Peace In The Promise

7th October 2017, the day Steve & I became Mr & Mrs!

I can’t say that I remember everything perfectly, there is so much that is a blur (thank God for photos, right?), but that’s why I’m going to post a ton of photos and allow them to tell most of the story! (scroll to the end for the list of our wedding vendors)

So my bridesmaids, my mum & I got our nails done in Mandurah (where I grew up and lived until partway through 2017) at Gentle Nails (we pretty much booked out the place, it was our own private pampering session!), got some Chicken Treat, jumped into a maxi taxi and drove to our hotel in Perth City the afternoon before the wedding!

We had booked 2 double rooms, which were amazing! Each had 2 suites and a living space within them (so in total it was really like 4 bedrooms with 2 living spaces). I stayed with my mum and 3 sisters in one, and my auntie, cousin and sisters in law were in the other right down the hall!

The guys got ready at Steve & my place. Steve had barely moved in at the time, so we had no furniture y’all! They literally got ready and took photos in an empty house bahaha. Poor guys had to get ready so early so that the photographer could take their pictures and also capture the bridal prep, so they were lounging around on the floor for like 3 hours in their suits.

Steve’s parents came, and you know ma came with the goods to feed her boys!

When I woke up on the day of the wedding, there was a weird calmness about me. It was almost funny! How am I getting married today? I asked myself. It feels like any other day. I don’t remember exactly how the morning played out, but I do remember one of my sisters playing her calming violin music in the next room with the bridesmaids as I put on my tunes in my room (I also remember there being a shower and makeup roster in place LOL, if you know my family, you know that we like order! Come on somebodyyy). I had time to be still and reflect that morning, and for that I am grateful.

Somebody prepared a fruit platter for me (I’m 99% sure it was you, mum!) and I ate it as my MUA did my makeup (shout out to Haba Beauty Bar). My hairdresser arrived as my makeup was being finished (oh hey Gamine Dynasty!). This was the second weave I had ever worn in my life and I had washed it the night before, blow-dried it and gone to bed, little did I know it was still damp in the middle HA (my hair still worked out though!). As my hair was being done, our photographer arrived, followed by our videographer (Danielle is SUPER sweet, guys! Find her details in the vendors list at the end), then the flowers. Everything was starting to come together!

My sister’s were being super cautious around me and keeping a calm atmosphere, I found it so funny but I was grateful that they were doing everything they could to keep me stress free on this full on day! I remember laughing a whole lot that day, I think I spilled a drink on my dress before we walked out of the hotel room and everyone gasped and said “It’s okay!”, but I just laughed!

I am still so in love with my bridesmaids’ dresses! I remember stalking Pinterest after our engagement and finding them on an online store, I messaged my sisters, and one of them (who lived in the UK at the time) was like “That store is like down the street from me!”, so she brought the dresses over and it was love at first sight. They were so free & flowy, suiting both the ceremony and reception beautifully. One of my sisters did all my bridesmaids makeup + my mum’s and auntie’s…that was a total of 8 people (hence the makeup roster! Haha). My other 2 sisters took over styling the bridesmaids hair. Having my sisters pitch in was so helpful as I trusted their skills, plus it cut the cost by a ton!

I wasn’t keen on having my face covered, so my veil was perfect for me! It was made by the same designer that made my dress, so they complemented each other well. It did not take me long at all to pick my wedding dress (which was a big deal! I thought I was going to be extremely indecisive!). In fact we were going out for lunch as a family when we happened to park in front of this bridal boutique in Mandurah called Zoo Bridal. We went in to have a browse and, 3 dresses later, I picked my dress! Though it didn’t take me long to pick my dress, it took me a while to decide on my hair. I was debating whether to have it in a bun, but that’s how I usually wore my hair when I was going out. After many Pinterest stalks I came across Hollywood waves, and, after a hair trial, I was sold! In all honesty I’m not that big of a wig/weave person (my go to style is braids, and right now I am pretty much bald hahaha) so it was exciting to experiment with a different style that I have not rocked before!

I decided on a red lip last minute. I wanted something to bring out my lips, and a bold lip did just that! I literally borrowed my sisters Hourglass red lippy on the day. Usually I do not trust anyone with my makeup (other than myself and one of my sisters haha) but I was happy to find Haba Beauty Bar on Instagram and quickly arranged a trial. My mum loaned me her drop pearl earrings that day, I feel like they completed the hair and the red lip! I got my shoes from Novo, mainly because I needed white shoes haha, and I thought the gold accents around the ankles were cute! I like to to think of my look as an Old Hollywood inspired beat (LOL, can I copyright that?)

I began feeling nervous in the limo on the way to the church (eeeek). I remember being very quiet and staring out of the window as the girls talked among themselves. We got to the ceremony venue and the girls made their way inside to meet the groomsmen whilst I stayed in the car with my mum, and for the first time that day tears sprung to my eyes (say what now!?) and I needed a moment. My mum sat with me as I fanned my face, then we got out of the limo.

I remember walking with my mum and hiding behind a wall so that the guests inside the church wouldn’t see me yet. Our pageboy and flower girl were still in the foyer and because the music was so quiet, they didn’t know when to start walking in, so there I was outside tapping on the window and waving my arms about to get their attention, I then pointed down the aisle to get them to start walking in haha. My mum walked me from the limo to the start of the aisle, and my dad walked me the rest of the way. I wanted to honor them both in their roles of raising me into the woman I am (having them both walk me down the aisle would have been a bit of a squeeze, so we got creative haha).

