Dan and Juanita

Dan and I met in 2006 through friends and after a night out in our home town, Dan being tall dark and handsome took my breath away and as he refers to it, my dance moves had him mesmerized, we were completely inseparable from that night on. After 5 years, Dan proposed on the very last day of our trip in our favourite place, Central Park, New York.

Over the next 12 months I tried on several dresses and couldn’t find the ‘one’.  We were heading on a family holiday back to New York City for Christmas and my Mum suggested that we have a girls day and go looking just for fun. We booked an appointment at Kleinfeld Bridal, which is featured as the store in ‘Say Yes to the Dress’. It was an incredibly fun experience and I was lucky enough to have Henri Josef website doing his trunk show that very day! He dressed me in one of his dresses that I had picked and it was so very exciting and very surreal! After much deliberation I was beginning to think I was incredibly fussy, but then, there was the dream dress, the impeccable Jenny Packham ‘Eden’ design. I told Mum after putting it on that I didn’t think I could leave the store without the dress! It was then that I knew I had found the ‘one’.

The incredible headpiece and veil that matched perfectly to the dress was bought from Anna Campbell. My hair on the day was done by my hairdresser from home, Meg at Wink For Hair.  My makeup and bridesmaids hair and makeup was done by the wonderful team at Allure Bridal Stylists. A key point of our day was the amazing blooms provided and styled by Mondo Floral Designs. We decided on a spring garden wedding and having the luscious floral arch at the end of our aisle was just breathtaking.  My bouquet was pale pink and ivory David Austin Roses, my bridesmaids carried a smaller all white David Austin Roses bouquet and my flower girls had Baby Breath crowns to make them feel extra special!

After all the preparation it was finally time to greet my best friend at the end of the aisle.  Both my Mum and Dad walked me down the aisle to ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by the Beatles. Our ceremony was incredibly heartfelt and touching and it is all due to the credit of our extremely fabulous celebrant Jarrad Bayliss. He made sure that our ceremony was lighthearted, loving, sentimental and showed the real love we have for one another.

After the ceremony, our guests enjoyed Canapes, cocktails and refreshments on the lawn relaxing on the beautiful furniture that Carly and her team from CL Weddings And Events had provided.  They had made sure that every detail was accounted for when styling and it was wonderful to see it all set up.

We had decided to have a destination wedding in the glamorous location of Maleny, Queensland. Picking the venue at Maleny was incredibly easy and our hearts both instantly fell in love with the wonderful Maleny Manor and their ever so supportive staff.  We decided through the process of planning a wedding that it was to be fun, exciting and not stressful and Maleny Manor ensured that all of this criteria was met. Dan and myself cannot speak highly enough of their professionalism and their ability to plan your perfect dream wedding.

My incredibly talented mother basically was my wedding planner and didn’t she thrive!  She is so crafty and made any bit of stationery that was featured in our wedding and did most of the decorating of the tables on the day with help from CL Weddings And Events. Being an only child it was wonderful to have my Mum helping and enjoying the preparations just as much as Dan and myself.

Instead of having favours, we decided on buying a Hannah’s Chance Foundation wrist band and gave one to each of our guests. It is an extremely important charity that Dan and myself are both proud to support and having friends that have fought this battle, including Hannah, it was an easy decision to decide to support this charity on our special day. It was money well spent and the awareness that it has created is a big enough gift for both of us.

Our day was incredible and having so many emotions but the overwhelming feeling of love is something that is too hard to describe.  Knowing that I was marrying my best friend and starting the rest of our lives together surrounded by our family and friends was exciting and the future just got a whole lot brighter.

Images by CkMetroPhotos

Ms Gingham says: I love the idea of the charity bands for wedding favours. So many beautiful touches in this wedding! Congratulations Juanita and Dan!

Juanita says: “Dan and I have been together for 7 years when we tied the knot. We got engaged in Central Park, New York City and are madly in love. Life has been a whirlwind for us and we wouldn’t have it any other way!”