Good morning beauties!
A while ago I mentioned I was working on an exciting new part to More Than Makeup and that is a new feature called 'Real Weddings'. Throughout the year I am going to be bringing you stories from bride's all over the globe and advice that they would give to future brides. Ange has kindly written about her Rarotongan Wedding which your about to hear about. If you would like to be featured please just let me know!
Without further or do...
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| Angle Photo & Video Photography / Image provided by NZ Real Health |
Willy and I decided to have a beachside island wedding in the Cook Islands! We figured that if we were going to fork out thousands of dollars for a wedding, we might as well put it towards a holiday at the same time; plus our guests would get a holiday too.
I like to keep things as simple as possible so we bought a package deal with Wedded Bliss Rarotonga, a wedding planning company, which covered off the majority of the things we needed including a basic photography package. Then all we had to do was add any extras we wanted such as additional photos or more flowers, and arrange the reception food with the resort we were staying at.
Wedded Bliss had just three packages which made deciding easy, and we chose their middle option to fit with our budget. Muri Beach Resort where we had our reception also had an easy pre-determined menu option to choose from, so this was probably about as simple as wedding planning can get!
A former high school friend had previously bought the same package and highly recommended them, so I had faith that our wedding would go well. The biggest problem with getting married overseas is that you can't meet planners in person and you can't see the venue, cake or flowers until the day of your wedding unless you make an advanced trip to scout things out, so there is a lot of trust involved and a LOT of emailing.
Our wedding planner made sure everything happened on the day along with the manager of Muri Beach Resort (though nobody can control island time or weather so if you want an island wedding, be prepared for things to potentially not happen according to schedule! Our big day was crazy windy).
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| Angle Photo & Video Photography / Image provided by NZ Real Health |
We knew we wanted to go somewhere that wasn't New Zealand to celebrate, and Rarotonga was an easy option. Travel time there is relatively short and deals often come up for flights and accommodation so we knew it would be easier for our friends and family to attend. We also liked it that we could use New Zealand dollars there which meant we didn't need to worry about currency conversion.
Our wedding ceremony was by the beach at Muri Beach Resort (my preference was for on the beach, but it was too windy on the day and turned out to be a better option anyway as it's difficult to walk on soft sand in wedding shoes and dresses!), then the reception was close by at the resort's restaurant.
The florist
Our flowers were mostly included in our package. All the bouquets, buttonholes, cake adornments and venue flowers were made with fragrant frangipanis which are my favourite flower.
The music
I walked down the aisle to I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, an island string band played just after the ceremony while the guests mingled (which was part of our package deal; you're probably already getting a feel for just how much value we got), and we had our first dance to So True by The Black Seeds.
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| Angle Photo & Video Photography / Image provided by NZ Real Health |
The dress
I spotted 'the dress' at the Bride & Groom Show; it was the first one I saw when I entered the room at Calla Bridal's stand. Not only that, but my maid of honour saw her ideal dress at the same place so we made a booking with them to try on dresses at their boutique in Newmarket.
On the day of our appointment, I tried on 'the dress' along with a number of others just because it somehow seemed wrong that the first one I'd seen would be the one I would end up buying (and I also wanted to humour my mother who wanted to see me in more than just one dress). When I'd previously dreamed of what my wedding dress would look like, I imagined a sleek, lace backless dress with a V-neck. When I tried them on, the lace dresses just felt itchy and they had too much fabric underneath or were too form-fitting which didn't appeal as we would be getting married on an island in humidity under the hot sun.
I wanted a dress that was very light, breezy, had some kind of embellishment, and at least a small train. Nothing I tried on compared to the first dress I had seen, and after around six dresses I knew the first dress I had seen was the right one. Calla Bridal took my measurements as the dress was made to order, and after just one more visit to the shop the dress was mine and fit like a glove!
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| Angle Photo & Video Photography / Image provided by NZ Real Health |
The photographs
We used the photographer recommended by our wedding planner, Angle Photo & Video. The package we bought already included some shots of just the two of us, but we paid extra to have our guests photographed and to have additional photo shoots at several other locations. We had some beautiful shots taken at a ruined building site, jumped around in the sand for some action shots, and my dress had a close encounter with some goat poop in a field!
Everyone seemed to be getting softly lit photos in pastels at the time, so I wanted bright, fun and colourful images. We took along our own props which included cream parasols, some handmade bunting, and personalized sunglasses in our theme colours which all our guests received as well.
We broke tradition and chose to have our photos taken before the ceremony (so yes, the husband saw me in my dress before we went down the aisle!). This meant we were fresh for our photos and our guests wouldn't have to wait around for hours while we had pictures taken. We also had a stop motion video taken instead of a regular video.
Advice to other brides
You might think that getting crafty and creative will save you money but it really doesn't; the time and effort involved, not to mention the stress if/when it goes wrong is magnified because your wedding is at stake. We made our own invitations, individual name cards for the tables, menus... So much gluing and cutting and editing - you get over it pretty quickly. The personal touch is great and everything looked amazing in the end but I still wish I'd just paid someone else to sort it all.
It seems to be pretty normal for at least one guest to throw a tantrum on the day, so mentally prep yourself for it (then if nothing happens you can be pleasantly surprised).
Also, if you get married overseas and have your guests with you, book at least part of your stay elsewhere. While we loved having our friends and family with us, we had people on our doorstep every day and barely had any time to ourselves which is something you appreciate as newlyweds!
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