I love the way you smile when you first wake up, and the way your heart beats when you fall asleep. I love the moments of joy when your smile fills the room with life and the moments when you sing and you bring the room to a complete stop. …
You support me, you respect me, and it has been one of the most rewarding things growing up alongside you.
Everyone is plagued by insecurities and doubts at some point (/many points!) in their lives and a little kindness, a spoken word of encouragement, a nod in your direction can warm your heart and make you feel stronger and that you’re travelling the right road. This is what happened when I received an email from an amazing lady when I was 30-something weeks hapu/pregnant.
Little did Greer know the smile that encompassed my entire body when I received her email request for a celebrant for a surprise wedding. I confessed that I knew exactly who she was as I followed her inspirational and singing posts on the ‘gram and that I very much enjoyed both Greer and TJ‘s stand for the LGBT community (and a special prowess on the sports field!). We met up in person during a break in TJ’s travelling, I got Roni (the dog) cuddles and nose bumps, and we talked about surprising all the whanau for a secret wedding at their engagement party in THREE months time at Gear Homestead.
And WHAT A SURPRISE!!
Oh my word … It was perfect. Perfection. People were shocked, the groomsmen in Working Style all high-fived and couldn’t wipe the grins off their faces, and all Greer’s sisters looked STUNNING. The weather was phenomenal (some might say, TOO hot) and the bride and groom were in love and only had eyes for each other. Sanele Chadwick Photography and Johnny Hendrikus Video captured everything amazingly – I cannot speak more highly of these two vendors!
This was a career highlight for me – god knows I LOVE a good surprise – and I can’t gush more about these two lovebirds and how privileged I am to help share a wee part of their love story. Thank you for choosing me. You are both going to change the world xx
Recommended vendors in the bride’s own words:
– Cake: Jan Betham – Highly recommend!!! She stocks cakes and goodies for the Porirua Cafe Local Authority and they are seriously amazing. Our cake was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted and it looked incredible. She caters to what you want and I’m obsessed with her creations.
– Balloon garland: Lilypad Party Boutique – Adds just an extra little touch to a relaxed wedding. you can get personalized decals for the balloons and she also hires out donut walls and other things. She is really cool to work with and I pretty much just told her what I wanted and she did it.
– Selfie booth and flower wall: Wild Mint NZ & Sienna Reid – Definitely recommend. Guests love being able to take their own photos and I love that with Wild Mint they have the option to add a Sienna Reid flower wall. They have different kinds of selfie booths and walls so they can suit any occasion.
– Personalised canvas: Glitter Decor – I recommend, was perfect for our relaxed wedding. Located in the Hutt and was easy as to communicate. She works from home so is just a small business, but was perfect for what we wanted and we liked supporting small businesses.
– Light up letters: Lumina Signs – Definitely recommend. Adds a special touch to any event, and they look incredible at night! You can also spell anything you want with them which is awesome.
– DJ: DJ4You – Our original DJ had a family emergency but our DJ4You was awesome. They are really accommodating and have different packages to suit different venue sizes and budgets. Would recommend.
– Bride dress: Astra Bridal – Loved Astra, I found the dress I loved straight off the rack and Lisa from Astra is so helpful and lovely. Definitely recommend.
– Rings: The Village Goldsmith – The best of the best. Highly recommend!!!! They involve you in every little step and they are just so lovely.
– Photographer: Sanele Chadwick Photography – Absolutely amazing and is the nicest guy out. We are in love with our photos, they captured our wedding perfectly and I’m so happy I found Sa. Highly recommend.
– Videographer: Johnny Hendrikus – Up and coming videographer and he did an incredible job. The result was amazing – again captured us perfectly! Definitely recommend.
(beautiful and tear-inducing) Testimonial: “When my now husband and I started looking for celebrants we honestly didn’t know where to begin. We started the search well in advance before our planned Nov ’19 wedding, but then decided we just couldn’t wait that long and began planning a surprise wedding which would happen in just under 3 months! This put the pressure on even more, and because of our less than conventional wedding, we needed someone who would match that. Cue a late night google search and scrolling through – what felt like hundreds of celebrant pages, I came across a celebrant who spoke of her own unconventional wedding which was done in a similar surprise fashion, I then scrolled further down the page and saw a photo of said celebrant sculling a bottle of champagne on her wedding day… this was the lady who would marry us.
Miranda is cheerful and bubbly and everything was a breeze with her. She has confidence and can take charge of a crowd with ease. Communication was easy – mainly over email as we were away for 3 weeks on holiday during our planning period. She helped us so much and I really liked her questionnaire which gave her a sense of who we were as a couple, it really helped inform our ceremony transcript and I appreciated her wanting to include us as much as possible (I’ve seen some celebrants who rant on and on about random stuff and it took away from the bride and groom!) She was more than happy to go with whatever came up (being a surprise wedding she also had to keep her lips sealed about everything) and was more than happy to play along with the secret plan.
Our day was relaxed and we had guests comment on how relaxed she made everyone feel which was a biggy for us. She is so amazing with taking our personal feedback, and I never felt pressured into anything- she always makes sure it is about THE BRIDE AND GROOM. She handled everything with expertise, and I am personally stoked I had a strong boss lady marry us! Thank you Miranda for everything.”
Me getting my excite on!