Shai and Vincent said "I Do" on a classic windy Wellington day this past February at the St Mary of the Angels Church. Their photographer captured some absolutely stunning photos from their wedding day and we're so excited to share them with you!
Shai wore the Selena dress by Maggie Sottero, an absolute classic and timeless gown made of luxe Mikado Satin. This dress always captures our hearts with its impeccable structure, scoop neckline, pleated skirt, and of course...the pockets!!
Continue reading to get some insight from Shai about her day, the dress, and what advice she'd give to other brides.
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We have known of each other throughout our college years, and we crossed paths again after college. Absolutely not romantic but we bumped into each other in town one night then we started catching up for lunches and dinners and now the rest is history!
The proposal was Vincent in a nutshell (simple guy). One Monday morning he convinced me to take the day off work with him and offered to take me to one of my favourite cafes (Seashore Cabaret, Petone). It was raining and for anyone who goes to this café you’ll know that sometimes you have to park down the street and walk over because their carpark is so full! So we got out the car and started running towards the café along the beachfront. Then from behind me Vincent yelled out and I turned around and there he was proposing to me! It was a really nice intimate moment, I think because of the weather no one else was around us on the esplanade and it was kind of cute having a moment to ourselves in the rain!
What was it that made this particular gown catch your eye and fall in love?
Honestly, I love a good statement piece. The fact it was simple and timeless but had a dramatic train and pretty little buttons from the top of the back all the way to the end of the dress were huge ticks for me. I have quite broad shoulders so the square neck was really complimenting on my build. The pockets on the actual day were a HUGE bonus just with carrying small things (tissue and phone).
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
It was a no brainer finding my dress when I did. I came across my dream dress on Astra's Instagram page. The lovely Kryslin was a model in it and I just knew I HAD TO TRY IT ON ASAP. When I know I want something there's no real stopping me. I did try on other dresses just to say that I had tried all options but I just knew that the dress I saw on Instagram was the one for me. Krislyn was an absolute star in it all, sometimes with all the excitement you just need someone who’s calm and that was her! I felt no pressure saying “yes” to the dress which just made the moment with my friends and family more special. I remember walking out of the changing room in the dress and just my whole support crew saying YES THAT’S THE DRESS immediately.
What was your favourite part of the day?
My favourite part of the day was 100% walking down the aisle and seeing Vincent’s face. There’s something about that moment – the lead up to it, the moment you’ve been fantasising about growing up as a kid, that very moment you realise you're about to marry your best friend. It’s just a special moment and whilst you’re trying to time your walking down the aisle as well as the pressure of everyone watching you and you’re trying not to trip, it’s such a surreal moment that I wont forget.
My other favourite part of the day was at the reception during dinner time. I just remember looking across the hall with Vincent from the front table and seeing everyone smiling, eating, talking and some people already dancing. Me and Vincent just looked at each other and smiled during one special moment because it’s everything we had dreamed of. The atmosphere of the room was so beautiful I wish we could relive this moment over and over!
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
Getting ready was SO FUN, honestly being relaxed is my best advice. My family took over all the duties on the day so I didn’t worry about a thing except walking down that aisle looking like a 10 out of 10! My bridesmaids were an absolute hype and kept doing little errands like ordering room service, bringing up our hairdresser and make up artist!
Weather wise, it was raining and really windy (storm warnings even) but we know how Wellington can be so we never considered an outdoor wedding for us. You cant control the weather so there’s no point stressing over it, we took it as a sign of good luck!
In all honesty, our ceremony happened in the blink of an eye!! It all happened so fast!!
We had dinner and a few cultural performances (Cook island, Samoan and Rotuman). Followed by an hour of beautiful speeches from our most dearest, we wanted to keep this short so we had our grandparents, parents and siblings speak. After our cake cutting and first dance, the lights went out! The party lights came on and the DJ took over and we partied the rest of the night away!
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
My biggest advice would be, stay true to who you are and what you and your to-be husband want for the big day. Really embrace every moment of your wedding day including the planning and organising because it really is a once in a lifetime moment. I look back at our day a lot and think how special it was. I urge you to try and not stress on the day, just take every moment in and let it be! Half the time the finer details that you think everyone will notice they have absolutely no clue.
Also, don’t feel pressured to follow tradition! If you want something that’s never been done before.. DO IT ! just relax, take it all in and smile (maybe have a cheeky mimosa too).
