Wedding of the Week: Geoff and Rebecca Stevenson

posal:

We had talked about getting married for a while. We had discussed the ring and some plans but I wasn't going to push it. I knew that one day it would happen. I was at the Cromwell races one Sunday and got a phone call asking me when I was finished there if I would like to go ring shopping! Of course I dropped everything right there and then and was, of course, totally free!

Where was the wedding:

We got married in front of vintage doors draped with toile in the garden of the Golden Gate Lodge in Cromwell. A beautiful small garden area and courtyard tucked behind the reception venue was perfect for us and the 60 attending guests. We had Glennys Logan as our celebrant, and she was just wonderful. A beautifully calm person with attention to detail, she organised us perfectly on the day amongst all our nerves.

The wedding:

We were very aware that all of our family members and some friends would have to travel a fair distance to attend this wedding and therefore wanted something local to us. The Golden Gate Conference Centre was perfect for this. We totally transformed a conference room into a warm, vintage styled reception venue which was just so perfect.

Silk lining draped the roof and wall, which was lit up with fairy lights. Vintage books and doilies were used with wooden crates to create a soft centrepiece filled with flowers and lit by soft candles. Vintage-style drink canisters and paper straws set the theme for ''cocktail hour'' and where some family photos were taken after the ceremony. Food provided was cheese and fruit served on oak barrel platters, with dips and spreads and a selection of locally made breads.

The dress:

I bought my dress from The House of Kavina in Dunedin. With help from Carmen, from the House of Kavina, we found my dress. I totally love this dress! It fitted me and my body shape so perfectly! I got so many great comments on the day about the dress. It's an Essence of Australia gown in lace. Carmen handmade the cap sleeves for me too, which finished it perfectly.

The bridesmaids' dresses:

I bought these from overseas. It was a very hard decision as both my girls don't live near me! Kristina lives in America and Janet down south, so I was on my own when picking them. It was a hard decision. Both girls are very differently shaped and I wanted to take this into consideration, as I wanted them to be comfortable for the whole day. I always knew it was going to be blue as the colour, but what shade was another question. After trying to find a Tiffany blue that didn't look too green, I decided on a sky blue. With both girls being blonde it suited them down to the ground. At knee length to show off their great legs and with sparkly shoes on their feet, the girls looked beautiful. The flower girls were in little dresses bought from America.

The flowers:

I had book locally for my florist, but the months before the wedding it was sold and the new owners weren't doing any weddings! I was gutted on hearing this news. So I decided that we would do our own flowers. I had worked as an assistant florist on Hayman Island in Australia many years ago, and one of my mother's very close friends is a whiz with flowers. On the day Mum and Lesley did all the flowers in vintage crates for the table displays and I did my flowers and the bridesmaids' flowers. I was lucky enough that my cousin gifted me calla lilies from his lily farm at Wakefield, Nelson. It was a little stressful! I bought some flowers from a lady in Tarras and then asked locals if I could have any roses. The response was amazing.

The caterers:

All the food was provided by the staff at the Golden Gate. Being a chef, there was a bit of pressure on. We rewrote the menu to suit us and the staff totally amazed us. The food was beautiful. All our guests still comment on the roast beef!

We had a build-your-own Caesar salad station, warm new potatoes with chive cream fraiche, steamed seasonal vegetables with hollandaise sauce, soy and chilli roasted chicken, a carvery station with hot ham and roast beef and warm bread rolls. For dessert there was an icecream station with three flavours, plus chocolate sauce, m&m's and sprinkles, tiramisu and mini lemon tarts. No one left hungry.

The wedding cake was made by Cakes by Kim in Clyde, and was delicious. It was of three tiers, with lemon cake filled with lemon curd on the bottom, then chocolate mud with chocolate butter cream filling, topped off with an orange blossom cake with vanilla butter cream. It was wonderfully decorated in my soft blue tones with lacework on the middle tier and topped with a bride and groom and our two dogs, Buster and Cooper. It was everything we wanted and more. Kim did an amazing job.

Highlight of the day:

Hard one to answer, there were so many. Seeing my best friend waiting for me as I walked up the aisle was pretty special. The fact that family and friends from all over the world chose to spend that moment with us. That's pretty cool.

The photographer:

We choose Tim Hawkins of Central Lakes Photography to capture our special day. He was perfect in every way. Tim has a gentle soul, a kind nature and a great way with people, so it was very easy to spend the day with him. The kids loved him! He definitely captured the heartwarming love that we all have for everyone on that day. My favourite shot is one of all of us just hanging out, not realizing that he was taking a photo. Plus there is a shot of me which is awesome, I just look deep in thought, a thousand miles away.

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