CTCW Wedding Suppliers:
Ceremony Location: Peel Manor House
Wedding Reception Venue: Peel Manor House
Photographer: Lighthouse Photography by Cyrus
Accommodation for you & your guests: Peel Manor House
What was the theme and colour scheme for your wedding?
No particular theme really, just had cows (as I am a collector) & roses as they looked nice. Red, black & white where the colours.
How did the theming of your wedding reflect your and Quentin's personalities?
It reflected more me as Quentin has learned to love my cow fetish - we were just lucky that everything blended & worked out so well for us.
Where did you get inspiration for ideas for your wedding?
After painstakingly going to numerous wedding expos, venues, looking through bridal books, the internet & friends voicing their opinions - we just went with what seemed to scream "us".
What was the easiest part to plan for your wedding?
The cake - as soon as we saw the design, we both fell in love with it.
How many guests did you have at your wedding?
73.
When choosing guests for your wedding list was this a hard or easy decision?
It was a hard decision at first as you ideally would like to invite everyone that you know, but after narrowing the list down to only close friends & of coarse family, it seemed to be easy.
Did you have any pre-wedding activities with guests before the wedding?
Just a little engagement party at The Lucky Shag & a few BBQ's at our place just as general catch-ups.
Details about your dress and attire:
Ivory satin dress with heaps of beading at the back of the dress with a small train.
Great shoes how did you go in those all day and evening?
My 6.5 inch stilettos!!! Great actually, they were surprisingly comfortable. I did bring back-up shoes just in case, but never ended up needing them.
Did you have an idea of the type of dress you wanted before you went to the stores?
Nope, all I knew is that I wanted something that was figure hugging, that flared from the hips, a little bit of oomf at the bust & didn't make me look like a heffa or a pork dumpling.
When did you start looking for your wedding dress?
Approx mid December, 2010.
How many wedding stores did you go to, to find your dress?
Countless.
Who did you take wedding dress shopping with you?
My supposed to be matron of honour at the time until she decided to pull out of the bridal party a few months before the wedding - apparently it was too stressful for her - go figure. To be honest, I wasn't overly keen on the dress, but it made her cry saying that I looked like a princess & it is definitely the dress for me, so, I went with it.
Your bouquet was gorgeous and a bit different where did you get this idea?
I saw a similar design in a bridal book & altered it to suit me as it was quite different & unique. The our florist did a wonderful job.
Tell me about the running of the day what time did you start preparing etc?
The girls & I left my place at 9am, got to Peel manor at approx 10am. The lovely hair and makeup ladies came shortly after to do our hair & make-up. Once this was done, the girls & I roamed around the grounds practising walking in our heels on the lawn near the wedding gazebo as at rehearsal a week prior to our wedding, I stacked it & wasn't keen on staking it on the day. Around 12pm'ish, Ryan came up with food which blew us away - it was awesome - chips, salad, sandwiches, prawns, drinks and fruit. 2pm - Cyrus came & starting doing some pre-wedding shots. 3.30pm - was time to make our way downstairs & outside to finally become Mrs Cresswell. Between 4-4.30pm, people giving us there congrats. 4.30pm - off to have photo's with the bridal party. 6.30pm, the bridal party & us made our way down the stairs with a lovely intro from our DJ and the reception got underway till midnight.
Describe what happened at your ceremony:
During the ceremony, a plane went overhead & my darling husband to be, decided to focus on the plane as our celebrant - Jay pointed it out (right at the crucial part of the marriage vows where he was supposed to say the he will be faithful - got repeated a couple of times & made people laugh.
Who walked you down the aisle Maria?
My Mum as my Dad is deceased.
How did you decorate your wedding ceremony?
With artificial but lifelike looking roses.
What did your guests do after your ceremony while you and Quentin went off and had wedding photos?
We organised finger food (canapes) and drinks. Some of them who had organised to stay the night retreated to their rooms to freshen up. Others found the opportunity to catch up with people. Quentin & I knew that spending over an hour in the one place is hard to keep yourself entertained, so we organised a photo booth for people to dress up in, pull faces....basically have fun. this way, we got a copy of who was at the wedding (like a sign in/guest book) & our guests get to keep a copy of the photo as well so they can remember what a great time they had.
How much time did you leave between ceremony and reception for wedding photos?
Approx 1.5 - 2 hours.
Why did you choose Peel Manor House as your wedding venue?
It was remote, peaceful, beautiful & no other wedding would interfere with ours - so the day was truly about us.
How did you decorate your wedding venue?
Mainly roses with the odd cow around.
What happened at your reception? Toasts? Dancing? Any funny or meaningful stories?
We were all worried about Courtney (Quentin's Best Man) about how long his speech was going to go for as he is a teacher, but it turns out, Quentin gave the long boring speech (Sorry babe, but you know it was).
What song did you have for your first dance?
