A chance encounter on a train station, like a scene directly out of a movie, was the beginning of Xian and Josh's romance:
"Our story began in early 2008 when both of us worked in the same suburb and caught the same train each morning. On one particular morning, it was raining heavily and I had left my umbrella at home. As I attempted to shield myself from the rain with a piece of paper, a gentleman casually walked up beside me and held his umbrella over my head. Little did I know that this stranger was my husband-to-be. His kind act brought us together and we haven't looked back since!
After the proposal, I had this notion that I wouldn't spend a lot of money on my wedding dress. I recall looking at cheap dresses online or from non-bridal stores with a view to spending on other things like the honeymoon. However, my mum convinced me to visit an actual bridal store and I fell in love with the first dress I tried on! I'm glad I did as the dress is so unique and my guests and I have never seen another dress like it.
The bridesmaids' outfits were easy to organise. I was pretty relaxed about my girls' dresses and was happy for them to pick their own. I gave them some guidance on colour and length but left the matter entirely in their hands. I believe it's a matter of knowing what is important for your wedding and I knew that having them happy with what they were wearing was one of them.
It was a sweltering 38 degrees on our wedding day. Notwithstanding the heat, the ceremony was outdoors by the river and it was a beautiful day. The skies were crystal blue and we had a lovely breeze rolling in off the water. The bridal party had a lot of fun with the photos as I'd instructed the photographer to take more "casual and relaxed" photos.
Our wedding had a grey, yellow and white colour scheme, and the wedding outfits and decorations reflected this. We had a photo booth at the reception as well and it was great to see everyone (including the oldies) having a laugh. Our guests really seemed to enjoy themselves, as did my husband and I.
I got some great ideas from Pinterest and The Brides Tree. One tip: don't use your photographer for the wedding album! Mixbook is a fantastic website which gives you a number of templates and a lot of flexibility when creating your wedding album. My photographer was going to charge me $1,500 for my wedding album and I ordered 3 great quality books from Mixbook for $270!
When I sell my dress, the money will definitely go towards our honeymoon in Japan. It's been a dream of mine to eat authentic Japanese food, stay in a traditional ryokan and really soak in the Japanese culture. It's not the cheapest destination and any money is a blessing!"
Congratulations Xian and Josh! Such a fun wedding, we hope you get your dream Japanese holiday.
By Ingrid Szajer
Anonymous Buyer