The feature wedding this week is Chiara and Lyle. Corey was their photographer and by all accounts, the day was fantastic. Enjoy Chiara’s comments on the day and if you are planning your wedding, be certain to read to the end, where she throws in some valuable advice.

Lyle and I met when we worked casually at Coles on the Central Coast. We hit it off immediately and have been together for almost 8 years. Lyle proposed last November at the Iguazu Falls in Brazil.

Our wedding was held in the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens near the main pond. We held the reception on Sydney Glass Island, which boarded next to the Sydney Opera House.

We just wanted a very simple spring theme with lots of flowers, soft colours and rose petals down the aisle.

There are so many special moments. To name a few…

The weather reports were promising that there would be rain and a thunderstorm on our wedding day. Even though the sky was grey and everything was suggesting it would be a washout. We still decided to hold our ceremony in the garden, as that’s what we had dreamt of for so long. We packed our umbrellas and crossed our fingers. Ten minutes before the start of the ceremony, the clouds completely disappeared and were replaced with blue skies! It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Nothing can describe how it feels to walk down the aisle and see your soon-to-be husband’s smiling face, knowing that all your family and friends are there showing their support and love for you.

My musician father wrote and played a touching song after his speech.

For our honeymoon, we stayed at Vomo Island Resort in Fiji. We spent our time snorkelling, swimming, drinking cocktails and eating entirely too much food. It was amazing!

For anyone planning their wedding, the most important piece of advice I would like to share is that after all the planning and waiting, the day truly disappears in a flash.

Take the time to step back and appreciate all the work and effort that you and everyone else has put into the day.

Also, your cheeks will hurt from smiling so much, but you won’t be able to help it!

As for our favourite photos, the photos under the giant fig trees are stunning!