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| Seven months in the planning and the day had arrived. We had done countless Pre-Marriage Preparation, (Fit To Be Tied, Prepare, Weekend Retreat Course, and read countless books). The day was here. I don't think I slept that much and my adrenalin was running sky high. The day was beautiful, sunny and quite warm. Summer was treating us to a gorgeous, dry, typical Australian day. | |||||||||
| The girls and I met about 8am down the street at the hair dressers. In under four hours and we were all done. The bridesmaids looked gorgeous with twists and twirls in their hair as well as diamonties glued in. I also had my makeup done there and then it was all back to my house to eat, dress and have photos prior to the service. The bridesmaids dresses were made by my wonderful mother.. Their design was off the shoulder, and fitted to their body shape. A feature in the dresses was the hole cut out of the back and the crystal bow attached. The colours chosen were light blue, dusty blue, royal blue and navy blue. Each colour suited every girl who wore it. | |||||||||
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| At 12:30pm we were all dressed and had some lovely photos taken at my house with my family and by 1pm we were all ready to go. The only problem was the service didn't start until 1:30pm and even then we're suppose to rock up 10 minutes late! The two stretch limousines we had booked for the day were waiting outside so we made the most of them and went for a drive up the coast. The limousines company was awesome! Each car had a ribbon on the front, one car blue, the other orange! Just to match the colour theme of our day. I was so impressed! | |||||||||
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Not long after 1pm we arrived at the church. Approximately 300 people were seated inside murmuring away.
"People Get Ready" by Human Nature was playing in the background. We had spent 2 days prior re-arranging the church and decorating it accordingly for this very day. We were greeted at the door my our Assistant Minister Jenni, who would be marrying us and then we set up in position ready to walk down the aisle. There were no groomsmen standing at the front waiting for us and that's when Chad started the music: "When a man loves a woman..." sang Michael Bolton which quickly changed to "Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married, goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married..." sang the Dixie Cups. "Party People!" Pumped Tag Team. And then it started........... "HEY HEY BABY - OOO Ahhh! I wanna know if you'll be my girl!" and the groomsmen started dancing down the aisle from the back of the auditorium, they had been hiding out in the sunday school room! Everyone clapped and cheered them on. Not to mention did the "OOO Ahhh". It was so cool to hear it all happening while we were waiting to enter from the main side door. | |||||||||
| Then it was our turn, "From this Moment" sang Shania Twain and we started to file in from the side door, turning to walk down the aisle from about three quarters the way back. Jane went first, then Carol, followed by Jody, then my beautiful sister. Taking a big breath Dad then started to walk me down the aisle towards the man I love. I was so excited yet so nervous at the same time! | |||||||||
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Dancing down the aisle to "Hey Baby, I wanna know if you'll be my girl"
During the service we were treated by the band to two wonderful songs (Rock of Ages & My Redeemer Lives), Brett, a trusted Christian friend did the sermon, Mr. & Mrs. T and Kate shared a bible reading (an assortment of Proverbs and Ephesians 5:22-23 respectively). Kerry, one of my bible study leaders did the prayers, Dan & Estelle performed a song they had written "You are my Dream" while we signed the registry, Sharon performed "I Swear" an All-for-One song while she played her guitar and most importantly... My dad gave my hand away in marriage and Jenni joined Dan and I together... forever. We walked out together, hand in hand to 'Huey Lewis and the News' singing "We are bound by all the rest. We have the same phone number, all the same friends and the same address! Yes it's true, yes it's true... I am happy to be stuck with you."
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Following the Marriage Ceremony the bridal party had some photos at the church, followed by some photos in the gardens before we headed up to Sydney. Matilda Cruises treated our 107 guests to a reception that will never be forgotten. Sydney Harbour was lit up with New Years lights and the Harbour Bridge had a laser light show. The water was sparkling in the sun, and the sunset was just gorgeous. Michael (Jody's Husband) was our MC for the night. He was fabulous! And Chad, one of Dan's mates fixed our music and sound up not only at the church but also on the reception. We had lots more photos taken on the cruise and we had our fair share of speeches for the night also. Dan's groomsmen presented the Telegrams and Robbie (Dan's brother) spoke a few words that made me cry. My sister spoke and so did Carol. Our fathers told stories, spoke words of wisdom and made toasts. And Dan and I shared a few emotional words also.
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We concluded the reception with the cutting of our gorgeous blue and orange, sea themed wedding cake, a wedding dance we had lessons and had practised for, and we danced with our guests. I also had another emotional dance with my father to the song "Speechless" by Michael Jackson while he told me lots of things about myself and how much he loves me. We departed the cruise at the Sydney Opera House half an hour before our guests. We spent the night of our wedding in Sydney before flying out to Noosa the following day for our 2 week Honeymoon. What an action packed day!
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