WEDDING DAY :: EXTENDED

I gave you a little peek of my wedding day, but here is the extended post filled with photos and the little details that made our day so wonderful. I mean, you only get married once (hopefully!) so I want to keep the day going for as long as I can, haha!
 
The crack of dawn is my friend, but that doesn't go for everyone... so when Ben and I decided a morning wedding would be ideal for us, not everyone was thrilled about the early start! None-the-less, I think when the day came that excitement and nerves took over, and everyone found energy for what was to come. Luckily for me, the wedding was at my mother and stepfather's house, so I could sleep, get ready, and get hitched all in the same place! Very handy when you need to do last minute flower-picking for the table flowers early on the morning of the wedding.

My ladies, my mothers and I all had our hair and makeup done by Kaitlin Chapman and her trusty sidekicks. We all had a lovely girly time eating almond croissants over coffee. I felt surprisingly serene on the morning, even as the sun got interrupted by bouts of light rain (that's Auckland weather for you!). People have asked if I did the whole 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' thing, and I did – my old was the lace from my grandma's and mother's wedding dresses which was sewn onto the inside of mine. My new was my bright coral shoes that matched my hair. My borrowed was my mother's lovely pearls, and my blue was the dress (well, it's sort of an aqua colour, but I reckon it still counts). That sea blue-green colour ran all the way through the wedding, including on the invitation stationery I made. The girls all looked so gorgeous in their soft champagne-coloured dresses and long loose curls! And our flowers were perfectly suited to our attire. Didn't Juno look cute in the collar I made her? I also took the opportunity to give my maids the gift I had secretly been putting together.

I also opened the pressie Ben had given me to open on the morning – a porcelain vase filled with my favourite treat, gourmet marshmellows! So delicious. Funnily enough, I too had given Ben something sweet... a huge box of red licorice (I ordered it directly from a candy supplier, it was massive!). As I was getting ready, Ben was getting set with his best men and his parents at our place. I had no idea what Ben was going to wear, and it was so lovely seeing him as I walked down the aisle, I was pleasantly surprised – so dapper!

I was flanked my my stepfather and my dad as I trotted towards Ben. It was the strangest feeling – all morning I had been in a girly bubble, unaware of the people gathering below for the biggest moment of my life so far. Here I was, about to get married! It's so weird walking up to the love of your life, who you've been apart from over night, and who is standing before you looking very handsome, and you stand up in front of them in silence! We whispered hi... we were so happy. Behind me I could hear the girls sniffling, and I remember feeling nervous about saying the vows I had written. But it all went along smoothly amongst some giggles and tears!

I completely forgot there was going to be confetti, even though I had been assembling confetti cones the day before! Confetti cones weren't the only things made for the day – some of my mum's lovely friends helped assemble the macaron favours with the tags I made, and my mother and I had an epic sewing day making all the buntings and napkin rings.

After the ceremony, Juno followed us all back down the aisle where we signed our single lives away and prepared to elope for photos at Wynyard Quater!

Before we left, we made a tricky decision. All the tables, decorations, cutlery, everything had been set up outside on the lawn. But the weather was being too unpredictable... sunny one moment, a few spits of rain the next... so we decided it was best to implement Plan B inside the home, just in case. As we whisked away for photos by the amazingly talented Coralee and Alex (whose photos you can see throughout this post), our family and friends pulled together to move the whole wedding setup inside! We were (and still are) unbelievably thankful to everyone who got it all indoors.

By the time we got back, everything was set up as if it had been there all along! Now it was time to celebrate with everyone and eat some deliciously good food. As you know by now, Ben proposed to me by placing my ring on a stack of pancakes, plus they are a weekend fave of ours, so it was essential to have them at the wedding. Ben and I chose the tree that was to become our slices for the table, topped with a disposable camera, a blue glass vase, a candle and acorns. Ben and I picked all the acorns while walking Juno one day, we had heaps! You can read more about what we had to eat here. It was all perfectly tasty!

My mum and I made the cake, which was pure lemon goodness if I may say so myself. Originally Ben and I wanted an ice cream cake, but the logistics of cutting and serving it before it melted proved too difficult. We still got some ice cream in there though, in the form of cute vanilla ice cream hearts served with the cake. Delish!

It was just such a fun day, Ben and I both had so much fun. We loved being with our families and celebrating with them, and were so thankful to those who traveled just to be with us. As if the day wasn't amazing enough, just hours later we were on a plane to Disneyland. We are so, so lucky that we got to have a day that was uniquely us and went so smoothly. Thank you so much to everyone who helped.

The best part is that after it was all over, when we were back from our honeymoon and back to reality in chilly Auckland, when the suits were taken back and the make-up was long gone, I've got a joy that lasts... in the form of my new husband. Cheesy, but true! :)