I remember being uncertain of how the vibe would be upon entering the church. How is it going to be? I asked myself. Is it going to be awkward? Will we have to act all formal? But I remember reaching halfway down the aisle and seeing Steve grinning at me, he was his usual goofy self and I knew we were going to be just fine. We’ve got this. I thought to myself.

The ceremony was the highlight of our wedding for me, it felt like we were in our house, just being ourselves. No nerves and no pretending! Steve’s vows took me out, it was like a whole testimony and sermon LOL, and I loved it! It was so Steve. At some point we were tag teaming in the vows and I thought the Pastor was going to tell us off (HA!), we were on a roll!

Fun fact: I actually wrote my vows the night before the wedding, and Steve wrote his the morning of the wedding, we didn’t find this out until after the ceremony when we were having our photos taken! It wasn’t for some deep reason, I just couldn’t find the words to write before then. It was funny as, when we were saying our vows, they complemented each other as if we had planned them, but little did others know, that was the first time either of us had heard them!

There was such a sense of relief when the Pastor announced us as “Husband & wife”, we both looked at each other and our eyes were definitely saying “Finally!” Steve even did a little happy dance LOL.

I remember being very sweaty, my veil being stepped on, and smiling a whooole lot during the post ceremony hugs and congratulations…it was great! Experiencing tremendous joy and having our loved ones share that same joy with us was an amazing feeling.

After the ceremony I remember being so hungryyyyyy! I’m pretty sure the entire bridal party was in hangry mode during the photos (pack decent snacks, y’all!). There may or may not have been hungry wails from a certain groomsman lol. As far as Steve and I were concerned, the most important part of the day was done, so we were ready to wrap things up. I remember us giving each other a pep talk about getting through the rest of the day during the photos.

We took our photos at The Secret Garden, at Lake Gwelup. My brother in law actually mentioned the location sometime before the wedding! It was right near the church, so it worked perfectly.

When I was in high school I would look at wedding blogs and save the photos with concepts that I liked (I had a whole folder y’all, I was so grown LOL), during this time I came across Merge Photography. I remember loving her work and how she edited her photos, so it was really exciting to be able to have her as our wedding photographer.

Our reception was held in The Preston Ballroom of Rendezvous hotel, and Event Style did our decorating. I don’t think I really appreciated the decor until we got the photos back! Our colour scheme was white, gold and champagne, and I really love how it turned out.

The bridal party was upstairs in our suite demolishing the hors d’oeuvres (aka. appetizers, I was feeling fancy) as we waited to get the heads up from the MC that it was time to enter. At some point Steve and I were in the hallway trying to figure out our entrance dance (can somebody please tell me why my husband was given the responsibility to choreograph it? And tell me why it still wasn’t choreographed 5 minutes before the reception!? LOL), we eventually gave up and just winged it.

The best advice I received about planning a wedding was “Know that not everything will go according to plan, but as long as at the end of the day, the 2 of you get married, that’s all that matters”. That really applied to the reception because ohhh man did things not go to plan hahahaha. There were several points where the organizer within me was cringing (and screaming internally lol), but I just thought to myself “You know what, it’s my wedding day!” and made the most of it!

My brother + sisters in law composed and sang a song dedicated to Steve and I at the reception and it was so beautiful. I’m still waiting on the professional recording of it, guys!

I couldn’t even tell you what we ate for dinner, there was enough food and I was hungry, but because of all of the excitement I just couldn’t eat properly (why Mirembe, whyyyy!?). But I did get a mouthful of the wedding cake made by Hello Sukar, and my God was it amazing!

After all the formalities, people began to leave pretty quickly, and Steve & I got pulled into the masses of people that wanted to bid us farewell! Sadly this meant that we missed most of the dancing (noooooo). We were literally among the last people to leave the reception, I wished we could have danced longer but I was also happy that the long day was coming to a close and I could finally be with my husband (glorayyyy)!

All in all, I look back at our wedding as an experience to remember! I reflect on the choices and sacrifices that were made, I laugh at what bothered me in the planning process, and shake my head at the areas that we were both unwilling to compromise on. Yes it was frustrating to plan at times, yes not everything went to plan, yes there were some cringe worthy moments, but at the end of the day, I got to marry my best-friend, and on that day, nothing else mattered! I couldn’t care less about the empty chairs, if anything, I just wanted everything to be sped up so that Steve & I could get onto living our spectacular ever after!

So, if you are planning your wedding, try not to stress! A lot of the stuff you may be worried about won’t even matter in the long run! Remain true to yourselves. It wont be the end of the world if that person doesn’t make the guest list. Have fun, laugh, and celebrate your marriage the way you two desire!

Much love,

Mirembe

xo

Vendors:

Bridal Dress & Veil – Zoo Bridal

Bridal Shoes – Novo

Bridal Makeup – Haba Beauty Bar

Bridal Hair – Gamine Dynasty

Cake – Hello Sukar

Decorations – Event Style

Photography – Merge Photography

Videography – Daisy Clover Videography

Ceremony Venue – Lake Gwelup Christian Church

Reception Venue – Rendezvous Hotel (Preston Ballroom)