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<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nThe Proposal<\/h2>\n
“On a glorious winter night, overlooking the river, he got down on one knee after giving a beautiful speech about how much he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me. It was a total surprise!”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nThe Wedding Dress<\/h2>\n
“I initially wanted a completely different dress. I loved long lace sleeves and huge skirts. I didn\u2019t find a lot of dresses with long lace sleeves, so I ended up trying on pretty much anything, thinking I might be able to add sleeves. According to my bridesmaids, I could pull off any style or colour, which actually wasn\u2019t helpful! When the assistant brought out my dress I was skeptical\u2026it was tight fitting and had no sleeves, but when I walked out and saw myself, I just knew it was right. Ultimately, I wanted to look elegant and queen-like, and that\u2019s what the dress conveyed to me. My advice to brides is set your budget, find a bit of inspiration to get you started, but keep an open mind and just try on everything! It\u2019s not often you get free reign to try on wedding dresses, so enjoy and expect to be surprised.”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nRelationship Advice<\/h2>\n
“Communication and openness. Discuss the hopes and dreams for your lives and help each other to achieve them. Watching your partner achieve things and find happiness in themselves makes you feel just as happy. Talk about the good things and the bad things. Make time to spend time together and spend time apart with others, and alone. You have to still be your own person to truly enjoy your partner.”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nThe Vision<\/h2>\n
“Elegance was really what we wanted. Our dress code was listed as \u201cA Royal Affair\u201d. We really enjoy old world British traditions and style, and so we introduced as much of that as we could, but in a subtle way; morning suits and swords for the men, a cape and tiara for the bride, tartan for the page boy (Charlie the dog), Scottish locations for table names etc. We decided on a colour scheme (dark blue, dark red and gold) and had hints of that throughout. House of Laurels allowed us to do what we wanted to, in terms of styling and decor, and they provided whatever we asked for. We stuck to simple table settings; white linen and silver candelabra, blue and gold on the chairs and red on the gift tags. The location of the Sunshine Coast hinterland in winter certainly added to the British feel, with rolling green hills and a chilly afternoon air.”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nMemorable Moments<\/h2>\n
“Walking back down the aisle, after marrying my best friend at our dream wedding, surrounded by our closest friends and family. There\u2019s a beautiful image that captured the moment perfectly. Nothing will beat that feeling.”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nDIY Decor<\/h2>\n
“I created our table names and the table plan myself. Just some coloured paper and fancy tape from Officeworks and some patience with the home printer. I also created some table settings for the courtyard where the pre-dinner drinks were held. Fake flowers in red, dark purple, blue and greenery, gold and white vases and candle holders from Ikea and some battery-powered fairy lights from Kmart. Plus, all the tea lights I could get my hands on! House of Laurels managed all the rest of the d\u00e9cor and styling as per our requests.”<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nLooking Back<\/h2>\n
“We had quite a lot of speeches, and that was an important thing for us. However, this did cut into our dancing\/chatting time quite a lot. If we could do it over, we\u2019d extend our reception time so we had enough time to chat to all our guests and dance more! We\u2019d also take a bit more time off before <\/em>the wedding. We really had to rush around as we only had one day to get ourselves ready before driving up and I\u2019d have preferred to relax a bit more.”<\/p>\n “Decide what aspects are important to you and your partner and spend your money on that and forget the rest. We did not have a cake, and spent very little on flowers, as we preferred to spend money on our outfits and accessories and d\u00e9cor to make the day reflect our style. Social media can give you some great ideas, but don\u2019t get trapped thinking you have to have every aspect of a \u201ctraditional\u201d wedding and replicate everything you see online and in magazines. Make it your own, that\u2019s what your guests will remember and that\u2019s what will make the day truly yours.<\/p>\n Enjoy the planning as much as you can, and let people help you! If you have a few people like Mum\u2019s, bridesmaids etc. on the day who know what\u2019s going on, it will save you a lot of stress. The day really does fly by, it isn\u2019t a clich\u00e9, so try to be in the moment and have as much ready as possible before the day, so you can just relax and enjoy it all!”<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nBridal Advice<\/h2>\n