High school sweethearts Sarah and Brad wanted their wedding to be a day of absolute joy, peace and celebration, with a timeless theme to represent a love that will last a lifetime. Sarah shares the highlights from their special day…

Our wedding truly was the best day of our lives so far. We had a big church wedding and slightly smaller reception. We sung praises to our God and during our vows we all cried. The applause when we were announced husband and wife is something I’ll never forget. We loved looking back and seeing everyone’s glowing faces.

My favourite detail was my gown. I wanted something timeless and classic – I’d dreamed of lace sleeves, a huge full train and a cathedral veil for years. Mum laughed and said, “just go full Disney princess” – so I did! Working with Grandmama to cut and sew my two veils was so special. My gown also had a jacket no one knew about, which came off for party time.

Brad’s favourite part of the day was seeing me walk down the aisle, and the cars. Our families are into cars so we had a mix of our favourites – four 1950-60s American V8’s (two of the Chevrolet’s were my Dad’s and the rest were his mates). We also had a classic Porsche 356, a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and a BMW M5.

We had our photos at Cornwall Park, which was where Brad asked me out. I had to climb huge fences in my gown, and the photos look awesome!

The reception was beautifully and simply decorated with white and green flowers, candles and hanging lights. We had candy canes as favours because our wedding was 10 days before Christmas!

Our parents gave incredible speeches. Both sets of parents have been married almost 30 years and it was so special to have them speak and give us advice on marriage. Dad also surprised Mum with a Tiffany charm. I think about half the crowd shed a tear.

We did a father-daughter dance to Butterfly Kisses and everyone cried, and then it changed to Yeah by Usher and we did the Kevin James dance scene from Hitch. We hadn’t told anyone we were doing it, and Dad’s quite reserved, so it was very unexpected. The roar of laughter was unforgettable and it set the tone for the night and the dance floor was pumping!

Our celebration ended with an amazing sparkler exit, which finished the day in the most magical way.

Photos: Chasewild

Video: Patty Lagera

Bride’s gown: Modes

Decoration: La Lumiere

Howick Village Jeweller / Suits on Broadway / Hallensteins / Show Me Your Mumu Trelise Cooper / Leonie Wood / Bianca Kloppers Lipstick & Co. / Walker & Hall / St George’s Church, Epsom / La Cigale French Markets / Clive Wilson / Flowers by Anna Currie / Singleton Cake Co. / Amy Hardy / Going Bananas