Whitney & Grant’s Wedding

We spent every evening on the phone and learned everything about the other. When we finally got to meet in person again it was like we’d known each other our whole lives.

‘Grant took me to our favourite lake for a walk and spent a few stressful laps walking around it worrying he’d never find a spot without onlookers! He knew I wanted a very private proposal. I was in a very grumpy mood and absolutely not looking my best and despite having talked about it a lot, I was completely shocked when he popped the question. It was not a spectacular proposal but it was perfect for us.

‘I went to a few dress sales at different shops and didn’t really find anything I liked. I already had an idea of what I wanted in my head – simple, no lace, no chiffon. I booked an appointment with Wilkins Bridal and April was so helpful and lovely. I was torn between two dresses. April helped me realise I liked the idea of one dress more than I actually liked the dress, so I went with the other and it was 100 per cent the right decision.

‘I always wanted to get married in a greenhouse but I couldn’t find anything that really ticked that box or would work practically with the amount of people we wanted to attend. I did a set-up for another wedding for my job at the time at the Ilex and instantly fell in love. It was so light and spacious and central yet private. I didn’t even look anywhere else after that, I just booked in a viewing.

‘Our ceremony was the most important part for us. We put a lot of emphasis on ceremony details such as drinks from a champagne wall when guests arrived to encourage mingling and chats. We wanted to serve a decent afternoon tea (fried chicken and chips, one of Grant’s few requests!) and served the wedding cake as well, so that we could still really celebrate with those who we couldn’t have at the reception.

‘We wrote our vows together as we thought we should both be entering into marriage with promises we both had discussed together and would truly be able to honour for our whole lives.

I wanted to include my mum in some way while still honouring the tradition of my dad walking me down the aisle, so she walked my flower girls down first and it was absolutely lovely and she was so happy.

Grant produced/remixed songs for my entry and our registry signing and we had our most important people do readings and sign the registry. The whole thing just went perfectly.

‘The reception venue was largely dictated by which venues had a commercial kitchen and would allow me to cater myself. I’m a trained chef and was working as a pastry chef up until Covid and had worked extensively in catering and knew I could do food that we loved at a fraction of the cost. We loved that the Mt Pleasant Community Centre gave us freedom to do whatever we liked and tied in with the geometrical/modern look of the Ilex too.

‘I hired the décor of my dreams and was able to transform the hall into a beautiful fairy-tale-like reception. I was so happy with how it turned out on our budget.

We hired a bar fridge and had a self-service-style bar which worked for our guests who weren’t heavy drinkers, and we had our dance floor outside on the deck with fairy lights.

‘Grant and I wanted our first act as a married couple to be serving those most important to us, so with the help of our bridal party we served everyone dinner at the buffet.

‘The speeches were touching and Grant’s family did a haka for us that was so special. We exited the evening through a tunnel of arms and ran outside to find our little car had been decked out with Just married signs and cans. It was a perfect evening.’