Who Mike and Joanna Willis (maiden name Smith)
Where Ceremony at St Paul's Church in Auckland City, Reception at Parnells on the Rose Garden
Guests 170 at the ceremony and 82 for the reception
Mike and I met through our church, with our first meeting at a café during a casual group hangout.
Elegant, beautiful, and classy
We saved on our cake, cars and printing. Our big spending was on my dress, our rings and the reception. Our splurge was on the honeymoon.
Having so many details to decide and tick off was quite consuming. I enjoyed the last few weeks leading up to the wedding once most things were sorted.
My maid of honor flew over from Sydney and the girls took me out for brunch in the morning. They had organized a kitchen tea for the afternoon themed 'oriental' in celebration of my growing up in Asia. Family and girlfriends brought favourite recipes and things for the kitchen. After the kitchen tea, 10 of us drove up to Omaha where we stayed the night. Dinner out, drinks and games made the night with close girlfriends a whole lot of fun.
The boys dressed Mike in a bright green mankini, somewhat less sporty than his Olympic Weightlifting outfit, and off to paint ball they went. Mike and his best man had to run the gauntlet which he still has welt marks from. They played bumper soccer and gave him fitness challenges throughout the day. Later there was dinner and drinks, and wax strips mixed with a quiz about me.
I had collected jars for a year, which we then added gold paint or gold glitter to. These were used in the styling for the table centres at the reception.
Processional: Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
Song Item by Nicky Aikin: Jason Marazz - I Won't Give Up
Recessional: Smash Mouth (Neil Diamond) - I'm A Believer
First Dance: Ed Sherran - Thinking Out Loud
There are SO many different ways you can do a wedding. Decide early on what is most important to you both and what kind of wedding you would like. Keep those things as the goal and let other things go.
Mike planned our honeymoon and kept it all a surprise for me. We had 10 nights in the Cook Islands with the first four in Rarotonga and the last five in Aitutaki. It was just magical. The lagoon cruise on Te Vaka from Aitutaki was certainly a highlight as we island hopped and snorkeled in turquoise water with the vibrant sea life.
CREDITS
Founder and editor of P&L. Self-proclaimed shoe guru and lover of bogan chic (wtf!) Wife of a butcher, mother of 7 dogs and a cat. Bonkers.