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It's been four months since Gemma, our last Bride columnist waltzed  down the isle (click here to check out her gorgeous wedding album). We followed her adventure of the lifetime - from the cute proposal, the hunt for the perfect dress and even the good ol' Hen's night! Now we're back and ready to do it all over again - but this time we've got two brides sharing the journey with us! Sarah Edwards is the winner of our Diary of Bride competition - she's a Wellingtonian nzgirl who is planning on getting married next March. Our other bride is Lauren Andrews, co-creator and owner of the recently launched wedding planning website, theBIGstep.co.nz. With Lauren as an insider in the wedding industry and Sarah as the typical nzgirl, we thought it would be awesome to show you the two different sides behind wedding preparation! So, here are our first entries from our gorgeous brides, Sarah and Lauren...
Sarah
My partner Dave and I have been together for nine years, we own our own home and have two dogs. On our nine year anniversary (September 11, 2007 – terrible date I know but at least we remember it) Dave decided to pop the question.
The day before our anniversary he took my best friend shopping for a ring and even asked my Dad for my hand in marriage. On the morning of our anniversary Dave called me into the hallway saying he had an anniversary present for me and I called back that I hadn’t got him anything. Then next minute he was on bended knee and asking f I would marry him. I didn’t even say yes,I just stood on the spot in shock.Finally I took the ring and we went around to my parents house and broke the news.
I had never really cared about getting married actually I didn’t really like the idea at all and figured that since we had the house and the fur-kids how could being engaged or getting married change our relationship or make it better? So I was surprised at how blown away and happy I was. I was also amazed at how many people were excited for us, old family friends were sending cards and I announced that I got engaged during my team meeting and my boss stopped the meeting and took us to a cafe near work and brought us a bottle of bubbles. It made me realise that even if you have been together for as long as we had, people still loved the idea of couples getting married.
 In March this year I still hadn’t started planning or thought about a date until I was bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding. Her wedding was fantastic - they were so happy to be together and made their wedding day exactly how they wanted. It hit me that a wedding could be all about you as a couple and suddenly I wanted to do it.
We didn’t really know where to start. Over a couple of drinks with my family we started discussing what sort of wedding would suit us. Ideas started coming and we came up with an outdoorsy casual wedding with our wedding day being somewhere during March 2009. Both our birthdays are in March so if we had our wedding during that month we would never forget our anniversary.
So all going well and as long as we find an outdoorsy casual venue in Wellington - March 2009 here we come down the aisle!
Lauren
When Reece and I started dating 12 years ago, he had his ear pierced and I complimented lip gloss with black eyeliner…used as lip liner. It was an interesting year – good old 1996. Alanis Morissette won Album of the Year at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, Braveheart won the Best Picture Oscar at the 68th Academy Awards and Prince Charles and Princess Diana were formally divorced. After experiencing the highs and lows of college, university and working in the 'real world' together, we are finally ready to take our BIG step…
One weekday afternoon, Reece nonchalantly suggested we go up to Waiouru (by the Desert Road) to visit my little brother, who is stationed in the Army there. He suggested after we visit with him, we continue on to Ohakune to visit some of his family.
 So we headed north from Wellington to Waiouru that Sunday morning. For some reason though, Reece suggested that instead of driving on to see his family, we go for dinner and stay somewhere nice for the night. I jokingly suggested that we stay at the Chateau Tongariro. To my surprise, he said ‘okay’ – no way was I going to turn that down! As we pulled into the car park at the Chateau, Reece informed me that he had already booked a room. He then opened the boot of the car to reveal a slew of tramping gear. To my surprise, he said he had arranged for us to do the Tongariro Crossing the following day, something I’ve always wanted to do but never had the chance to try. I hadn’t exercised in three months, and he wanted me to climb a mountain! Obviously, I got suspicious. I thought, “If he’s going to propose, he’ll do it on the mountain.” So when we climbed to the top, and then stumbled back down to the bottom, my suspicions were pretty much squashed. I assumed we were heading straight back to Wellington, but then he threw me another curve ball. When we returned to The Chateau, Reece informed me that he’d booked another night!  In addition to the tramping gear, Reece had also packed a bag filled with my nice clothes, jewellery and makeup…so you have to give him credit for preparation! After a long hot shower, we headed out to the balcony before making our way down to dinner. As we stood there admiring the beautiful grounds and mountains, he proposed. It was unbelievably romantic, and my ring is just gorgeous! As I work in the wedding industry, our friends all assume that I have the whole event already planned. To their amazement, it couldn’t be further from the truth. The wedding is nine months away, and Reece and I have set a date, booked a venue, celebrant and photographer – lots more to do! All I can tell you is that we are having a marquee wedding on the beach in a popular holiday destination in the Wairarapa. It is one of our favourite places to visit in summertime! There's not much to it, apart from a dairy, golf course, tennis court and beach - but that's what makes it so fantastic. Here are my top 5 things I suggest you think about when you first start planning: 1: Discuss what kind of wedding you BOTH want. Be honest with each other and make sure you’re on the same page before you start booking anything.
2: Discuss your finances. Be realistic – you may have to compromise on certain things. The less expectations you have, the less likely you are to be disappointed. You can’t have a $50k wedding for $10k, and that’s all there is to it.
3: You can’t plan a wedding without a budget! Find out who is willing to pay for what.
4:You have two choices when it comes to guests. You can book a venue that dictates your guest numbers, or you can sort out your guest list and then look for a venue that will accommodate your numbers.
5: Research! Whether it’s venues, photographers, florists or cake makers, it pays to look and ask around. The weddings that run the smoothest are the ones that have been thought out and planned well in advance.
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