". He was so brave in-front of all those people and very cute.
We drove to and from the ceremony in Chryslers from 'Lavish Limousines' which was lots of fun. When we arrived at the Chapel the bells started ringing and my heart was pounding.
The ceremony lasted about an hour but it felt a lot quicker to me. After the ceremony we had a few family shots in the gardens of the Chapel and then the bridal party travelled to Fremantle to have photos near the beach such as the 'Round House'.
The ReceptionOur bridal party arrived at our reception at 'The Red Herring, Fremantle' at 7pm whilst guests were having pre-dinner drinks from 6.30pm. Each bridal party couple walked into the reception to a different song. Justin and I walked in to surprise everyone with our first dance, the Sweetheart Waltz, to 'I can't help falling in love' by Elvis Presley. We had secretly been taking dancing lessons in town.
The tables were decorated with wooden lanterns, candles and starfish. We had an eye-spy game with disposable cameras on each table which provided a lot of fun throughout the night. Each guest was given a bonbonniere of sunglasses which gave us some very fun photos.
With our DJ (DJ Eden) we hired a photo booth package. I was able to design our logo for the bottom of the photo-strips which was nice to be able to personalise. We now have a great book of photos which is quite amusing to look back on.
A very special moment at our wedding reception was my father-daughter dance which I knew was going to be emotional so I tried to keep it fun with the song, "Mr Postman by the Carpenters'. My dad had no idea that I had it planned.
Our cake was made by Celebrate Cakes, a two tiered chocolate fudge cake and was delicious.
We left the reception with a sparkler send-off which was a lot of fun!
The HoneymoonWe had an amazing three-week honeymoon on the Hawaiian Islands of Honolulu, Maui and Kauai. Roughly a week was spent on each island and it suited our style of holidaying on the beach with a cocktail! We stayed on the waterfront and had a mix of adventure and relaxing.
The best thing we did other than getting married was hiring a wonderful photographer and videographer. We can now look back on the day and see things we didn't see on the day. These are now some of our most treasured items.
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