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Ceremony Location: A look out point on Canal Rocks Road overlooking Smith Beach and Yallingup.
Wedding Reception Venue: Flutes Restaurant at Brookland Valley Winery, Margaret River
You’re Dress & Accessories: My dress was a couture creation. I designed the dress with the help of my dress maker who was my Auntie!
The jewellery was from Rodrigo Otazu who designs celebrity Jewellery, he is mainly know for his creations in the sex and the city series and movies!
Bridesmaid’s dresses & Accessories: The girls dresses were also couture creations and I designed each dress with the girls and my Auntie, who also made all the dresses for the girls.
Groom & Grooms man Attire: The boys all wore the same dinner/lounge suit. They were fitted black tuxedo's with one button jackets which gave them a very sleek look. The tuxedo's were paired with black pants (no pleats) white dress shirts and skinny black ties. The tuxedo's were supplied by Tuxedo in Busselton.
Entertainment: Peter Adams (DJ)
Flowers: Bouquets and buttonholes were supplied by Stemtation in Dunsborough.
Cake: Lemon Meringue Pies, Bella Bambini Birthdays
Transport: Down South Luxury Limousines
Stationery: Express Print, Bunbury

We met while at high school (BSHS) and although dated on and off during our years at school we remained the best of friends.
We began our 'committed' relationship you could say the year after we left school, when I also moved to Perth to go to university and Dion stayed in Busselton to finish his apprenticeship.
We did a long distance relationship for 5 years and then in 2007 we moved to Canberra for my work. Then we moved back to Busselton in 2009 and intend to stay here forever.

Why did you chose Canal Rocks as wedding ceremony location?
Dion proposed to me at a look out point along Canal Rocks road and this location was where we had our ceremony. As you can see by the pictures it was a magic location and the view was superb!

How long did it take you to plan your wedding?
I booked the 'big ticket item' as soon as we were engaged, not because I had been planning a wedding since I was a little girl, it was quite the opposite actually as I never thought Dion and I would be married, together forever yes, but married no! I knew that the South West booked up quickly and I did not want to wait forever to get married only due to the wait list on venues. I was engaged in January 2010 and the big ticket items were booked by April 2010. There was lots of time over winter where nothing was done other than designing the dresses and thinking of the menu and then like any wedding 2 months before was last minute details such as meetings and fittings.

What parts of the wedding did Dion organise?
Dion works fly in and fly out so when he was home I did try to keep the wedding business to a minimum.
I did all the research and would phone him regarding the final decision/s. 9/10ths of the time he was happy with any decision I made other than the photographer as he is not one to have his photo taken, therefore finding Russell was fantastic.

What did you do for your hen’s party and Dion for his buck’s night?
I had a Arabian Nights themed hens party with a belly dancing show and lessons and then strippers. It was an amazing night and the venue was transformed into a moroccan tent.
It was an absolute credit to the bridesmaid - it even rivals the wedding night for the most fun I have ever had. Dion went camping over a weekend with a big group of boys down near Sues Bridge on the Blackwood River. All I know of this is that Dion was made to wear a wedding dress the whole time and they had a blast.

Details about your couture wedding dress and custom made accessories:
I designed my own wedding dress and all the bridesmaid dresses with the help of my auntie who actually made all the dresses too (and by the photos is a very friggin good one). I chose the theme of different styles and colours as this truly reflects my character and the difference with the girls in my bridal party, as there was no way one style or colour was going to suit them all!
Now to the exciting part - my jewellery! I saw some earrings in a Grazia magazine which I wanted to wear on my wedding day and tried to enquire about getting them made here in WA. However, I was advised that special equipment was needed to make the jewellery due to cutting the swarovski crystals. I was given the name of the Australian distributor of the earrings I initially saw in Grazia and got in contact with her, Jane Cox. She advised me that the earrings I had seen were part of a collection called colours of love by (world famous) Rodrigo Otazu!
I later found out the Rodrigo makes all the jewellery for the Sex and the City series and movies!!! After much deliberation I choose the piece that I thought most represented me and this was to be the statement piece for our wedding.

