Gerry & Andrew – Sheraton Fiji

Andrew and Gerry met in Brisbane celebrating the cities River Fire Festival 11 years ago in September of 2011 at Birdees, a nightclub in Fortitude Valley, meeting unexpectedly whilst out with our friends. Andrew bought Gerry a drink at the bar and followed her for the rest of the night (actually running to another nightclub to meet her before the lock out laws kicked in). They texted every day for a number of months afterwards.

We catch up with Bride Geradine on what lead her to book a destination wedding in Fiji:

BRIDE & GROOM: Gerardina Zychowski & Andrew Cowper

THE DATE: Saturday, 10th  September 2022

THE LOCATION: Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort, Denarau Island.

THE NUMBER OF GUESTS: 52

Every year we would come to Fiji with Andrews family for a family holiday. Pre Covid this was about 7 times and we fell in love with the island, the simplicity and beauty. Fiji meant family for us, and it was the perfect place to start our journey together.

We chose Denarau Island as we knew we wanted a larger wedding and wanted everyone to stay in the same area but with a choice of hotels. We’ve only had nothing but the best experiences at the Sheraton and chose the hotel because of the friendly staff, stunning views and grassed areas around.

I had an idea of what I wanted (flowers, music etc) and where we wanted to have the ceremony and reception which guided us fairly clearly as to what we needed to organise. I’d been planning this wedding in my head for a number of years, so it was just about finding someone to put it all together.

Once we had found Chelsea (Chelsea Jayne Weddings) everything was easy, and she guided us through the process of what we needed and when. The most difficult part I guess was navigating Covid and entry requirements, but this was all available and consistently updated online.

We had an initial zoom call with Chelsea back in October 2021 after finding her details on Bula Bride and locked her in soon after. She knew all the in’s and out’s of what we needed to organise. Again, navigating life after Covid in Fiji was testing at time (slow responses from Fiji etc) she never felt like planning was hard and always made us feel reassured. She was amazing.

I also spent a fair bit of time looking at the other ‘real Fiji weddings’ for inspiration. Obviously planning a Fiji wedding is different to say a Sydney wedding which was our alternate option. Things like flowers, setup, aesthetics & photographers were all information I could find on the website, it was all in one place.

 

GETTING READY:

Andrew and I wanted to follow tradition and not see each other on the morning of the wedding. We organized to have breakfast at different times, mine being 7am and he went at 9am to the buffet.

After breakfast, myself and my bridesmaids went back to my room with my mum and mother-in-law to start hair and makeup and have a few glasses of champagne.

I wanted everything to be a surprise for everyone, so my mum and mother-in-law left around midday before I put my dress and accessories on.

My dad came at 2.30 and we promptly locked him and the bridesmaids in a room together so I could do a big reveal to them all. My dad has a tradition that has followed both of my siblings weddings which is to do a shot of Benedictine together in honour of our late grandfather, his favourite drink, as he wasn’t able to see any of his grandkids get married.

We were picked up by Fijian warriors on the ‘gold’ golf buggy to head to the ceremony.

For Andrew and the boys, they got ready together around 1pm with a few drinks and some food in Andrews room. They wanted to stay in the air conditioning for as long as possible! Andrew had a few friends and his family join him over the course of the day sharing wise words and stories and helping him calm his nerves.

We used Totoka Hair & Make Up Fiji and Palavi and Stephanie were our artists. They were so experienced, knew what we wanted straight away and did an incredible job. They were also so quick and efficient without compromising on quality.

My dress was from The Bridal Atelier, Sydney Australia. (@thebridalatelier) and the dress design is by Meraki White in the ‘Kai’ Style. (Instagram @merakiwhite_by_merakiofficial). The Bridesmaids dresses were from: JJ’s House Online, in black.

The Groom wore a cream custom suit from Suit Supply in Sydney (@suitsupply) and the boys wore black pants and white shirts from Johnny Bigg in Sydney.

Andrew and I agreed we weren’t going to give gifts on the day, but Andrew surprised me with a beautiful Gucci Bracelet which he said was my ‘something blue’ as it had blue stones.

