Millie + Ryan by Skye Carter - Together Journal

When I arrived, the whole area was lit by candles and a bottle of Dom Perignon was chilling. I turned around and he was on one knee. I was so shocked! His parents were on FaceTime watching as well, which was so nice as they couldn’t be there.

Millie —— When I first met Ryan, he worked across the road from me at a rival real estate company. We were out one night and I gave him a hard time about that. Years later, he slid into my DMs on Instagram and we began our relationship from there. My first impression was that he was easy to talk to and weirdly similar to me – we’re both stubborn Scorpios! Now we work for the same real estate company – both in management roles. No one really “wears the pants” in our relationship. We’re a really good team and he’s the one person I never get sick of.

The thought of starting a family and growing old together excites rather than scares me. Ryan proposed to me surrounded by our family bubble at my family home during the first lockdown of March 2020. We had all decided to ditch the trackies for one night, dress up, have drinks, and home-made pizzas for some “normality” in crazy times. Little did I know what Ryan had planned. He pretended to be on the phone to a colleague and then called me down by the pool area. When I arrived, the whole area was lit by candles and a bottle of Dom Perignon was chilling. I turned around and he was on one knee. I was so shocked! His parents were on FaceTime watching as well, which was so nice as they couldn’t be there.

Ryan and I were going to get married on Waiheke Island with just our immediate family and then host a Mr & Mrs party later, but just two months before our wedding date we decided to surprise our guests by getting married at what they thought was just the party. Instead of a sit-down dinner, we had delicious pizzas from the outdoor pizza oven, finger food, and cocktails. We were very lucky to have the wedding at my parents’ stunning home in Dairy Flat. Saving on the venue and purchasing our own alcohol allowed for more budget to splurge on the florals!

I must have visited most bridal stores in Auckland as I just couldn’t find the vision I had in my head – until I went to Hera Couture. I picked out a dress but after changing our formal wedding to a surprise party, I called and asked if I could change my dress to be short with a detachable overskirt – better for dancing. They said they couldn’t make the change as the request was so last minute (fair enough!) but when I turned up to my next fitting, they’d made the exact dress I wanted. I was blown away! Katie Yeung and her team are amazing.

With it being a surprise wedding, we were nervous that people were going to turn up late and miss the ceremony. Luckily, everyone made it on time. We had the best day and then danced all night.