Congratulations Erin and Guy on your recent nuptials in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Erin and Guy met while studying abroad in the Gold Coast, Australia. Erin travelled down to Melbourne for a change of scenery. Guy, originally from Melbourne, had been living in San Diego with one of Erin’s best friends, Liz. Not knowing anyone in Melbourne, Liz encouraged Erin to meet up with her friend Guy who had just moved back to Melbourne. They caught up the night of the AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final (think Stanley Cup or Super Bowl) on September 29, 2007 at a bar, The Vineyard, in an area called St. Kilda. They’re told that they abandoned both of their friends and spent the night talking only to each other on the patio. We asked Erin what attracted her to Guy. “He was playful, a great listener and we were able to talk to each other for over two hours about virtually nothing – something we still love about each other today,” she says smiling. When we asked Guy the same question, he admits: “Besides the fact that I thought she was beautiful, while we were talking I kept thinking how much fun we were having. The next morning when I woke up all I could think about was the next time that I would get to see her again because it was so much fun.”

Erin moved back to New York but clearly they were meant to be. At the time of their engagement, they were living apart – Erin in New York after taking a job there and Guy still in Melbourne, Australia. During Christmas, Erin flew back to Australia to visit Guy with her parents coming to visit the land down under for the first time. The four of them took a trip to beautiful Hamilton Island in Queensland and during their week there Guy had sneakily asked both of Erin’s parent’s permission to ask for her hand in marriage. “We decided that we needed a date night for the two of us alone before I went back to New York so we found a gazebo on a hill overlooking the ocean, which was surrounded by beautiful gardens. We brought wine and cheese and relaxed for a couple of hours and talked and took photos,” explains Erin. After the sunset, they sat back down and to Erin’s complete surprise, Guy got down on one knee and said “I’ve made it my life to look after you since we met, I love you very much and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life looking after you. Will you marry me?” He pulled out a blue Tiffany’s box and told me not to get excited and placed a beautiful silver Elsa Peretti heart ring on my ring finger. After months of research on the perfect diamond engagement ring he decided it was best they pick it out together.

THE WEDDING DAY
Wedding date: July 1, 2013
Number of guests: 41
Wedding colours: Sand, white, pastel peach
Erin’s most memorable moment: Turning the corner to come down the aisle with both my parents on either arm, my friends and family lining the aisle and seeing Guy looking back at me at the end of the aisle. It was a surreal moment in my life filled with so many emotions.
Guy’s most memorable moment: We decided to do reveal photos before the ceremony, part of that included some staged shots with Erin creeping up behind me. The moment that I first saw her in her dress was by far the most memorable moment for me. I kept thinking how lucky I was and how beautiful she looked.
What was the best advice you received as a bride and groom? Enjoy every minute of the day, and take the time to just be happy, enjoy each other, the moment and your loved ones.
Advice to others: Whatever you do, enjoy your day, every moment of it. Stop and take it in, because it only happens once and it will be the best day of your life so far filled with love, laughter, joy, reunion and pure happiness.
Favourite wedding detail: My burlap table runners punctuated with mason jars filled with sand and baby’s breath.
Most unexpected moment: Guy’s dad is a character who has no idea how funny he really is, and we’d asked him to make a speech at the wedding. Noel shuffled to the podium with a bag full of a few items that the proceeded to pull out one by one in a speech entitled ‘the speech of found items’. He attempted to connect each item back to Guy and I – none of it really did – but the speech which finished with a rendition of a barbershop quartet song where he forgot the words and insisted on starting over again had the whole group in stitches and helped set the tone for the rest of the night.
Most romantic moment: When we exchanged our own personal vows that we wrote for each other. After our vows the celebrant allowed us to hug each other, it was a beautiful and intimate moment we were happy to share with our guests.
Did you include any traditions in your wedding? The bouquet toss (a moment I’ve dreamed about since watching Father of the Bride.)
Honeymoon: We went to the Dreams Resort in Puerto Vallarta for a week and then to San Fransisco for five days and stayed in Union Square at the Hotel Niko.
The day in three words: Happiness, togetherness, epic

WEDDING DETAILS
Ceremony location: On the beach in front of the famous golden arch (El Arco) in Cabos San Lucas, Mexico.
Reception location: Poolside and overlooking the ocean at the RIU Palace Cabo San Lucas.
Why did you choose this location for your wedding? We wanted a spot that was as close as possible to Australia and to Toronto. We would have chosen Hawaii but at the time Guy wasn’t certain he’d be able to get a US visa, so Los Cabos seemed the next best spot as it was only a few hours flight from LAX. We had never been to Cabo before and we wanted to experience somewhere new for this trip.
Bride’s gown: Aspen gown by Jenny Packham.
Bride’s shoes: Nude strappy sandals by Tony Bianco.
Groom’s outfit: Slim fit khaki pants by Australian brand Country Road and Ben Sherman slim fit button up shirt with Top Man brown suede shoes.
Type of rings: She got a vintage hand engraved band with pave diamonds encircling the whole band. He got a 6ml palladium satin finish band.
Jewellery: She wore diamond teardrop earrings and the Jenny Packham “Stellina” Headdress II in Crystal in her hair.
Bridesmaids dresses: Dessy strapless gowns in suede rose.
Groomsmen attire: Slim fit khakis with white button up shirts
Wedding song: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Favours: Our décor – someone had to take it home!
Music: We wanted a mix of the music we both loved that made us happy and really meant something to us as a couple. I walked down the aisle to Yann Tiersen’s Comptine d’un Autre Ete – a song we used to play on the piano together when we started dating. At the beginning of the reception we had a Spanish guitar trio playing traditional music and we entered the reception to Edward Sharpe’s Home. We decided not to have a first dance as it didn’t feel natural to us but shared our first dance together amongst our guests to Ho Hey by The Lumineers.
Flowers: Baby’s breath featured in vintage milk bottles with candles on the tables and accents of peach, white and green floral arrangements.
Photographer: Dennis Berti Photography
Hair: Worn down and swept to one side with loose curls.
Makeup: Deep brown smokey eyes with deep rose accented cheeks
Stationery/Invitations: We made them ourselves! In tune with the theme of natural beach we used cream textured paper and had a graphic designer friend put together the copy and our emblem. We wrapped the invites in brown netting and completed the look with a real dried-out starfish on the front. The invites were sent in brown natural envelopes.
Catering: Provided by the Riu Palace and featured a melon and prosciutto salad with chicken and salmon mains and raspberry chocolate mousse for dessert.

FUN STUFF
Astrological signs: Pisces (Erin) and Leo (Guy)
What did you put in gift bags? We had our wedding emblem printed onto natural coloured beach bags for the female guests and onto white stubby holders for our male guests along with an A5 brochure detailing out the events for the week.
Is there anything else that helps tell the story of the day? The most magical thing about our wedding week was seeing friends and family from Australia bond with friends and family from Canada, USA, UK and even Sweden. Most had never met before so for both our worlds to come together for us on this occasion meant more to us than anything. It was amazing to see them form friendships and it made our wedding day that much more special and intimate especially when friends and family were giving speeches.