Both born and raised in Fiji, Deral and his bride first crossed paths at local gyms—Afterburn Fitness and BoxFit Fiji—where casual “hi-bye” encounters through mutual friends slowly turned into something more. Their story truly began in June 2023, when they started getting to know each other better. Soon after, they found out they were expecting their son, Matteo. In January 2024, the couple made the move to New Zealand, where Matteo was born that June. Just over a year later, in August 2025, they tied the knot and celebrated their love story as husband and wife.
Before their wedding day, Deral had already created an unforgettable moment. While holidaying in New Zealand’s South Island ahead of their move to Hawke’s Bay, the couple booked a trip to the breathtaking Milford Sound. A light rain had filled the cliffs with thousands of cascading waterfalls, creating a magical backdrop. Unbeknownst to his bride, Deral had planned the entire boat trip as a proposal, and on the top deck, surrounded by nature’s beauty, he asked her to marry him. Of course, she said yes!
We catch up with bride Dawn on planning their wedding in Fiji:
The Planning
We’re both from Fiji, born and raised, so it was always going to be Fiji. Our families all still live in Fiji, and it meant they could come and celebrate with us (and we could briefly escape NZ winter). Finding somewhere which had reliable weather was important (Nadi beats Suva every time on this aspect – it hurts me to say that, because Deral and I are both from Suva, but it’s true).
We chose the Crowne Plaza because we had heard so many good things about the food, the venue, the tasteful set-up, and the beach, so we reached out to them and they were extremely professional, quick to reply, and they were very accommodating of requests. Research-wise, I found their website to be very informative and reaching out to their staff was quick, efficient, and easy.
We knew we wanted to be married in a scenically beautiful place, and one which was close to our hearts. So we chose the ocean – we exchanged vows before our family and friends literally meters from the ocean, with our church pastor from Fiji Connect, giving a wonderful service. We also didn’t want the set-up to be over-the-top. We wanted chic, simple, elegant, and classy – the Crowne Plaza was all of these, and more.
Getting Ready
Charlene the Make-Up Artist and her team were fantastic for our pre-wedding makeovers! They were timely, professional, friendly, and extremely talented. They arrived when they said they would, set-up everything they needed to in one of our rooms at the Crowne Plaza, and got to work. They did hair and make-up for me, plus my five bridesmaids, and my mother – they started around 9.30am and we were all done and ready to go before the 4pm ceremony on the beachfront.
I bought my dress in Christchurch from Brides of Merivale. It was a Kelly Lin Couture dress. I wanted something that was classic, that would highlight my shape but would also stand out. I couldn’t have been happier with how the dress fit me, and how professional the team at Brides of Merivale were. My shoes were from Mi Piaci – I just fell in love with that colour! I then bought some drop earrings from the Lovisa Bridal Collection, which looked so good with the dress.
The groom’s tuxedo and shoes were from Tarocash, and the groomsmen outfits were all from Connor.
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was on the lawn/beachfront of the Crowne Plaza. The location was absolutely stunning! The set up was all part of the Crowne Plaza package – they did all the set-up and decor. One of our close friends, Sharleen Ali (who owns The Festivals Company) actually supported us through the whole day – she was basically our ‘in-between’ person making sure we didn’t have to worry about anything and dealing directly with the Crowne Plaza team on the day and the days leading up to the wedding, so that we could focus on other things.
We chose a colour theme/vibe for our wedding – “Formal dress in cool-toned hues of blue, lilac, pink, or grey”. To be honest, I just made up the theme because I really like those colours!
My husband and I are both Christians, and we attended the Fiji Connect church when we used to live in Fiji, so we chose our pastor from there to officiate our ceremony – Pastor Daniel Wood. It was meaningful to us that he marry us because we know him on a personal level, and he and his wife took us through our marriage preparation classes.
The Photography
Our photographer was Allan Stephen from Infinity Images – I worked with Allan many years ago, and he also shot my brother’s wedding back in 2020, so I was well aware of Allan’s talent with the camera. It was a no-brainer – another extremely professional and talented individual, who I would highly recommend.
We wanted fun shots that weren’t too curated – we wanted laughter, joy, excitement – the things that are easy to capture when they’re genuine, and so we were just ourselves and I hope that’s what comes across in our photos, because those were all real feelings.
The Reception
The Reception was at the Crowne Plaza Ballroom. We chose the ballroom because we had a large number of guests and we wanted everyone to be seated comfortably. We had a large head table set-up at the front on a slightly raised stage, and then about 14 or so tables of 8-10 people spread around the ballroom. At the back of the room was a kava station, and the buffet station. There was a DJ in the corner and a drinks station as well. The ballroom is massive, and easily accommodated our 130-140 guests, with a large dance floor space in the middle as well.
We went with the International Buffet – people are still raving about the food to this day – it was that good! There was fish, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, a selection of incredible salads and sides, and really delicious, thought-out desserts. The food was a MAJOR highlight – no one left hungry, that’s for sure!
The wedding cake was extra special as it was made by my brother, who runs a boutique baking business in Fiji called Pesto Ernesto. We chose a refreshing lemon and gin flavour, opting for a unique long-style cake rather than the traditional tall tiers.
Crowne Plaza did the music and the DJ was fantastic – honestly, having the DJ play music in the ballroom just brought everyone to the dancefloor – cannot recommend the DJ highly enough! Afterward, we went to the hotel club at the Crowne Plaza – again they had a live DJ, and again it was fantastic!
Wedding favours
Our wedding favours we purchased from the Suva Market – scented coconut oils, which we poured into small bottles for each of our guests to take home with them. We personalised some stickers and put them on the jars as well, and because my husband is of Fiji Indian heritage, we also gave all our guest small drawstring bags of Indian sweets. So everyone left with a mini jar of scented coconut oil and some Indian sweets.
Honeymoon
We went on our honeymoon straight after the wedding – we were so blessed to be gifted a honeymoon package from our close family, and so we went to Savasi Private Island in Savusavu and wooooow – five stars across the board on that one!
Overall Highlights
The food, the DJ and the ambience at the Crowne Plaza – massively recommend!
Top tips for Fiji bound brides
– Choose wedding dress fabric that match the Fiji climate – it’s hot and a bit sticky, you want to be comfortable in your dress as well, so choose the dress fabric thoughtfully.
– Write lists down, especially of small random things you want to do/ask about etc, because leading up to the day, it’s gonna be easy to forget these things
– Don’t forget your veil! I totally forgot to wear my veil on the day – I was saved by a close friend, who just happened to bring me this beautiful hair piece from Samoa
