E M M A & J O N N Y
F R O M T H E B R I D E
We first met…
Jonny & I met through a mutual friend, in fact one of our lovely friends who photographed our wedding. We met in Norfolk England where I moved to work for a small family jewellers.
We knew it was love…
I always knew it was love, he was different to anyone else I had ever met and when Jonny took me to his families dairy farm on our first Christmas together, we went to one of the large fields and Jonny cut me my own fresh Christmas Tree I knew he was a keeper. Jonny and his dad took it and planted it outside my cottage door and we decorated it together, something special I will never forget.
The proposal…
Jonny proposed to me in November 2014. Apart from the wedding day it was the most special moment of my life. He put so much thought into the whole day. I was completely blown away. Jonny told me we were going to meet some clients he was going to do some work for, it was a stunning day barely a cloud in the sky. When we were near the airport we stopped for a small bite to eat and he then revealed we were not going to a clients house… he said his mum and dad had bought us a special Christmas present, a helicopter ride over Sydney. This seemed like something they would have done, as they had not long visited. It was spectacular we went all over Sydney harbour, Jonny wanted me to sit on one side so I could see the zoo, in fact it was to enable me to see a beach near the zoo.
In big bold letters was Emma Marry me. Jonny pulled of his seat belt kneeled down in the helicopter and proposed! It was out of this world! Our friends sorted out the beach and Jonny navigated the pilot, it all was truly amazing. We had a champagne picnic afterwards with friends then a special dinner in the evening with more friends. Everything was better than I ever imagined it to be. Poor Jonny had it cancelled the day before because of the weather so we were very lucky to have it when we did…poor thing had so much to change for the day after but all worked out and it was certainly a day to remember and we even have it all recorded.
Our dream wedding…
I always thought I would get married in England but once we actually came to plan the wedding we decided a destination wedding would be good for not only us but our families, a true break for us all where we got to spend a whole holiday together. We wanted the whole occasion to be not only relaxed but we wanted to enjoy a longer period of time with friends and family we had not seen for a long time. After our wedding in Fiji we were lucky enough to fly back to England and have a wedding reception weekend away at Carden Park Golf Resort & Spa with the rest of our family and friends back in England
The venue…
The ceremony was held in the beautiful Chapel in the Intercontinental Fiji and the reception was at The Water court at the Intercontinental Fiji.
Pre-wedding parties…
We had a pre wedding party for all our Australian friends at the beach club at Balmoral, as our families came here first it was a great way to start to our celebrations. In Fiji all our guests arrived a few days before the wedding, we had welcome drinks and dinner then the next few days everyone got to know each other.
The bridal party…
I had three bridesmaids, my best friend Sarah from England, my best friend Penny here and my friend’s daughter Riley who is like my little sister. Jonny originally had 3 Groomsmen, who he grew up with in the UK, two couldn’t make it because of distance and work commitments so he had Pip from LA as his best man!
Bridesmaids wore…
My bridesmaids all wore different dresses and to this day I am not too sure how they all were so close in colour. As they were from all different parts in the world and different ages it was difficult. They all chose their own and I just wanted to keep it comfortable and tropical. The older two girls wore Dessy dresses and Riley the youngest found and dress she felt comfortable in, I was lucky they all went together very well.
The groomsmen wore…
The groomsman & Jonny wore a black suit with white shirts & grey ties
The dress…
My wedding dress was very simple, something over the top would not have suited me or the surroundings. I wanted it to be fairly light weight. I wanted something completely plain I was able to accessorize as much or as little as possible. I got my dress from Marry Me in Mosman, it was St Patrick gown from the Selima Collection.
As I am a jeweller at Bill hicks Jewellery Design it was easy to accessorize. I got a beautiful broach that just added that little touch of sparkle.
The flowers…
We had frangipanis…yellow & white. When I was researching Fiji I knew these flowers would compliment the colours of the wedding and we were lucky they were in season
Decor…
We were lucky the intercontinental did everything for us and they really took note of our colour theme, they put lovely decorative touches on the tables from flowers to candles, they couldn’t have done more. The intercontinental did everything for us; they really went above and beyond for us. We took some bonbonnieree with us but they did all the flowers and decorations. Jane our wedding planner really pulled out all the stops for us!
The menu…
We had cocktail style drinks after the ceremony watching the sunset over the beach. We then had a beautiful Fijian buffet of fresh fish, prawns, roast lamb, duck, tropical salads and much more. We had a dessert buffet with raspberry moose, cheese cakes fresh fruits and even English bread and butter pudding.
Wedding favours…
My bridesmaid Penny and I hand made Fijian coconut candles, in our wedding colours with labels we designed, all made by hand for all the ladies, everyone received something sweet and we made gift bags for the children with fun things for each of them
Memorable moments…
The whole day and evening was memorable even after the numerous Fijian cocktails but there was certainly some entertainment when we are having our after ceremony drinks as the sunset. The two young flower girls in their pretty dresses showered themselves under a tap and took their clothes off running down the beach, by the time the smallest had kicked her underwear off with her foot our guests and the hotel residents were in stiches, it was very funny
Wedding soundtrack…
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Processional)
Bruno Mars – Marry you (Reception Song)
Honeymoon…
We had two days in Fiji just the two of us after our guests left then we flew back to England for a wedding reception in Cheshire then a Fijian party in Norfolk. We were very lucky we got to have 4 wedding celebrations with all our friends and family.
In the future we hope to…
Continue to stay happy and healthy and start a family.
In 40 years we hope to…
Still love each other, as much as we do now and be able to enjoy all life has to offer together.
W E D D I N G W I S D O M
Advice for enjoying the engagement…
Enjoy the time of being engaged its such an exciting time of your life with so many celebrations and special times to look forward too, enjoy the moment before all the wedding planning starts
Planning advice…
Talk to each other and decide what is going to make you both happy not others, its your day and you want to look back on it and say it was everything you both wanted.
Advice for enjoying the day…
Its your day so make sure you take the time for you, your guests and bridal party will take care of themselves. Take a moment just the two of you at some point in the day to look around and see what all the hard work has been for, watch everyone enjoying themselves, the day goes pretty quickly so savour every moment.
Dress San Patrick from Marry Me Bridal Jewellery Bill Hicks Jewellery Design (Wedding rings made by the bride!) Venue, styling and planning Intercontinental Fiji Resort and Spa