How did James propose? In 2011, I won a Green Card in the GreenCard lottery system. I decided to try my luck in NYC, and gave myself three months to find my ‘dream job. I promised myself that, if I didn’t, I would come home to Sydney. At the time James was still living in Sydney. Though he did visit for a month later that year, he returned home to Sydney and we planned to see one another again when I returned home for Christmas. As we both have large and active families with whom we spend our respective holidays, we have always made Christmas Eve our special day. To celebrate, we have always gone on a picnic on Sydney’s harbour. This had been a tradition for six years. On December 24, 2011 on a beautiful sunny day, we packed the picnic hamper and went to a park on the foreshore of Sydney harbour, as we always did. The park was empty as most people are out shopping or spending time with their families, something we loved.
We opened up the champagne, laid out the cheese and crackers and enjoyed watching the boats sail by. James casually went into the hamper and took out a small box. He handed me the box without opening it, later confessing he was too nervous. He looked at me and asked,“Will you marry me?” I didn’t say yes right away, but instead removed his sunglasses and looked at him. He asked again and I smiled and gave him an emphatic yes! He put on the ring and the rest is our personal history. Two months later, in February, James flew to NYC and we were married in a small ceremony in City Hall. My boss, Preston Bailey, threw us a beautiful reception is his home. Our second ceremony took place in December of 2012. The “Family Wedding” took place in a church and I wore a white Vera Wang dress and we had a wonderful time with all of our friends & family in Sydney. James and I danced the night away, it was a really special night.
Standout Memory of the night: Taking urban-romance photos on the streets of NYC with the incredible Felix from Fred Marcus and then enjoying the incredible reception hosted by my generous boss Preston Bailey & his husband Theo Bleckmann. Preston arranged a family style dinner for twenty of my dear friends. To my surprise, he had arranged for us to have a Sylvia Weinstock cake–amazing! The best memory is just having a personal and private wedding ceremony with James. Like our Christmas Eve, we have a wedding memory that is just for us to enjoy and share.
Honeymoon Location: We have not gone anywhere as of yet. James has only just moved to the US last week and we will have plenty of mini-honeymoons planned thought the year. We will plan our “real’ honeymoon towards the end of 2014. I am so thrilled to have him with me that waking up and seeing him every day will feel like a honeymoon in itself–well, for a bit, at least…
One piece of advice that you could give to other couples:
1. Be yourself – always! Be true to who you really are, if you pretend to be someone you’re not you will be miserable and make everyone around you miserable.
2. Support your partner in all aspects of life as you will need someone to lean on someday.
3. Communicate well–with everyone in your party, your family, your vendors and your partner.
4. Take time out of your busy day (every day) to connect. If that’s a text message to say ‘I love you’, a phone call on your way home from work, enjoying dinner together, or even going to the grocery store together. Take time out to connect. Seeing James and I have lived on the other side of the world from each other for over 2.5 years, we needed to connect everyday otherwise we would have a relationship. Thank goodness for Skype and WhatsApp!
Wedding Dress & Shoes: BCBG, 5th Ave NYC
Hair Piece: Anthropologie
Fur Jacket: Ebay from London
Groom’s Tux: Hugo Boss, Columbus Circle NYC
Bridesmaids’ Gift and Groomsmen’ Gift: The only people who attended our wedding ceremony was: James & Me + my best friend, Aimee Dormer. Aimee lives in the Middle East and flew out to be our witness to the ceremony. Our gift to Aimee was a personalized leather bound notebook, as she loves to write things down–old school style. I had her initials embossed in gold on the front cover. Purchased from Graphic Images.
Something blue and Something borrowed: I didn’t have either and I don’t feel I missed out on anything.