Milan Style

The proposal may have been a bit subdued, but Josef and Emily's big day was a truly picture-perfect affair, from the helicopter ride to the top of Mount Cotton to the midnight rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

But we'll let Emily fill you in on all the romantic details ...

How did you meet? Joe and I are high-school sweethearts. I had recently emigrated from a large city in England to a small country town in New Zealand, and met Joe when I started at Darfield High School. We had the same group of friends and quickly became best friends with lots of things in common.

Tell us about the proposal: The proposal was not great! He had secretly bought the ring and told his friends and family his plans to propose. On Boxing Day 2013, we were heading over to meet my family at the holiday home in Tikao Bay and stopped in at my parents' house on the way. He then threw the ring box at me and mumbled: "Will you marry me?" I said, "What?", not hearing him, and he replied with the same mumble. Of course I said yes!

Location of wedding: Our wedding was at the beautiful Terrace Downs Resort. It is a golf resort which sits overlooking the Rakaia River and the beautiful mountains.

Describe your wedding day: Our wedding day was just absolutely incredible. There are no words to describe it. We had perfect weather, the perfect venue, all of our family and friends with us to celebrate, great food, and dancing all night long.

Photo: Pink Bridesmaid Dresses

The dress: My dress was from Wilkins and was a real princess dress - layer upon layer of organza, with a beautiful bodice of jewel beading and lace.

The flowers: Our flowers were from Moffatts. My bouquet was made up of ivory roses with a few blush pink roses and the bridesmaids had blush pink roses. Moffatts also did the flowers for the centrepieces. They did an incredible job.

Highlight of the wedding: My whole day was so fantastic it is hard to choose just one highlight. However one springs to mind because so much thought had gone into it. Joe surprised me with a gift before the ceremony - it was a heart-shaped rock which we found eight years ago while walking our dogs down the river. I had no idea he had saved it all these years.

Another highlight was my sister's speech - it was no ordinary one ... she rapped it to the theme song of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Another highlight was taking a helicopter up to the top of Mount Cotton for photos. The last highlight is the last dance at midnight. Everyone was on the dance floor in a huge circle linking arms and singing and dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody. What a way to end a fantastic day!

Was there any drama? The only drama was three days before the wedding - my makeup artist called to say she had double booked and could no longer be at our big day. We rang around and luckily managed to find another makeup artist. The girls at Sugar and Spice in Darfield were amazing, and it all worked out for the better.

The honeymoon: We went to Hawaii for nine days. The highlight was being upgraded to business class for the flight there. Hawaii is a beautiful place and we spent most of our time relaxing.

Your photographer and favourite photo? Our photographers were the incredibly talented Heather and Doug from the Heather and Doug Records. They were fun and bubbly and made us feel totally relaxed.

I don't have a favourite photo, they are all just so amazing! They did an awesome job. We also had Brendan from Boogie Beats (he was the DJ and MC) taking photos of the guests, and they are also amazing!

More info: http://www.sheindressau.com/white-bridesmaid-dresses