Names: Andries and Aysha Burger (nee Bainbridge)
Ages: 23 and 22
Occupations: Civil Labourer and Early Childhood Teacher
Region: Dunedin, Otago
When and where did we meet?:
We had met on quite a few occasions over the years (including one occasion in 2008 when Andries helped me down a flight of stairs!) But it wasn't until November 2012 that we really noticed each other (I was sure I had never seen him before). We were properly introduced when I was having drinks at a friend's house and he turned up. We didn't really talk much until we ended up walking into town together. By the end of the evening we were inseparable. Within a couple of days he had asked me to be his girlfriend.
The Proposal:
On February 5, 2013 we got all dressed up to go out for a fancy dinner for our families to meet. I had no idea where we were going for dinner, no one would tell me . . .
I finally found out as we drove into the parking lot of Queenstown's Hotel St Moritz. So in the Lombardi restaurant at Hotel St Moritz we were seated at a table with the awesome view of the lake. It was pretty awkward to be honest (as it can be when your family is meeting your boyfriend's family for the first time). No one knew what to talk about.
Andries' brother disappeared from the table and began to play the piano behind me, 'Bruno Mars' Just the way you are (Andries had recorded a CD of himself singing it for me for Christmas so it was our song). Andries then stood up and gave the room a wee speech about how much he loved me. He then took a small black velvet box out of his pocket, went down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! Among my excited giggles I managed to say yes . . . That's when the whole restaurant started clapping!
A lovely waitress brought out a bottle of Champagne and we toasted our engagement.
I then spent the rest of the night staring down at my glistening finger.
And to top it all off, Andries' dad got the whole thing on video!
Where was the wedding?:
We had the ceremony on Valentine's Day at St Peter's church in Queenstown. It's a beautiful old stone church in the middle of town that I grew up admiring. We held the reception at Hotel St Moritz as Andries' proposing there made it a really special place for us and the staff remembered us from that night, making us feel utterly special and ensuring that our evening ran smoothly. (A huge thanks to Gordon, the restaurant manager, who bent over backwards to have the venue decoration and food absolutely perfect.
The dress:
Flicking through wedding magazines, I came across a beautiful dress that I just fell in love with (minus a few small details). As my mother was over in Thailand at the time, I emailed her the pictures I had found and she was able to take them to a lovely Thai dressmaker who made the dress from the images (and every body measurement you can think of). When the dress arrived it was exactly as I had imagined it and fitted beautifully!
The bridesmaids' dresses:
After browsing online for months with the girls and having difficulty finding something I really liked, I came across some ''convertible'' dresses. They were perfect as one size fitted all the girls and we were able to play around with them until we found a style that we all liked (it was also loads of fun trying them on!)
The flowers:
We went with artificial flowers as I had heard horror stories of wedding dresses being stained with pollen. Also, being a Valentine's Day wedding we would have been hard-pressed to find a florist with the time to create wedding flowers on their busiest day!
The caterers:
The catering was done by Hotel St Moritz's Lombardi restaurant. It was serve and share at each table. All the food was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious! No regrets with that decision!
Highlight of the day:
It was such a perfect day it is hard to choose a highlight! For me it was hearing the organ play the introduction to the song I walked down the aisle to; it was such a rush of nerves and excitement knowing I was about to see my groom and begin the rest of our lives. For Andries, the highlight was nailing our first dance (we had had lessons and it was a bit of a flashy number with lots of twirls and dips. It's fair to say our guests were awe-struck!)
The photographer and favourite photo:
Our photography and videography were done by Ever After - Wedding Photography & Videography. They had such great personalities and made us feel really comfortable when posing for photos. Their photographer had a great way of getting all the guests be in the right places and smile without being demanding.
It's hard to pick just one favourite photo so the photos that we have chosen to add here are a selection of our most loved.