I Do Cherish You by 98 degrees.
What food was served at the reception?
Caesar salad; Mediterranean Greek Salad; Continental Meat Platter; Cold Roasted Chicken Platter; Sushi Selection;Seasonal Stir Fry; Egg Noodles & Bok Choy in Oyster Sauce; Roasted Kipfler Potatoes With Rock Salt & Rosemary; Lemon Pepper King Snapper; Roast Pork; Tropical Fruit Salad; Decedent Chocolate Mousse.
Best moment of your wedding day?
Can't pick one - it was all good.
Describe the look and flavor of your cake, plus any other desserts that were served:
We chose a cake that was on a stand - 100 pieces 20 on the top stand were fruit cake for the older generation, the other 80 pieces were white mud cake as this is Quentin's & my favourite already gift wrapped in black & white velvet paper with red bows around them & black & red love hearts decorating the top. If people didn't want to eat the cake there as we already had two deserts on our menu, then they could take the cake home with them. Our top piece was inscribed with our names on it "Quentin & Maria" with black & red hearts protruding from the cake with a cow topper on the top. The deserts that we chose on our main menu were: Tropical Fruit Salad & Decedent Chocolate Mousse which was also lovely.
What were the bombonnieres for your guests?
Personalised chocolates in a gold box, wrapped in red paper with love hearts designs on the front & thanking the guests for attending our wedding on the back in black writing.
Cyrus from Lighthouse was your photographer for your wedding day what is your overall review of this photographer?
He made us feel quite relaxed as all of us hate having our photo's taken - he made this fun. He was such a pleasure to work with - very easy going, laid back, really knows his stuff. We couldn't wait to see the end result from him & when we did - his work was just mind blowing! He captured the moments of the day ever so well. Words just can't describe how great Cyrus really is.
How do you feel now that your wedding is over?
A bit devastated as it takes months to prepare & plan and then it is over in a day. A bit broke but was well worth it & relieved that it is all finally over.
Were did you honeymoon (please share details on where you stayed and what you did while on honeymoon e.g. tours)?
It was a mixed emotion honeymoon. Started off at the airport at 4am in the morning when Quentin thought that he had left our flight tickets over at Courtney's house the night before only to find out he had them with our itinerary all along. Our flight with Qantas was then delayed leaving Perth due to the staff still loading luggage onto the plane. The plane then was delayed landing in Sydney due to turbulence - hence we missed our connecting flight. Went to United Airways to see when the next available flight was - not till 7.30pm following night. Then all hell broke loose as other people who were on our flight came over to United Airways as well, then we found out they knew that our plane was delayed but refused to hold the flight. Quentin had a few choice words to say & we got told that this wasn't their problem - to go & see Qantas, so we did. After Qantas threatening Quentin to change his attitude or else he wont be allowed on the flight tomorrow night, we got placed at Novotel Brighton for the night.
This room had a dripping toilet - was so not impressed & this wasn't the ideal way to start our honeymoon, but tomorrow was another day, right... Spending the whole day in the hotel as there was not enough time to go out & venture through Sydney was not the least bit entertaining, but hey, Qantas was paying for our meals. Finally, time to go to the airport & re-start our American honeymoon. Yay - not. - found out, instead of a direct flight to New York from Sydney (which would have been approx 14 hours) is now a 23 hour stopover flight from Sydney to L.A; L.A to San Francisco; then San Francisco to N.Y. By the time we got there, we had lost out on 2 days of our honeymoon.
We stayed at the Hotel Metro. To make things a little worse, it was raining. Yes, we walked in the rain for the remainder 2 days while in N.Y - hence, I got sick as the wind there is horrid (it literally goes through your spine). We waited for over 2 hours at ground zero for President Obama to show as this was the time that the Americans have claimed to have killed Bin Laden. Snipers, police & vehicles were everywhere. Later to our disappointment & many false alarms & decoy vehicles, turned out Obama snuck around the back in a plain black SUV. Our time in N.Y was also spent at Rockefeller square, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Central Park & the Zoo,Time Square, The Intrepid (aircraft carrier museum) & the statue of Liberty.
Then gratefully, we were off to Vegas - yay! We stayed at the Trump Hotel - very nice, just off of the Vegas Strip. Being sick as, I forced myself to do activities. We saw Le Reve (the same producers from circus de soul), the grand canyon, the casino's (not to our advantage), shopping outlets.
Last of all we went Los Angeles there we went to Universal Studios, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Shopping Outlets and went on an all day Tour of LA which included Hollywood Strip, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Farmers Markets, Staples Centre and other attractions.
Married life is…. (Finish the sentence)
Sweet - Just love coming home to my baby every-night after a crap day at work.
When you look back what would you have done differently on your wedding day?
Don't think we would have done anything differently | 
Maria & Quentin's Peel Manor House Wedding 
