After a long wait for a proposal, Shannon, 22, finally got to marry her beau, Ross Baird, 24. (We especially love photo number eight, how movie star does she look? Gorgeous). That said, we’ll let her – and the pictures – do the rest of the talking…
How did you meet? I had known of Ross for ages through our churches, but we met properly when my sister was house-sitting for a workmate. It’s a funny story – Ross gave me his number and then when I texted him a few days later he had completely forgotten who I was! Not exactly the best start.
Tell us about the proposal: It was amazing, I had been waiting for so long for it, and I’m pretty sure Ross was loving that I was hanging out for it. He kept taking me on romantic walks and drives and nothing would happen and then finally, one very windy Friday night, we went for a drive around Lyall Bay in Wellington and Ross kept trying to get me out of the car to go for a walk. And, of course, because I had been waiting for it for so long, I didn’t think he was ever going to propose, so I kept refusing to get out. We stopped at a little park bench and, after finally managing to wrangle me out of the car, Ross gave me a bunch of roses and popped the question.
Location of wedding: We got married in our regular church in Wainuiomata.
Describe your wedding day: It was the best day. The forecast had been rubbish for the week leading up, but when we woke up on Friday morning, it was completely clear and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We were pretty lucky! My bridesmaids couldn’t believe how calm I was on the morning of the wedding, but I’m pretty sure it was because everything was planned to the T and I was very ready to walk down that aisle and marry Ross.
The dress: I picked the last ever (it isn’t in production anymore) Maggie Sottero „Hunter“ gown from Astra Bridal in Wellington.
The flowers: Chrissie Lawrence from Bloom Supply did our flowers, she was so amazing. We told her what we wanted to pay and she sorted everything out. She did such a great job on all the flowers, even with very limited information from us!
Highlight of the wedding: I would have to say, the best bit was just after the ceremony when the important things were out of the way. We just felt so relaxed and ready to enjoy the rest of our day.
Was there any drama? Actually, there was no drama at all. The whole day went so smoothly and we didn’t have to worry about anything during the day – which is exactly what you want!
The honeymoon: We decided, after much discussion, to go to Thailand for our honeymoon. It was absolutely amazing, and we even got to be a part of their New Year celebrations and pet tigers! That was definitely Ross’s favourite bit.
Your photographer and favourite photo? Our photographer was Haran Siva of Haran Photography. He was amazing! We had an engagement shoot with him before the wedding, so on the day we felt completely at ease with him. We absolutely love all of the photos.