TO VOTE CLICK ON YOUR FAVOURITE COUPLE IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.
Voting opens 10am Monday 4 April and closes 10am Monday 11 April.
Rebecca (Whitaker) O'Kane (29) activities coordinator & massage therapist and Philip O'Kane (41) massage therapist and lamb boner. Invercargill.
Where and when did you meet?
We met as students in 2012, both studying for a degree in massage therapy at the Southern Institute of Technology. We were class enemies initially, both competing for top student...but you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer... we became friends and a group of us started salsa dance classes together. Slowly the group got smaller till it was just the two of us, and we were dancing together regularly. Friendship and then romance blossomed over the course of our 3 year degree.
The proposal
We had talked and joked about getting married quite a bit, one night after enjoying a theatre show in town, we were sitting in front of the fire chatting... and Phil just popped the question. I actually thought he was joking and it took him a while to convince me that even though he didn't have a ring (he'd been hunting) that this was the real deal. It was very spontaneous, he rung my dad the next morning to get his blessing which my family were very excited about.
When and where was the wedding?
We were married on the 24th October 2015 (Labour weekend) in Invercargill, at the Rosedale Bible Chapel, the church.
Why did you choose the venue?
We attend church at Rosedale. It was a simple indoor venue, which we wanted to keep costs down as we had a very small budget, but also I didn't want to stress over the wedding 'weather' situation. The chapel, church hall and foyer gave us a blank canvas to work with... they were decked out to the nines! We had a vintage theme which we had been collecting and borrowing props for a few months. Phil built some vintage lemonade type stands out of old pallets for food servery and he built the best photo booth ever, we had a ton of fun in it and guests took full advantage!
The dresses and suits
My dress was a brand new made to fit chiffon strapless dress with a ruched bodice. I won it on Trademe for $21... who gets a wedding dress made to fit for $21? I wore a vintage look beaded bolero over the top. I had three bridesmaids, they wore matching flowers in their hair and bouquets but the dresses were floral prints and a deep purple for the maid of honour. Phil, who didn't want the fuss of groomsmen, wore black pants, a purple striped shirt (purple was our theme colour), and a grey waistcoat.
The caterers
One of my bridesmaids boyfriends caters on the side. We had experienced his food expertise on several occasions and flew him down from Christchurch to cater our wedding. He did an amazing job and we had so many comment on the food and no food wastage at the end. We had a baked potato buffet with a wide variety of designer salads and fillings and we had a pie competition for the guests to enter a dessert pie with the chef as the judge, this was very popular amongst guests.
Highlight of the day
So many highlights, one just stopping throughout the day to capture the moments in my memory. We had people travel from all over NZ and family from the Islands travel to the deep south to share our day. It was so amazing seeing and feeling the support from so many loved ones. My other highlight was my husband had written his own vowels for me... there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd when he finished!
Our photographer
My uncle is a professional photographer who took all the pro shots at the wedding. We had a few roving photographer friends who captured other moments of the day. How do I choose one favourite photo... there are so many... my favourites were some of the more informal photo booth snaps.
