Adrian and Renee

Adrian and I were married on the 17th July 2012, at the Outrigger on the Lagoon, Fiji.

The way that Adrian and I met was rather funny. Having both recently  come out of a short term relationship when we met, we weren’t looking for anything too serious. We were both on a night out with our friends at a nightclub in Darwin, having a dance and a few drinks when we started chatting. To this day Adrian tells me that he didn’t say this, but it’s a line I will never forget him saying – “when the light hit you, you blinded me with the shine from your very beauty”. I remember thinking it was the lamest line I had ever heard, which made it even funnier because he was trying to impress me. It was quite cute.

I had always wanted to wear a pair of pink peep toe flats with a pink material pom pom at the toe. Being as creative as I am, I dyed a pair of gold shoes that I already owned pink. I wanted to wear and make a pair of shoes that you couldn’t buy in a store, and that also showed off my creative flair.

When it came to the flowers, I also had a few different ideas in mind. I went from wanting Tulips, to Roses to a mixture of flowers that I never previously knew existed! I finally decided on pink and white Peonies. Due to the wedding being in Fiji, I decided to go with artificial flowers so that I was able to keep my bouquet and display it forever.

It took me a long time to find my dress, as my expectations of what I wanted were very high. I wore a fitted mermaid gown by Mori Lee. The bodice was surrounded by lines of Swarovski Crystal embellishments, with off white lace added to the bodice of the gown, to make it a bit more “me”.

As all my bridesmaids were different shapes and sizes, I wanted them to pick a dress that they would be comfortable in. I chose a specific colour for each of the girls, pale pink, pale green and cream. I chose these softer colours as it tied in well with our theme for the day. As the girls are all from different parts of the country, the wedding day was the first time I saw them all together in their dresses and I must say, I was a little worried the styles wouldn’t work together! As soon as I saw all of them in their dresses I felt so relieved and excited that my vision of what I wanted for the girls had turned out better than I could have imagined! From the hair to the accsessories, it was all just perfect.

The boys wore a simple charcoal pant and vest, teamed with white shirts and black ties.

When it came time for me to get into my wedding dress, I was going through a bunch of mixed feelings. I was excited because it was finally time to wear my wedding dress, but I was also starting to get a bit nervous because in an hour I was about to be married to man of my dreams. It was so overwhelming, but the moment I saw Adrian it all became worth it.

When we first picked Fiji I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. Having to organise everything through email made it really hard to have a visual idea of what we were wanting. The staff at the Outrigger were so friendly, the Fijian people were more than happy to help us out with anything we needed assistance with. This made our stay in Fiji more memorable because they made us feel like we were not just their guests, but part of their Fijian family. This made our wedding and trip even more special.

We wanted to have an outdoor ceremony and reception, however the weather wasn’t looking the best for an outdoor wedding. It had been very windy, with rain a few days before the wedding. Our wedding coordinator came up with a back up plan just in case the weather turned bad. Lucky for us, the weather was lovely, but the more I went to have a look at the back up venues, the more I feel in love with them, so we decided to hold our ceremony in the Chapel overlooking the resort.

I chose to walk down the aisle to ‘The One’ by Elton John. This song meant something to me and it expressed how I feel about Adrian.

The thing I remember most about our wedding is the ceremony and saying our vows. Because Adrian was unsure of what to write in our vows, I helped him out with them, just to make things easier. From the moment he started reading his vows to me, the look on his face gave me goosebumps. In that moment I was so happy that I nearly burst into tears. When the time came to say “I Do”, it gave me so much relief. It’s going to be a moment I will remember forever.

We chose Karen Parr Photographer to capture our day. Karen is from Adrian’s home town of Inverell, and had photographed a friend’s wedding day. As soon as we saw her photos, I knew that she was the photographer we had been looking for!

To add a personal touch to the reception, we transported a few little bits and pieces with us to Fiji. The room was decorated with fairy lights, white paper lanterns, silver table runners and crystal candle holders.

When it came time for the speeches, I was so emotional that I forgot my original speech, so I needed to make something up on the spot! I have never been so overcome with happiness – it made me so at peace and happy with where our lives were heading – a fresh start as a married couple.

Going into our first dance without any dancing lessons, we just went with the flow. We danced to ‘Falling In’ by Lifehouse.

There were so many really great moments at our wedding. From getting ready, saying our vows at the ceremony, seeing the reception setup for the first time, the speeches, to our first dance. All memories of an amazing night that Adrian, myself and our family and friends will never forget.

Our wedding day was the best day ever, it was all we could have wanted and more.

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Ms Gingham says: I love the vintage figurine cake topper!! Those peonies look so real too! Gorgeous wedding Renee. Thanks for sharing!

Renee says:  “Adrian and I have been together since 2007. We got engaged in January 2011, a day before Adrian was to go overseas!”