New Plymouth Wedding By Madeline Druce

So I know that we don’t always stop to read the stories behind all the pretty picturesééò I’m guilty of that myself! But trulyééò spend a couple of minutes reading about how Emily & Brad met and their proposalééò it’s truly the loveliest storyééò especially as we have the dashing groom’s perspective! Thanks to Madeline Druce for showing us that a rainy day wedding can be so intimately beautiful!

How and/or where did you meet? Brad’s sister Arnika went to college with Em’s friend Jess. Jess was invited to Mikala’s hens (Brad’s other sister) at Libertine Perfumery in the Valley and bought Em along. My sisters come home both telling me they’d met my wife.

Brad “Couple of weeks later my sister drags me outta bed one fresh Sunday morning of May 2010 for breakfast to Au Cirque in New Farm, Brisbane. I’m being stitched up without knowledge.”

Emily: “I was excited that this Brad I had heard about, from Jess, was coming to breakfast, but I was adamant that we would be friends. I was not wanting relationship at the time.”

Brad: ééòEm walks around the corner, I fall in love with her right there and then. It’s confirmed totally when she shakes my hand. I knew she was gonna be my girl from that point on!”

Emily “I shook Brad’s hands with two of mine. They were big enough to do so and I tend to do that when I feel really grateful to meet someone. Approaching Brad I felt such a sense of gratefulness and peace. An immediate sense of relief and joy washed over me! I felt like ééòahhh… I found youééò I felt I was exactly where I was meant to be. As you can expect, nerves did kick in after that, and I still get butterflies in my tummy when we go out on dates and I see him walking up to me or I’m getting out of the car to meet him. I don’t expect that to go away. I am acutely aware that I found him!”

Tell us about your proposal: Brad: “Deep in my bones I knew I wanted to marry Em at some point in time, but, for those that know me they know I’m a risk taker and to expect the unexpected. I generally perceive plans as pretty loose and rather flexible concepts, OK, actually extremely loose and hypermobile rather than anything concrete. With that notion in mind I surprised even myself with the proposal. With no ring, and no idea I was about to ask her it came to me like a lightning bolt in the shower (where all my good ideas come from it seems ;). I jumped out, dried myself off, hopped into bed and with my heart pounding I asked her. Goes without saying I then proceeded to defend my action and the atypical way in which it occurred which she fully understood.

Early that week my sister and her family had announced they were going back to NZ for Christmas from Switzerland and earlier that day my mum had called from NZ to tell me both my grandparents were in hospital (one planned, his wife unexpected). To me there were enough signals, I asked myself ‘if not now when?’. I would have been gutted if my grandparents couldn’t have been there because for no real valid reason I delayed the inevitable, at 95 and 90 you never know how long they will be amongst us and my grandfather is my idol! My family was in four countries so getting them together is rare and difficult.

Another stimulus was that between the shower and the likely date we had had 16wks. Given the nature of this wedding being and international one I thought it wise and considerate to give those needing to travel as much warning as possible, we couldn’t really wait another few weeks to look for a ring and set the whole thing up in a traditional sense. It was more important that to me we gave everyone the best possible chance of attending rather following convention. I think I deep down knew Em would agree with the predicament so the risk was somewhat reduced we people people, rules often go out the window with us.

ééòIt’s funny how things work though and how risk often pays off. Em and I spent some time talking about what style of ring she likes, again traditional was never in the vocabulary. We spent about 3hrs looking together and before we finalised our decision I said “lets head over to Woolloongabba Antique Centre, there’s something I want to show you before you decide”. I walked ahead of Em, pointed it out and she fell in love with it. It’s kinda cool that we both loved it and we found it together, it’s definitely bought more meaning to the ring for us.

Not all is lost though, I did hide it from her and then surprise her (no mean feat!) with a secondary proposal which was far more romantic and squishy.I was very hard to surprise her given she knew it was coming though”

Emily: “Brad formally proposed to me at our favourite restaurant, Tukka in West End Brisbane, it was a Friday night and the last day of August. We had wined and dined for about 2 hours, as usual in this restaurant, when my dessert was served on a platter decorated with chocolate words of love and embellished with cinnamon-sugar granules, bush berries and ééò a MAGNIFICENT ring!! The waitress placed a bottle of champagne and two filled glass flutes on our table. In that moment I felt so very loved and special. Brad’s proposal with the ring confirmed our requited love with a sense of sincerity and above all the proposal was a milestone moment of elation for us.”

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: Firstly, Brad spend nearly $4 on his outfit for every $1 I spent on mine! Brad’s suit was tailored, accessorised with a raspberry silk pocket squa
re, vintage navy striped leather tipped braces, and tanned brogue leather Loake boots imported from the UK!

My dress, custom made, was an ivory mermaid style, off the shoulder, full lace with a sweep train, and my Mother sewed the pearl buttons on to the back of the dress. I accessorised with chunky pearl bracelets and an art deco clasp bangle. My earrings were large fresh water pearls and my head piece was made by my sister. The headpiece was woven with square cut cubic zirconia wiring supporting the local wild flowers of New Plymouth and sprinkled within the wreath of flowers were pearls and greenstone beading. Lastly, my heels were a champagne satin with diamontes frosting the heel and heel stem. My veil was vintage silk satin with embroidery train, borrowed from Brad’s Grandmother.

What was the inspiration for your wedding? The wedding was inspired by the colours of New Plymouth summer. We had shades of berries in the decor and clusters of hydrangeas made a prominent spectrum of purple to blue. The flowers were framed by lace ceiling hangings and lace runners over raw wooden tables. Pearls ordained our guests and a grand pearl chandelier was over-hanging our vintage-white, three-tiered, ruffled wedding cake. I wanted our wedding to embody an earthy beachside destination which is abundant in flowers of purple and blue hues and brilliant berries, this to me represented a New Plymouth summer. I also wanted the vintage elegance of french lace and an ambiance of love and laughter. The long tables and casual dinning experience fostered such an ambiance. Plus we had New Zealand’s finest vino and craft beers supporting our cause!