Location of Wedding: United Church of Christ, Norwell, MA

Location of Reception:           Scituate Country Club, Scituate, MA

Cake Maker:                           Montilio’s Bakery

DJ:                                          Drew @ Good Times Unlimited

First Dance Song:                   “Perfect” Ed Sheeran

Photographer:                      Stephen Sedman

1.)   How did you two meet?

I was studying abroad in New Zealand, staying with a host family.  David was good friends with my host brother Sam, and David and I just clicked right away.  Sam was, of course, a groomsman at our wedding.

2.)   How did he pop the question?

We went to Muriwai, a beach on the west coast of Auckland, on a clear April day.  We had the beach just about to ourselves.  David was standing on the top of a sand dune and called me over.  When I got to him, he said he had a surprise for me and pulled out the ring box.  I didn’t even let him finish asking when I screamed YES!

3.)   What was your favorite moment(s) from the wedding?

Hard to pick a single moment, I had a lot of fun with the bridesmaids and groomsmen at the shoot, and getting ready to enter the reception with everyone.

Also, eating the cake.  It was superb.

4.)   How long have you been together?

We celebrated 7 years together on the one-month anniversary of our marriage.

5.)   How would you describe your overall wedding experience?

Amazing!  Everything went so smoothly, the ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was so much fun.  It was a perfect day.

6.)   What advice would you offer to other couples planning a wedding?

Don’t sweat the small stuff and be flexible with decision-making.  So many parts of my wedding weren’t exactly what I had imagined, but everything still turned out great on the day. 

7.)   What photography-related advice would you offer to a couple?

Trust the photographer!!  Stephen was so easy to work with, and was able to run the show while I just enjoyed myself.

8.)   Tell me about your dress. Where did you find it, how did you choose it, how did you know it was the one?

Ahh the dress.  One of those things that was not at all what I imagined.  I was trying on dresses with my mom just over a year before the wedding, when both my fiancé and I were in the US.  I just wanted to get an idea of what looked good, so that I could have that idea and get a dress back in New Zealand.  This dress was nothing like what I thought I wanted.  I wanted lace, a train, not strapless, but I tried this one on and just felt like a princess.  I didn’t matter that it didn’t match my expectations, I just knew when I tried it on that it was right.

9.)   How was your experience taking photos/working with me on your wedding day?

The pictures were so much fun to take!  I was surprisingly relaxed the morning of the wedding thanks to my bridesmaids (and a couple mimosas), so when Stephen came to start taking pictures, we could just have fun with it, and he took care of the rest.

10.) Did you see each other before the wedding? If not, did you like waiting or would you have rather done it differently? Tell me why or why not!

We didn’t see each other on the day until the moment my dad started walking me down the aisle.  I liked doing it that way.  It was really special seeing the look on David’s face as I walked with my dad.

11.) Any tips on how to prepare for the wedding photos?

Just relax, and have fun with it.  Maybe have a drink if you’re feeling nervous.

12.) Any tips that you have about preparing your wedding party for the photos? What did you tell them, how did you get them to cooperate, what did you do or what would you have done differently?

The preparation photos with my bridesmaids were a lot of fun, and we just had to listen to and trust Stephen to take the pics.  When we took the photos with the whole party after the ceremony, the bottle of champagne and beers definitely helped to keep everyone happy while we all took pictures.

13.) Any tips on what to bring?

Another pair of shoes to dance in!  I changed into comfy sandals and I danced till the last song of the night.

14.) We love to hear about vendors you love. List any vendors here and feel free to share your experience. Be sure to include the name of the vendor, their profession, city/state, site or Facebook page and how your experience was!

I got my dress tailored at Michael of Boston for the Bride in Pembroke MA.  Michael was fantastic, he tells you his honest opinion, and was so helpful and got my dress ready in just a couple weeks (I was only in the country 3 weeks before my wedding).  I got my dress fitted, he added buttons to the back, and I got my veil through him, and everything was perfect for the day.

Liz Ottino from Personal Best Salon in Pembroke did my hair and makeup for the wedding and she was amazing.  I’d met with her a week before the wedding to try some hair styles beforehand, and she really knows what she’s doing.  She was able to do my hair a couple different ways and re-created an even more beautiful version on my wedding day.  She knows to style the hair according to weather, and was able to create beautiful styles for my bridesmaids and mom, and even though our wedding day was humid, she worked to the conditions and our hair stayed beautiful all day.

We had our reception at the Scituate Country Club, and worked with Donna.  They covered just about the entire reception.  We used their tables ad chairs, they had their own menus for the dinner, the cake (from Montillio’s bakery – YUM) was included in the venue, and they gave us a list of their favorite vendors for everything else we may have needed.

We used Good Times Unlimited to DJ the reception, and Drew DJ’d for us.  The dance floor stayed packed till the last song of the night.

16.) What were you most anxious, nervous or fearful about regarding your wedding day and what was the outcome?

I think I was a little nervous about how the whole day would go.  I did most of the planning from overseas, and just had to put my trust in my unofficial wedding planner (my mom), and all the vendors, but everything went well.  And if anything wasn’t quite right, I didn’t notice.  By the time I got to the church, it was all about me and David, and nothing else mattered.  We spend the rest of the day having fun and catching up with all of our guests.

17.) What’s one piece of advice you would give to other couples for planning their wedding?

Don’t expect everything to go to plan, and just know, even if things go wrong, at the end of the day, you’ll be married to your best friend, so how could that ever be a bad day?

19.) What kind of food was served at your reception?

We had an oyster bar at the reception for the guests which was a real hit, and a sit-down dinner after the first dance. 

20.) What was the first song you danced to as husband and wife? Father-daughter dance? Mother-son dance?

Our first dance was “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, and I danced to “Daughters” by John Mayer with my dad.