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The Romance: I
first met Rohan at a Ballroom Dancing competition in Townsville
in November 2000. At the time we were attending opposition dance
schools and had our respective dance partners. I was on the lookout
for a potential new partner and had spotted a tall, good-looking,
young man during one of the social dances. I looked up the back
of the program to find out his name, and there it was, Rohan Prince.
"What a nice name" I remember thinking. At the end of
the competition I went up and introduced myself, and mentioned that
I was looking for a new partner. The response was "Sorry, but
I'm dancing with her next year", pointing at another tall,
brown haired girl in the distance. So, with that said and not much
more to say, I walked away feeling a little embarrassed and very
disappointed to say the least!
Throughout the next 7 months, we saw each other on and off at various
Queensland competitions, and said a shy hello and shared a smile
here and there, but never actually had a conversation.
It was the end of June 2001, when I had been told from friend that
he had seen Rohan at his Old Time Dancing classes dancing around
on his own. I thought it strange that he would be on his own, and
stranger still that he would be attending Old Time dancing, so decided
to go along one night and see for myself. Sure enough, when I arrived,
there he was, in the middle of a bunch of oldies, dancing on his
own! So, that was basically the start of our dancing lives together.
That night we danced together for hours and had a ball! I remember
Rohan writing my number in pen on his arm at the end of the night
and saying, "We should do this again sometime!" So, the
next weekend we did! Needless to say this is where our relationship
blossomed and by the end of the next 2 months we were inseparable.
At the end of the year, we then decided to become competitive dance
partners also. In 2004 we made the move to Brisbane to further our
dancing and competed in various State and Interstate competitions
throughout Australia until the end of 2006. It was then that we
realised that we couldn't afford to keep dancing and get Married,
we wanted to start a "normal" life together. So, the decision
was made to stop competing and start looking for engagement rings!
The Marriage Proposal:
We got engaged in March 2007 at Montville, a small, sleepy rainforest
village in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Being nature lovers, we
had a lovely weekend at "Secrets on the Lake" which was
the perfect get away for a romantic proposal. It was during a sunny
Sunday lunch overlooking the spectacular valley that joins the hinterland
to the coast that Rohan pulled the small object from his pocket
and slid it across the table, his hands still covering it like holding
a butterfly captive. He then slowly opened his hands revealing the
small box with a red lid neatly wrapped with a tiny white ribbon.
"Would you like to spend some more time with me?" he said,
"As in the rest of your life?" I couldn’t believe
this moment of my life was actually playing out in front of me!
I had read and heard so many stories about proposals, and here it
was, my turn! Of course I said yes and he slid the ring onto my
finger. It was just a perfect "us" moment; I couldn’t
wipe the smile from my face!
The Planning: Our
Wedding date was chosen as the 12th of April 2008, autumn in Townsville,
one of loveliest times of the year, so we had just over a year from
our Engagement to plan our Townsville Wedding. We were living in
Brisbane but were able to come home for our Engagement party that
Easter and do some planning, and briefly again in September and
again at Christmas, so the majority of the planning was done via
emails and many, many phone calls. I was so lucky to have so much
help from my Mum as she did a lot of running around and organising
while we were unable to. Mum and Dad even did the taste test of
the reception food for us! We had decided on the reception being
in a marquee on the lawn at "Jupiters Hotel and Casino"
by the ocean, with a theme of candles and fairy lights as we wanted
to create a romantic atmosphere that wasn't dictated by a venue
room. With the help of Cassandra at "Out of the Blue Events"
we were able to extract the visions in my imagination and turn them
into exquisite reality. All in all, the planning went very smoothly.
Rohan and I agreed on everything and had no real dramas at all.
I think being away from Townsville actually helped keep any stress
at bay. We were able to come home 2 weeks before the wedding and
meet our key organisers once again and make any final arrangements
and confirm details. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment planning
the wedding and would do it all again in an instant!
Our Wedding Day:
I just love the smell in the air when summer turns to autumn in
Townsville, and I remember waking up to a glorious day of sunshine
and that special smell in the room. I had only gone to bed at midnight
after we managed to fit in a one hour dance lesson for our bridal
party and parents, a rehearsal of our dance at the Casino, meeting
up with Richard DeChazal my amazing hair and makeup artist, and
writing my speech! The whole morning I just couldn’t grasp
the concept that this was actually my wedding day! I remember feeling
exceptionally calm and relaxed, but at the same time excited like
a little girl. The morning flew by and before I knew it my wedding
photographer had arrived. Unfortunately, we were running late by
this time and we weren’t able to get photos taken before we
left. This is probably the only thing I regret most about the day.
Other than that small hiccup, the rest of day went as planned and
was even more beautiful than I could imagine. We arrived at the
Cathedral in a horse and carriage, which made for an exciting entrance.
The Ceremony was just beautiful with the string quartet playing
Unchained Melody as my Dad and I walked down the aisle. I wasn't
teary at all, we had both been waiting a long time for this moment,
and after all this time and all the planning, it had finally come
together. Our wedding reception was just stunning; fairy lights
and candles adorned the marquee in absolute elegance. Our wedding
waltz was one of the highlights of the night, with the dance being
a combination of our waltz routine from competition days and some
contemporary lifts and choreography to make it more interesting.
Over all the day was just a fairytale wedding that couldn’t
have been more perfect. As my Dad mentioned in his speech, "Rohan,
the magician, the only man who can turn a Princess into a Prince!
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