Nicole + Mitch

How did you meet?

Mitch and I first met 6 years ago on a 2 week top deck tour around Europe. Although it was an instant attraction we became friends over the 2 weeks and ended up having a little kiss. After that, we went our separate ways as I was moving to London and Mitch was heading back to Australia. We never spoke after the tour and to be honest, we both never thought twice about each other after that.. After two years in London, I decided to move to Sydney where my sister & brother-in-law were and moved in with them. I had been in Sydney a few months and my sister had organised a girls night out after work on a Friday. We decided to go to a bar that we had never been to before.. Mitch was at the bar also with some mates and spotted me from across the room. After finding out months later, he had to look me up on Facebook first as he couldn’t remember my name! Haha. He then came over to say hi and we exchanged numbers.. We went on our first date 2 weeks later.

How did you know he was the one?

We had been together around 6 months and it was the night he first told me he loved me.. It was new years night and we had decided to spend it together, just the two of us.. We walked down to Bondi beach for the countdown and as we were walking back to my apartment he pulled me back into his arms and told me he loved me 😊 .. I had never experienced that sense of overwhelming happiness like that before.. that’s when I knew.

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

He’s driven, he has the most kind and selfless heart, and I love his smile.

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

I came across made with love bridal on Instagram and as soon as I looked on the page I was so in love with multiple dresses so I got in touch straight away. I went to the Sydney store and took two of my bridesmaids with me.. I tried on around 5 dresses and the Riley luxe was the second one I tried on – As soon as I had it on, we all looked at each other and just knew! I went to try on a few other ones but kept comparing them to Riley. I just loved the lace and shape and the low back – it was exactly what I wanted.

Who proposed and how?

Mitch proposed back in my home city (Christchurch, NZ). We went back for a long weekend to celebrate my grandmas 90^th birthday. The morning after the 90^th, we went for a walk along the beach (the beach where I spent most of my childhood) and half way through the walk he got down on one knee and proposed.

What was the best moment for you at the wedding?

Our vows – We wrote our own vows and didn’t show each other and it was the best. I hate public speaking but I was not nervous at all and our vows actually referenced a couple of the same things which I loved. It was such an overwhelming emotion standing up there and listening to Mitch say his vows.

What surprised you most at or about your wedding?

The happiness of everyone – There’s something about weddings that brings the best out of people and it really showed at ours. It was such an extreme measure happiness from everyone that made us really feel loved. I will never forget that feeling.

What advice would you tell other brides?

Don’t sweat the small things! Don’t overthink everything and remember the day is about the two of you and no else – Everyone is always going to have their opinions whether you want them or not, so just make sure you don’t let other people influence your day too much.

What was the one thing you did differently for your wedding?

There were 2 things we did slightly different than the ordinary which I loved. During the ring ceremony, our celebrant included the engagement ring as part of the ring exchange after we had given each other the wedding rings which was really nice to incorporate the ring and the engagement story again. We also cut our cake straight after the ceremony so everyone actually got to see the cake outside rather than tucked away in the corner of the reception and it also meant the caterers had time to cut into pieces for the dessert at the end of the night.