Megan Sachtler nee O'Brien 21, registered nurse Dunedin
When and where did you meet? Adam and I met when I was in 4th form at school and Adam was in 7th form. We met in July 2006 and started dating August 2006. We met online through social media Bebo through a mutual friend. So basically were high school sweethearts which is pretty cool.
The proposal: The proposal was in July 2010 and was more of a discussion between us both, we had talked for years about how we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.
We were watching television and on one of the programmes they had a couple that got engaged. Adam turned to me and said "I Wonder when we'll get engaged"? I replied and said "Well not much will really change in our relationship". Adam then responded saying "well why don't we do it then?". I wasn't sure whether he was serious or not and said to Adam "Are you sure"? really excitedly and he replied that "Yes he wanted to be with me for the rest of his life". I couldn't contain the excitement so had to ring one of my good friends, then told Adam we couldn't say anything until he asked dad. So we sat there that night planning what Adam should say to dad and the following day he asked dad in which he said yes and then we bought my engagement ring.
Where was wedding? Our wedding was 12.01.13 at East Taieri church in Mosgiel and we had our reception at Grandview Gardens in Outram. It was such a special day as we had family and friends from Norway, Australia, Napier, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Auckland come down to share our day with us. We really wanted to get married at East Taieri church because it was where I (Megan) grew up going to church since I was a little girl and we lived in Mosgiel.
We loved Grandview as a venue for our reception because we both loved the central/country feel that it has. Both Adam and I grew up spending a lot of time on farms and the atmosphere at Grandview is beautiful yet relaxed. At Grandview we loved that there were numerous places for exquisite photographs to be taken and it was a venue that guests would love to spend time in wandering the gardens and having a few beverages. We loved that at Grandview we could supply our own beverages and find our own caterer so out wedding was much more personalised to what we wanted.
Wedding dress: I bought my dress from Je Taime Bridal wear and I bought it 18 months before my wedding. I tried on numerous dresses before I found the right dress as what I thought in my head I wanted was completely different once on. My dress was from the brand Moonlight, was ivory and came from America, and my Veil was a one off hand made piece by Joy the manager of Je Taime. I also got my jewellery from Je Taime gorgeous earrings and a bracelet which topped the look off. I had to get a few alterations made before the big day, getting the hem taken up and the straps tightened but it looked just perfect on the day.
Bridesmaid dresses: I bought my bridesmaid dresses from Refind Rig in Dunedin. They came from Australia and were one shoulder, full length and a grape colour. One of my bridesmaids was from Australia so I sent her dress to her, and my other two bridesmaids were in Dunedin. The dresses looked great on all three of my bridesmaids given they all have different skin, hair colour and body shape which could have proved to be a bit of a mission.
Florist: Rebecca Cameron Flowers was my florist for our wedding. I knew in my head straight away that I wanted white lilies because those were flowers Adam had always given me on special occasions. I wanted to bring in and tie in the colours from my bridesmaid dresses so had purple hydrangeas in the bridesmaids bouquets with some white lilies in the middle.
Adam and his groomsmen had white roses and the fathers and granddads had white roses also. Our mothers and nanas all had white Lillie corseage bracelets to tie in the theme of lilies. Rebecca was great at paying attention to detail and from my rough description of what i wanted she got it bang on.
Caterer: Our caterer was Dot Finch a family friend from Kaitangata. She had done numerous weddings and functions before, but had never worked at Grandview Gardens but in spite of this did a fantastic job. We were able to personalise our menu to what we wanted and also bought all the food in the large quantities we needed as a way of sticking to budget.
Highlight of your day: The highlight for the day for both of us was when I walked down the isle and saw Adam and Adam saw me. It was a really emotional and heartfelt moment and as if the waiting to get married was finally worth the wait (2 and a half years!).
Photographer: Our photographer was Lisa Reid who my family had known for years through East Taieri Church. Lisa had worked a lot of weddings at Grandview so it was great she knew the area to get the perfect photos. Lisa made us feel so relaxed on the day and our photos were all really natural and so gorgeous it is hard to choose just one favourite. She set our album up perfectly and we left everything in her trusted hands which i am really pleased we did.
