Debbie & Rohan – Cedar Creek Estate Wedding
Proposal: Rohan proposed to me in a very romantic way at Bretts Wharf Restaurant on the Brisbane river. When my dessert plate was placed in front of me I gasped when I saw a diamond ring and the words “Will you marry me?” written in chocolate and decorated in strawberries. In front of everyone, Rohan went down on bended knee and asked me to marry him. My memories of what happened next are a sparkling blur of the lights on the river, the champagne, the diamond and tears of joy.
How you Met: We met through a mutual friend when we were 17 and exchanged email addresses, but we were both about to embark on year-long exchange programs overseas (me in the USA and him in Japan) and we didn’t ever contact each other. Four years later, we met again at the same friend’s 21st birthday party and the rest is history.
Wedding Stationery: Papers of Distinction
Wedding Ceremony: Our ceremony was a 30 minute Anglican Ceremony that is traditional in my family. My sister and Rohan’s sister each read a bible verse about love. It was lovely to involve them in the ceremony. The ceremony was held in the Chapel at Cedar Creek Estate Winery on Mount Tamborine, Qld.
Wedding Celebrant: Our family friend who is an Anglican Priest
Wedding Music: Simply Strings quartet from the Gold Coast. I wanted the wedding to have a very regal, traditional feel to it. I walked down the aisle to “The Prince of Denmark’s March” by Jeremiah Clarke and the recessional was to Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March”.
Wedding Reception Venue: The Cedar Room at Cedar Creek Estate Winery. This room had exactly the warm, romantic feel I was looking for. The soft lighting, wooden features and large wine barrels added to the warmth.
Wedding Styling: I chose my favourite combination of colours which is coral pink, gold and cream. To avoid it looking like a little girl’s birthday party, the pink was only used in the bouquets and the bridesmaid’s dresses. I accentuated the elegance of the gold and cream by using cream chair covers with gold bows. The table centrepieces were round mirrors with tea light candles, scattered crystals and candelabra lamps. All of this sparkle and warm gold of the candle light was reflected in the mirrors.
Wedding Flowers: Florabunda Flowers on Mount Tamborine. Ingrid from Florabunda helped me to choose beautiful roses in colours like salmon pink, orange-pink and cream. I made sure the bridesmaids bouquets had more cream roses to compliment against their coral pink dresses.
Wedding Cake: The cake was made by Butlers of Southport on the Gold Coast. It was fairly simple, but elegant. There were three tiers of chocolate mud cake with white chocolate icing. Coral pink ribbon with gold inflection was wrapped around each layer. The florist put some extra roses on the top.
Bridal Gown: My dress came from Halo Bridal in Sydney. Thank goodness for facebook advertising! I noticed that I had a lot of wedding advertising on my wall since I changed my status to “engaged”. One day, I saw a tiny thumbnail picture of my dress and clicked on it. I knew straight away it was the one I wanted. I was very lucky – it was less than 6 months until the wedding and instead of searching the country for a dress, I only visited one bridal store and tried on a total of 4 dresses!
Groom and Groomsmen Suits: We hired these from Spurling Formalwear in Underwood. The boys all wore the same black suit, but the groom wore a cream vest and tie while the groomsmen wore black vests. I had the groomsmens’ ties made from the same fabric lining as the bridesmaid dresses.
Wedding Shoes and Accessories: I chose a jeweled hair piece instead of a veil, just to keep the look minimal and classic. I had crystal tear drop earrings made by Kezani jewelers at Broadbeach. My dress had a scalloped lace neck-line, so I decided not to add a necklace as well. My husband surprised me with a solid gold bangle with our wedding date engraved on it as a present on the morning of the wedding. I wore it on the day as something new.
Wedding Hair and Makeup: My makeup was done by my best friend of 20 years who is a professional makeup artist, Natasha Dodds. She used the air-brushing technique, which left a lovely “porcelain doll” finish. I was very happy with her suggestion of false eyelashes because they look fabulous in the photos. My hair was also done by a friend who is a hairdresser.
Wedding Transport: We saved money here because the groom drove himself and the boys to the Chapel in his own car and my mum drove the bridesmaids! I arrived in a white jaguar that belongs to my family member.
Wedding Photography: Colleagues recommended Photographic Art. We chose them because we were after quality wedding photography. Having two photographers on the day was fantastic, our wedding pictures are everything we wanted them to be. My younger sister was so impressed that she is using Photographic Art for her wedding photography later this year.
Wedding Videography: We bought a video camera and asked a family friend with some experience to man the camera. When he needed a break he was to share the task with his brothers!
Honeymoon: We honeymooned at one of the Denaru Island resorts in Fiji, which was the perfect way to relax after the wedding.
Advice: I learned that even a simple, elegant wedding takes over a year to plan! I am grateful to have had almost 18months to read, learn and plan the wedding. My advice is to make it an expression of you two as a couple.
Things that were exceptional or went wrong: Luckily, nothing went wrong and everything, including the weather, was exceptional. A few weeks out from the wedding, I let go of any stress or worry about rain that was forecast or anything else about the day. I knew I had done my best to organise a lovely wedding. I made a conscious effort to enjoy the day and laugh off any mistakes. As it turns out, there was nothing to worry about, anyway.
