Tayla & Sam - Bali Proposal

Tayla's Bridesmaid's wear: Cairo Dress, Be Mine Dress, New Beginnings Dress, Frida Dress, Bow Slip

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Marry Me Sam asked me when we were on holiday in Bali with our friends. He suggested we go for a bike ride and I had no clue what was about to happen even though I thought it was really strange that no one else wanted to come and watch the sunset with us! We sat on the beach at the famous sunset point in Gili T and popped open a few bintangs and he pulled a ring out of the backpack and popped the question. I was so shocked and taken completely by surprise! 

The wedding was in Gisborne which is where I am from. We were very lucky in some respects as it was still able to go ahead in level 1. We both live in Auckland and our date was the 20th of February - the weekend after Auckland had gone into level 3 lockdown. Half our guests and all of the groomsmen were coming from those ways so we were extremely lucky and grateful when the restrictions lifted a couple days prior.

I started out with a 70s style theme in mind with lots of brassware, macrame, woolen blankets and orange tones. But it somehow evolved into me going for all the colour everywhere. Our amazing florist did an incredible job at brining my vision to life. I really felt like I had stepped straight into my Pinterest board on the day. 

It was a real roller coaster the week leading up as we didn’t know if half of our guests would be able to come or whether they would still be in lockdown! When the day came we were both just so elated to be able to have our dream day with everyone we loved present. The food and the band was amazing and people were up all night dancing and having fun, that was all I wanted and it was perfect. 

My realest tip for all of my bride to be friends has been not to do a DIY wedding. Although I loved how our day came together, the lead up was not as enjoyable as after it was all done I felt I would have had just as much of an amazing night if we had gone with a venue that did it all - the stress (especially the days either side) is just not fun for yourself or anyone! And as a side note- be nice to your mother (or equivalent parental figure), this is basically their day too!
My husband and I also have said that if we could do it again we would probably go for a first look, or at least give some more consideration to the idea! I would definitely encourage future brides to consider it. The day is over so fast and it feels like you spend a lot of it away from everyone who made the effort to be there with you to celebrate.

Oh it’s so hard to pick one moment! I loved all of it so much. I would love to hear my husbands vows in person again. That would be super special. I also loved the moment just after the first dance when all the speeches and the formal stuff was over. It was so nice to let loose and have fun with everyone that we love all together in one place! And the gin shots from tea cups were not a bad shout at this point. 

Hair - @messybun_nz
Furniture hire - @flockevents
Photographer- @michael.shultz.photography
Florist- @field0froses