#EnzoaniRealBride: Tracie & Neil

Love Story

Our love story was a long time in the making. We met while in school when I was 15 and Neil was 18, and we’ve been together ever since. Neil proposed on our 10-year anniversary and we started planning our wedding. We were happy together for so many years as we were, and we didn’t feel a rush to get married straight away. We wanted to make sure we could have everything we wanted on the day, and saved up for the next three years. What was important to us was the personal touches; we had name cards with our own personalised wine corks, a photo booth and Tim Burton style cake! It all paid off and the day was honestly perfect!

The Big Day

On Friday 23rd August 2013, the day started with me and my sister waking up early then creeping around the house excitedly waking everyone up. All my family and bridesmaids stayed in the hotel cottage the night before the wedding so we could all get ready together. We went down for breakfast together before the real pampering started; however we were surprised when the photographer turned up mid-way through breakfast and snapped some sneaky pre-makeup shots (hair rollers and all).

My very close friend Katie volunteered to do my make-up for the day. This made the entire getting ready experience so much more fun as we all sat on the bed laughing and drinking champagne. The whole morning went so quickly, I kept thinking, "Shouldn’t I be nervous by now?" That’s when the time came to put on my dress and the nerves/excitement started to set in. Mainly because as I said "Let’s get dressed," I turned around to my bridesmaids crying. They helped me into my dress and I felt amazing! No one had seen me in the dress since I originally picked it including my mum. As she walked down the corridor I could hear her sobbing before she even stepped into the room. Needless to say, Katie had to perform emergency make-up touch-ups for everyone.

Most Memorable Moment

The journey to the ceremony was a bit of a blur; all I wanted to do was get in the room. As Prince's "Purple Rain" started to play, I knew this was it. As I walked into the room and saw all my closest friends and family with the cheesiest happy grins, everything hit me and I walked down the aisle blubbering all the way (which was a surprise to everyone…especially me). As I got to Neil, he looked so happy, the tears just stopped and we exchanged vows and got MARRIED. The rest of the day went by way too quickly. We got exactly what we wanted as surrounded by friends and family, we celebrated our relationship and future life together. It was perfect!

The Dress

Working for Enzoani, you would think picking a dress would be easy. It definitely was not! I was faced with so many stunning dresses I was completely overwhelmed. I took the advice of one of our stores and just started trying on dresses. Because of my job, I felt a lot of pressure to pick the “perfect” dress, which I suppose every girl does. I started trying on dresses and despite being beautiful, they weren’t me. So I tried to forget about everything else and just tried dresses I liked and then I tried on Gloria from the 2012 Enzoani collection and everything changed. People always say you know when you try on “The One” (which I thought was rubbish), but I really did know! As soon as I put it on, it felt completely different to everything else. I felt comfortable and really felt it was me. It has a fitted layered tulle bodice with a feather-like skirt. It felt traditional but also edgy…everything I wanted. On the day, my dress was so stunning and I felt beautiful in it. The fit and feel of the dress was fantastic and I could not wait to get to the ceremony to see Neil.

What advice would you offer other brides?

Remember why you’re there! Just breathe and forget about all the little stressful things. You're there to marry the person you love and celebrate with everyone close to you. It doesn’t really matter if the colour of the napkins are slightly different. The day goes by so quickly, make sure you take every second in and enjoy it.

CREDITS: 

The Dress - Gloria, 2012 Enzoani Collection

Venue: Oxwich Bay Hotel

Photographer: Peter Stevens Photography 

Flowers: AJ Guttridge Flowers

Cake: Designer Cakes By Janet