Laura & Stefan

We met through a mutual friend who grew up with Stefan and later married one of my closest family friends. Just seven months after meeting we were engaged! The proposal happened while we were fishing on the beach at my family home in the Coromandel. We then had a baby boy, Myler John – it was so special that we got to have our little man with us on our wedding day.

Fiji was always a special part of my childhood – I’ve been vacationing there with my family since I was seven. With our love for the tropics, the ocean, fishing and surfing it was the perfect spot to get married! We are summer babies through and through and wanted a modern yet relaxed celebration in the sunshine with all of our closest family and friends. My family’s home in Fiji was full of memories and the perfect location for the ceremony! Our reception venue, Musket Cove Island Resort, was close by and provided the relaxed and simple yet beautiful floral arrangements. We went for a natural colour palette of green and white with plenty of orchids.

I sought inspiration from Pinterest to design my own dress – I wanted it to be simple and classic. It was custom created by a dear family friend, Jane Gower, who was a well-known head designer at Thornton Hall in the 90s. It was long and silk, cut on the bias and featured draping details with both a cowl neck and back. With spaghetti crisscross straps and a flowing train, it was perfection.

All of my accessories featured pearl details from my long veil which was studded all over, to my earrings and vintage clutch.

My four bridesmaids are all very natural, down-to-earth girls and more likely to wear pants than skirts or dresses, so I designed their outfits. The black pants were a straight leg design and the fabric of the asymmetric one shoulder tops matched my dress. The groom’s party wore black Barkers pants and light-coloured Country Road shirts in breathable fabrics that tied in with what the girls were wearing and suited the weather and relaxed vibe.

At the reception we served a buffet with an array of salads, meat and seafoods including raw fish. The guests raved about the Kokoda (Fijian ceviche) and prawn cocktails. Dessert was, of course, cake! I let Stefan choose and the resulting three-tier coconut chocolate cake from the resort was delicious!

Marc Moore of Stolen Girlfriends Club was our DJ. He’s a good friend of ours and did an amazing job! Everyone was dancing all night long! We told Marc what we wanted – mainly old school music, and classics that everyone loves to dance to – and he delivered!

We are so glad we had our wedding in the tropics! It was great that people arrived on the island days before the wedding – it meant that all of the guests really got to know each other ahead of the big day! We knew that with a destination wedding, not everyone would be able to make it due to the cost, but we were overwhelmed with how many people made the journey to spend our special day with us!

Walking into the reception with my new husband was very special – just to see all of our loved ones’ happy faces. Our venue was a definite point of difference and we hope our guests look back fondly on the music, food and company! Our wedding was incredible. It was definitely the best day of our lives!

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