The Special Couple: Nat + Liv

THE FIRST SIGHT & PROPOSAL

Liv and I met online. For his proposal, Liv suggested we head to San Remo Victoria, for a couple of days away on the Easter long weekend of March 2018, to relax and explore the nearby natural surrounds of Wilson’s Promontory. Livino struggled to find any vacant accommodation when he tried to book for us (2 days before) and wasn’t in luck until a last-minute cancellation was offered to us Thursday afternoon (the day before we left). It was so last-minute I didn’t suspect a thing because surely he wouldn’t leave something so important to the last minute booking.

When we reached the entry point of Wilson’s Prom National Park on Good Friday we were handed a Park map; Liv asked me to direct him to drive wherever I’d like to explore. I pointed to Cotters Beach, a beach I didn’t realise was only reachable by walking a 20-minute rocky track. When we finally reached the beach itself, we had it all to ourselves. I walked along ahead of Liv, intensely focused on taking photos on my phone of interesting seaweed, shells or rocks washed up on the sand. Liv had been messing around with his backpack during this time, but I took no notice. He wove an unusual sentence into our conversation that made me turn around to face him. As I did, he was already down on one knee with a ring box open in his hands! We hugged, and I managed to say ‘yes’ just before a massive rain cloud opened up, sending rain, wind and sand flying everywhere. All in all, I loved the fact Liv let me (unknowingly) choose our proposal location, and he was so relaxed with it being somewhat random for him too!

THE INSPIRATION

We both love nature’s calming effect and its ability to inspire. We didn’t set a specific theme, however looking back now, our love of nature really did inspire some key choices; our venue was in Mount Dandenong surrounded by beautiful trees and gardens, we chose a variety of succulent plants as our bonbonniere gifts and our bridal bouquets and buttonholes featured iconic native Australian flora such as gumnuts, wattle and king proteas.

THE BRIDAL LOOK

I aimed for my bridal look to be feminine, ethereal and to have a softness to it - not stiffness. Finally, I wanted to pair the dress with some key accessories to make it uniquely me. I love minimalism and timeless simplicity in dress designs, but unfortunately these sorts of dresses did nothing for my short stature and curvy figure. I needed a dress that I could comfortably wear to hide parts of me that are not my favourite, but accentuating parts I was proud of. I chose to have soft Hollywood waves for my hairstyle, paired with a low silver floral headband from Eternal Bridal. I wore a two-winged cape made of a soft crepe-like organza, (also available from Eternal Bridal) which we modified in alterations to tie in with my dress. It was everything I could dream of!

HER SAY "YES" TO THE DRESS MOMENT

At Eternal Bridal I tried on approximately 6 dresses in my first appointment. (I had probably tried another 15-20 dresses total, at various other boutiques). At other boutiques there were some dresses I liked but none that gave me the feeling ‘This is my ultimate dress’. The range at Eternal Bridal was great! I am very fussy when it comes to lace/embroidery details; but when I saw the Enzoani ‘Myra’ dress in person – I was so impressed. The depth and quality of the embroidery was high. It looked beautiful from close and afar. The semi-transparent cut-outs in the bodice and straps was so modern and sexy without being over the top. The ‘fit and flare’ shape emphasised the best parts of me, whilst the embroidery helped to smooth out any curves I didn’t want to show. The Enzoani Myra dress made me feel 10 out of 10.

When I decided it was the dress for me – we ordered additional embroidery pieces to customise the dress to be less low-cut in the alterations phase (and to hide some added support). This was the best idea ever – and was thanks to the very knowledgeable Eternal Bridal staff.

THE HIGHLIGHT

Walking down the aisle wearing a cape. I mean, you don’t get to do that often in life! It felt amazing, regal.

NAT'S ADVICE

There will be many details of the overall wedding day that guests won’t even notice but you may stress over – mentally and financially prioritise the elements that are most important to you and your partner (perhaps dress, venue, photographer) and make the best you can out of everything else.

NAT'S ETERNAL BRIDAL EXPERIENCE

The range at Eternal Bridal was great! I tried to picture what the final look would be like when fitted to my body – and the extremely talented dress alterations staff at Eternal Bridal achieved this. They were miracle workers. For a curvy woman like me to choose a backless dress (with no chance of hiding a bra strap of any sort) with a DD bust was a risky move to say the least. I was comfortable enough to dance and twirl in my dress with no issues.

Nat wore ‘Myra’ from Enozani. See more gowns from Enzoani Collection here

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