Mel and Brad married in a picturesque wedding ceremony in Queestown this Autumn.
When and where did you meet: Back in the winter of 2005 I was on my working holiday OE in Queenstown working at a café when we first met. Brad used to come in daily to get a mocha and cheese rolls while reading the sports pages. Six months down the line my girlfriend had arranged a helicopter flight through Brad for my birthday, knowing that I quite liked him and vice versa. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good so it was cancelled. We exchanged numbers to reschedule, then later on that week we texted about meeting up, which happened that Friday night, and it all went from there.
The proposal: We were over on the Gold Coast on holiday. It was the third day of the holiday. Brad couldn’t wait any longer so with dinner booked at Moo Moo restaurant he decided that was the day, 29th August 2010. The proposal happened in our hotel room at the Crowne Plaza onthe balcony. Brad made me sit on the couch for a chat, then he pulled the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. Of course I said ''yes''!
Where was the wedding: We decided to have the wedding here in Queenstown because it was a great excuse to get all my family over from the UK to see where we live andto experience New Zealand. Brad was born in Queenstown, so what better place to get married than in his home town. The ceremony was held at Thurlby Domain on Speargrass Rd, Dalefield. After the ceremony we were helicoptered from Thurlby up to the Ledge on Cecil Peak by The Helicopter Line. Absolutely amazing. We took our bridal party and photographer. Being on the Ledge was incredible and to be there with our groomsmen and bridesmaids made it even more special. The photos are truly spectacular. After the photo shoot we flew across to Skyline for the reception.
Why did you choose the venue: Being autumn we knew we wanted to get married outside in the beautiful colours at a venue that offered options for an outdoor wedding and a wet-weather option (a barn). Luckily the weather was amazing and we were married under a tree in the clearing by the ruins. Another reason for choosing Thurlby was that we knew we could chopper from the venue. We chose Skyline Queenstown because the view says it all. With so many family and friends travelling from the UK, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Australia there wasn’t a better venue to show case Queenstown.
The dress: I had planned to buy the dress in New Zealand, but then new direct flights came out to Melbourne so I took advantage and booked a ticket. I flew over to Melbourne last May for the weekend with fantastic shopping advisers, my friend Kirsty from work and my now mother-in-law. A few friends had recommended Lisa Ho, so it was our first stop. I tried on a few dresses and could have gone with any of them. The shop assistant picked out a strapless dress, so I tried it on and it was the one (very cliché), and I knew it would suit the setting and theme of the wedding. Instantly loved it and was given the thumbs up by my lovely advisers.
The bridesmaids' dresses: This could have proved a bit tricky with my bridesmaids in the UK and one in Sydney. I had left it with my sister to pick the dresses but she got tied up with studying, so I started to look online at the end of the British summer. I found the dresses on Coast UK in it's end-of-summer sale. I wanted something that the girls would wear again and a style that would suit all of them. The colour fitted in perfectly with the autumn colours.
The flowers: A girlfriend did my flowers and they were stunning. My bouquet was a layered rustic arrangement with Swan Lake calla lilies bound in ivory ribbon. The girls' bouquets were long-stemmed Swan Lake lilies tied in a matching pink ribbon, and the boys wore Swan Lake buttonholes. We decided not to have flowers at the ceremony as we didn’t need them with the stunning backdrop, and up at Skyline we had pressed autumn leaves lining the centre piece vase, with vanilla-scented candles. The name place cards were pressed leaves, which fitted in with the autumn theme.
The caterers: In2Food did our stunning canapés at Thurlby Domain, and Skyline catered for the reception. We wanted to have a classy sit-down meal with food that show cased the South Island. There was rack of lamb, monkfish and scallops. We decided to have the wedding cake for dessert. Jenny Lomond, a local baker, made a delicious cake of three layers (chocolate orange, chocolate mudcake, chocolate layer cake) decorated n chocolate fondant with hand-painted chocolate leaves.
Highlight of the day: The highlight of the day was holding each other’s hands reading our vows, looking at all our family and friends knowing that they were all there to love and support us in our marriage. It was topped by leaving the ceremony by helicopter and having our photos up on the Ledge. It’s not every day you go in a helicopter, let alone stand on the Ledge overlooking the view of Queenstown, breathtaking.
Your photographer and favourite photo: Our photographer was Miles Holden. He has a great reputation in Queenstown so we knew he was the man for the job. He did the most fantastic job and they are the best wedding photos I’ve ever seen. My favourite is the one of Brad and I standing on the edge of the ledge kissing.
