Danielle & David's Wedding Story ~ 18.02.12

Danielle & Davids Love Story ~ 18th February 2012!

Danielle & David met through her father, they were really good mates and worked together, Danielle is originally from Victoria, and was visiting her father, David was seeing someone else at the time when they met, however a year passed and they caught up at Christmas time and things went from there.

Danielle plays the tuba in the Upper Hunter Show Band and was on tour in Canada. She had asked David before they went away if he would ever think of proposing in Canada because she absolutely loves the place! He said no because he is a real Aussie boy and wanted to propose on home turf!! Anyway the group travelled to Lake Louise in the Banff National Park, and while they were standing on the board walk of Lake Louise, infront of the Rocky Mountains, David got down on one knee with a maple leaf badge and said “with this symbol of Canada will you marry me?” It was so sweet, and she of course said………YES!!! They then went and choose a beautiful Canadian ring. Danielle says ‘It was the best souvenir I could’ve ever gotten’.

Their wedding was held in the beautiful Upper Hunter Valley in NSW. The ceremony was held at St. Patricks of Nulkaba and the reception was held at the Maitland City Bowls Sport & Recreation Club. The photos were taken around the beautiful wineries in the Hunter region.

The Bride & Groom decided to go with Hot Pink as their colour theme as that is her favourite colour. Originally she was going to choose pink & green but decided on just the one colour. The bride said ‘I never realised how many different shades of hot pink there were’

What were the special moments from your wedding day?

We had quite a few surprises on the day of our wedding!! I would have to say the most memorable would be our Ring Bearer!!

We had a Wedge-Tailed Eagle, who weighed 2.4kg, with a wing span of over 2 meters as our ring bearer!! He was the best kept secret. His name is Soren and I read about him in the new idea magazine. My husband wasn’t to keen on a wedge tailed eagle flying our rings down the aisle, at the start, however when I arranged to meet Soren and his Trainer/Owner, Paul Mander from Broadwings Events, we both fell in love with Soren. When he first practised flying onto David’s arm, it was breath-taking, it was so amazing being this close to such a large bird of prey. It was also quite cool knowing that he had work on TV series and had been on TV adds. He was a very hard secret to keep but it was well worth it!! No one knew which made it even more breath taking on the actual wedding day!!
Ever since I can remember I have loved butterflies, so it was a wonderful experience when we got to release 80 Monarch Butterflies at the end of the ceremony. These days most places don’t like you using confetti/rice, so we thought it would be a wonderful experience for everyone if we released butterflies. I was even able to get one to stay with me on my bouquet
Our first dance was a little different to most people’s first dance. Growing up in a very musical and theatrical family, I knew my wedding day wasn’t going to be ‘normal’, but I can definately tell you it was everything David and I could’ve hoped for!! Our theme was Disney Fairytale, so I thought we could use Beauty & the Beast as our song. However my Husband wasn’t really expecting what I had in mind. I thought it would be really cool if we dressed in the beautiful costumes of Belle and the Prince, while we waltzed around the dance floor. To top it off, I would be singing, it was spectacular!! My husband really got into the idea and everyone absolutely loved it.
When David and I got together I wrote him a few songs. I always wanted to get them recorded professionally however it’s so expensive so I didn’t think anything of it. While we were working out what songs to use in the ceremony David said “Why don’t you use one of your songs to walk down the aisle” I really liked the idea, however I had my heart set on Unbreakable by Westlife since I could remember. So it got me thinking…….it was great being apart of the Conservatorium of Music cause it meant I knew a lot of people who could help me with my idea! I sat down with Jenny, who is head of the strings, and we worked out how we were going to transform my song into a piece I could sing at the reception. Mind you I could’ve just gotten up there and played it, but I wanted it to be more special and Jenny helped me to create that. David has no idea and when he heard me playing it he started crying, it was my surprise to him and I am so grateful to everyone who helped make it what it was!! We also hired a 12ft Steinway Concert Grand Piano, so I could play my piece in style!!

How were you feeling on the days leading up to and your wedding day?

My feelings leading up to the BIG day………lets just say if anything could go wrong it would’ve!

3 days before the wedding I had a huge falling out with one of my bridesmaids and was desperately trying to find another good friend to take her spot. Which I did, my friend was wonderful to be able to step in at the last minute.
All the guys suits didn’t fit properly and I was told the day before the wedding that they weren’t going to stay open for me so I could get them replaced.
160 butterflies that we ordered went missing and were never found. The courier company had no proof that the butterflies had been lodged. The ladies at Butterfly release however were AMAZING and were able to get together another 80 for us!!

It was a very stressful lead up to the wedding day. I do have to say though, if it hadn’t been as bad, the actual day might not have been as good, if you know what I mean. We had an absolute beautiful day. The weather was amazing, the week leading up to the wedding was terenchel rain, but it completely cleared up for the day and didn’t stop raining until we were in the reception venue.

Do you have any tips or advice to share with brides to help them plan their wedding?

Listen to what people have to say but remember you don’t have to do it! It’s your wedding and if you want to do something then do it! give youself enough time to enjoy the planning and getting everything organised. I was engaged for 3 years, so I thought I would have plenty of time……..I still forgot about little things until it was almost the day.

DO NOT buy your wedding dress or bridesmaids dresses online. No matter what star rating they have! I probably could’ve bought 2 dresses with the amount I wasted on dresses ordered online that looked nothing like what I ordered!!

If you have friends or family wanting to help let them, for example if you’re making the wedding bonbonnieres

The MOST important would be just enjoy the day. Don’t worry about the little things that go wrong, it is over way too fast! After all the only thing that should matter is the commitment that you are making to your husband!!

We would like to share with you some pictures from our special day, photography by Peter Speirs.