I got married, here's how it happened!

On February 5th, 2011, I got married. It had been a long time coming, since David had proposed much earlier and we intended to get married in 2008. Unfortunately, a small bout of cancer got in the way, and I refused to think about wedding planning until my hair was long again. Finally we decided we’d put if off long enough, and set a date (only three months off) then took a month to get invites sent out, at which point we’d done no other planning.
The next two months, obviously, were busy! Luckily I already had bought a dress back when we first got engaged, one thing at least off the list! But the day came along and we felt prepared, hoping our crazy schemes would play out smoothly!
The wedding, ceremony and reception were to be held at my parents property in the Hunter Valley, which has acres of landscaped garden and dozens of ponds. We knew the weather would be hot, because we wanted all the waterlilies and lotus flowering, which happens best in summer. But summer tricked us. Months of beautiful, mild weather had us feeling good, then the week of our wedding- HEAT WAVE! The day after the wedding, newspapers reported it was SYDNEY’S HOTTEST NIGHT IN RECORDED HISTORY. How many people can say that about their wedding night? 😉
So, let’s get started on the day. Here I am, getting ready in my family home. Hair and make up done, we’re all trying to battle the heat!

Time to get the dress on! Below is a photo of my mum and Maid of Honour, Meg, lacing me up. I bought the dress on ebay, one of those “custom made direct from chinese sewing factories” deals. I figured if it didn’t work, I’d only spent 1/5th the cost of a dress from a store here anyway. The dress wasn’t perfect, but still gorgeous. It had a stupidly long trail, which I had altered a few weeks before the wedding so it was all pinned and sewn up into bustles, and the red sash was also added as a final thought. I wore a hooped skirt underneath, which saved me from a lot of the affects of the heat. I barely felt like I was wearing such a big dress at all thanks to it! Ever since I watched The King and I as a kid, I wanted a gown with a skirt so big you couldn’t walk through a door. This is the closest I could get realistically, and yes, I had to squeeze to get through a standard doorway!
And time for the ceremony! The processional song was “Con te Partiro” by Andrea Bocelli. I totally made everyone wait so I’d arrive at the right time in the song, hehehe.

I make my arrival, with my (best Amy Pond impression) tiny little Dad! OK, so I’m wearing 6 inch heels…

And the ceremony is kept short and sweet so we don’t all die of heat stroke.

The celebrant is about to declare us married as long as no one objects… BUT OH NO! SOME ONE DOES!

A knightly herald appears and declares that we must win the right to marry on the field of battle! We are led to the fighting field to the sounds of the Imperial March (*sigh*, yes I allowed it…)

I select my champion, to joust for my right to marry my beloved and bestow a favour upon him. I choose the White Knight of course! (The black knight was tempting for a moment…)
And they joust! (In 40+ degree celsius heat!)

The White Knight wins! As much as the poor horse only wanted to back into the nearest shade, lol. Love is victorious! Everyone celebrates, HUZZAH!

And David and I are married 🙂

We sign…
And we celebrate! Somewhat relieved the ceremony all played out according to plan 😉 We managed to keep the entire jousting event hidden and secret from our guests for the big surprise! But there is more fun yet…
David’s wedding ring is made of meteorite. It’s awesome, and gives him superpowers.

We get called away from the fun for a bunch of posed photos. Here are my favourites…
Me and my parents-
Brand new Mister and Missus-




Then we’re back with everyone for the rest of a fun filled night. The speeches were hilarious. I even managed to yell out a “That’s what she said!” during one 🙂

Then we have to cut the cake! That cake tasted SO GOOD! Thanks to I Do Cupcakes of Gosford for the best tasting cake ever. Next to the cake we have a selection of fortune cookies I hand made! In vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavour with over 50 unique fortunes. And yes, later on in the night when all the cookies were gone, that giant martini glass saw some use.

And then we danced. Our wedding dance was to “I believe in a thing called love” by The Darkness. Yes, we choreographed. Yes we stuffed it up. But it was awesome. The dress was made for dancing!


And then we all partied the night away!