Lydia and Dylan

Our story is pretty cheesy! Dylan and I first met in our late teens but ended up in other relationships before I made the move to Perth at 22. We occasionally kept in touch over social media, and five years later we sparked up a random conversation - conveniently just six weeks before my move home to Christchurch. Our connection was immediate, powerful and we fell in love very quickly. The rest is history! A year later we got engaged and decided to start a family, welcoming our boy Bodhi in August 2018 and we married soon after in March 2019.

The night Dylan proposed, he organised a date to celebrate our anniversary at Bloody Mary’s. I just thought it was a routine date night, but to my complete surprise, he’d been ring shopping and organised the proposal with the restaurant. When our dessert came out, the plate read “Will you Marry Me?” and Dylan got down on one knee. I was completely surprised but ecstatic and as you all know by now - I said yes!

When we started to think about actually getting married, I found for myself that marriage meant being able to commit my love to my partner and that was the most important thing, so I wanted our ceremony to feel really special. Secondly, I wanted to create an overall feeling, and so I ensured that I hired amazing vendors that I knew would create that for me! For Dylan, he agreed it was marrying the one he loves in front of the friends and family he cares about and that everyone who came enjoyed themselves!

I'm naturally fairly organised as a person so I didn’t struggle too much with getting my head around planning the day but once my boy Bodhi arrived, that did add an extra element of stress as I became quite time-poor. By the end of the process, I just wanted the day to be here already - There are so many decisions to be made, I was ready to be done with making them!

It stills feels a bit strange, but I was very relaxed the whole morning of our wedding! I woke up bright and early of course, having Lucy on board I knew I didn’t have to worry about a thing and could completely enjoy the day. The day was beautiful, not too cold or hot. The girls and I all had a great morning getting glammed up and sipping on wine, with John and Sarah joining us to capture our time together.

My friend Kylie picked us all up in her cute Chevvy and we headed out to Darjon. I was insanely excited at this point! We waited a little while out of sight once we arrived whilst the boys made their entrance, and then we got ready to make ours. My grandad walked me down the aisle which was super special and the ceremony was over so fast! I remember beaming ear to ear, just so excited to be there. It’s quite overwhelming when you realise you are going to read your vows in front of so many people and made me glad we had an intimate wedding with 58 of our nearest and dearest.

After the ceremony, we had a moment to ourselves before heading off for some more photos. I remember immediately after the ceremony it was super hot, but then during photos, there was a change in the weather which made for some incredible shots as some cloud cover came in. It was perfect really. We then headed in for some dinner and while our guests finished their meals Dylan and I ducked away for some more photos.

Upon our return, speeches continued which were all awesome! You’re always a little nervous about what might come out but was actually really impressed and they were all so special! My sister then did an incredible performance of Adele’s One and Only which brought on so many tears. Then we cut the cake and did our first dance which was definitely a cute moment! With the formalities out the way, the rest of the night was spent enjoying the company of each other and our friends and family before heading off earlier than most of our guests back to our accommodation at Peppers Clearwater.

The day ran perfectly, the only whoopsie was when one of the boys locked his keys in one of the wedding cars whilst it was running. This resorted in a mad dash to find something to break into the car with, but all worked out in the end!

For me, nothing beats seeing your hubby be a little teary-eyed waiting for you at the end of the aisle. It was also incredible listening to his beautiful vows and his speech later at the reception - Those were my most treasured moments.

All of our vendors were amazing and really special to us. Our glam squad Stacey and Moni were a big part of our morning and helped us all feel beautiful. A huge standout, of course, was Sarah Clements. She was my real-life hype woman who told me I looked beautiful all morning and she was absolutely fizzing which made me even more excited! Sarah was so much fun and we all loved hanging out with her having our photos done - Not to mention how beyond incredible our photos turned out! Another stand out for me was Ginny from Cressy and Charmed, I adore everything she created for us, especially our bouquets & the ceremony arch! Last but not least, Lucy of Christchurch Weddings was incredible and played a massive part in our day as coordinator, ensuring it ran smoothly and leaving me completely carefree all day long! I have to also make a special mention to Hannah Duder for coming on board a week out as Celebrant and MC.

If we were to pass on any advice, it would be to just hire all of the vendors I did because they are amazing! No, but really - Sit down with your other half and work out what the most important things to you are, and then spend your money from there. It's just one day, but hopefully, one day that won’t ever be repeated, so have it exactly how you want it!