You didn't have the traditional wedding cake you had a delicious meringue pie, why?
Dion chose the lemon meringue pie. We are both not big cake eaters and Dion LOVES lemon meringue pie so we thought why not! The pies were amazing and I am so glad that Marina at Bella Bambini took on this challenge for us.

Who walked you down the aisle?
My father.

How did you decorate your wedding reception?
Alice from Blooming Beautiful designed the venue with my direction. I wanted it very plain and for the landscape to speak for itself. We used the pashminas on the guests chairs as points of colour, lanterns hanging over the deck where the dancing was and I also had all the paintings taken down from Flutes so that they did not compete with the colour palate of the bridesmaids.
In addition, the Friday night before my wedding there was a wedding and this bride made contact with me regarding the draping from the roof - we ended up going halves for this so a saving for both brides there!

Your bridal Waltz song?
Never Tear Us Apart by INXS, the Michael Hutchinson version.

What were the favors for your guests?
Boys were given stubby holders which had our wedding date, name and a caricature picture of the two of us screen printed onto it which we used for our engagement party invitations.
The ladies were given pashminas. I ordered these on EBay in the 4 colours of the girls bridesmaid dresses, turned out to be very handy at the end of the night as they were like a blanket for the girls on the long bus ride home!

Did you play a game to have the garter removed and to toss the bouquet?
No, no games were played.

How did that cruise around the South Pacific islands go and Hawaii?
AMAZING. We were away for 17 days on the Dawn Princess and we stopped at 2 islands in Tonga, 2 Islands in Western Samoa, 1 Island in American Samoa and then 3 islands in Hawaii.
Hawaii was by far the most amazing, we went surfing, I even stood up on a Mal board that we hired on Waikiki beach. A cruise is a great idea if anyone is thinking about it for there honeymoon as it takes away the stress of flights, missing flights and trying to pack heaps into your honeymoon. Very relaxing choice.

Where did you get inspiration for ideas when planning your wedding?
OK - this is hard. I looked at many wedding magazines and websites (including this one) and although the things I saw were beautiful, they were not me. They all seemed to be soft, romantic and floaty. This is not me as I am bold and outgoing I like to make statements and I LOVE good clothes and fashion.
So I mainly thought about the things I/we liked and used these to inspire ideas for the wedding. The ceremony location was easy as this space was where Dion proposed and was therefore sentimental to us. The reception venue was also quite easy as we love, love, love good food and remembered the amazing food we had at Flutes and the more we looked around no where else compared - in addition, Dion is a water baby and loves to surf, fish and dive so for a restaurant to be over a massive lake was a no brainer for us as it provided such a relaxed tranquil feel.
With the dress and bridesmaid dresses I always new they would be different colours and bold colours at that. I love colour and I am not afraid to use it, these colours reflect my personality and the designs were made so the girls could be comfortable and stylish, I did not make dresses that "they could wear again" I wanted them to have a couture dress that was stylish and fashionable.
One thing that I would log onto regularly regarding decisions about the wedding would be the chat room on CTCW, I would often read what other brides had written and this would assist me in making some decision, especially about those decisions relating to 'traditional' things. It was great to see what other brides do and don't do!

Looking back at your wedding what would you now have done differently?
If I didn't have any financial constraints - completely! No, it was a great time and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Advice for other planning couples:
Everyone is different which is why every wedding is so different. Think about the things that make you and your husband the people that you are, think about those things and people who mean the most to you and DO WHAT YOU WANT. We live in a society now where anything goes, keep tradition if that is you, but if not, don't. Be confident in the choices you make and most of all don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something, if you search hard you will find that person/supplier to fulfil your dreams.
Most importantly throughout the planning of your wedding, your budget may turn into a guideline and then possibly a loose guideline, and if all else fails in pinching some more money just tell your beloved that you will never get it so cheap again!