 

THE CEREMONY:

Location: The Lawn, Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort Denarau Island at 3pm. (This actually changed to 3.30pm as the celebrant accidentally went to the wrong hotel)

The styling & flowers & cake flowers included) was all done by Fiji Weddings. Our wedding cake was done by the Sheraton and we had DJ Works for entertainment in the evening.

We chose black and white with lots of greenery as our color/themes. We wanted a ‘formal’ beach wedding which wasn’t the classic or expected beach/Fiji wedding.

We wanted a fairly quick ceremony, so we chose simply vows and chose to write our own.

We had Fijian warriors introduce both myself and Andrew before we walked down the aisle.

We wanted to have our mums included in the day so they were our witnesses.

 

 

GETTING PHOTOS:

We used Nadi Bay Photography, we had Laurence on the day. We loved the aesthetic of their photos on their Instagram and website, and they came highly recommended. The package was also great value, we chose the ‘Earl Grey’ Videographer/Photographer package for 8 hours.

We were looking for more simple shots, not to forced, lots of candids.Laurence was exceptional, professional and a great energy on the day, he definitely knew what he was doing and kept us entertained all afternoon

THE RECEPTION:

Location: Outside on the Grass under the tree at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort,  Denarau Island.

We had all of our guests head to Tavola Bar at the Sheraton main pool for drinks for an hour after the ceremony and then walk over to the reception area for Cocktail hour. All our guests had 5 Canape options and free flow drinks. We chose to have the ‘Cocktail Selection’ drinks package which included pretty much all drinks and a Pina Colada and Mojito cocktail station.

We choose the ‘resort Deluxe Buffet’ menu, which was a selection of cold dishes and cheeses, hot mains curries, pastas, vegetables etc, salads and a dessert selection. It was honestly a bit of everything and catered to all the dietary requirements we had of our guests.

Sheraton Fiji made our cake. We choose a rectangular (something different from a classic round cake), 2 tier, vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.

For entertainment, we had DJ Works Fiji for both the ceremony and reception. We finished the night with Fijian Dancers and Fire show. After the reception was over, a number of guests and the bride and groom headed back to Tavola Bar to continue drinking and dancing the night away.

 

 

YOUR ADVICE FOR BRIDES PLANNING A FIJI WEDDING:

If you are considering it, do it. We decided on a fairly large wedding with a lot of our family and friends. Not only was the day a perfect day together but we were able to catch up with everyone before and after. They would all come back to this beautiful island and are largely planning holidays here as soon as next year. I couldn’t stress about anything even if I tried, the staff and wedding planner were attentive and caring and so friendly.

I would definitely recommend getting a wedding planner who knows the vendors and hotels in Fiji and knows what goes into the communication and planning of the day. Chelsea was incredible and the process was seamless.
Be prepared for ‘Fiji Time’. It was prevalent in the planning stages and whilst we were in Fiji, I think because we experienced it from our previous holidays, we weren’t too bothered by delays etc but if you’re not, you might be surprised.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:

Fijian dancers and fire show gave our wedding a little something different, they were definitely a highlight. We also initially opted out of having the Fijian warriors to walk us down the aisle, but when we at the Sheraton, we talked to a few of the staff, and they said they were the ones doing it. They were so friendly and so excited and once we experienced it we thanked them that they asked to do it. Was a special touch connecting our wedding to Fijian traditions.

I also definitely would say a highlight would be the reception setup, it was truly magical! We got to see a sneak peek as they were finalizing the setup as we were getting photos and my jaw dropped.

PRE-WEDDING FUNCTIONS:

We had a large group of our friends head over to Malamala Beach Club for the day before the wedding.

Who Did They Use
IN THE KNOW

Who Did They Use?

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Wedding Planners & Travel Agents

Chelsea Jayne Weddings Fiji

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Fiji Wedding Photographers

Nadi Bay Photography

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Hair & Make Up

Totoka Hair & Beauty

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DJs, Music & Entertainment

DJ Works Fiji

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Event Rentals & Decor

Fiji Weddings

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Wedding Venues

Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort

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