Last Saturday at dusk, Demis and I held our wedding at Araluen.

Inside the warm, intimate and picturesque chapel, I made my way nervously yet magically down the aisle to meet my dashing and noble groom. There we sealed our vows with rose gold, white diamonds, an Apache poem, tears, laughter and a kiss I will never forget.

Aside the fairy-lit gardens, lamp-lit sandstone building and grand iron gates, we toasted with friends and family and marvelled at the amazing event that had just taken place. Holding daiquiris and champagne we posed for photos that promised faces wild with emotion and lost in bliss.

Seated at the white-laced tables that were drenched in blood red rose petals and candles, we ate and drank while we reminisced over the past, toasted to the present and shared hopes for the future. The room was filled with noises of fine cutlery, guests making new friends, and sentimental speeches.

Under the old chandelier, inside the elegant ballroom, wearing a carefully a beaded corset, I twirled my lace gown and pearls to the soft piano music. Many joined in the dancing and the tunes changed melodies but my arms were wrapped and locked firmly around the neck of the man I loved, my husband.

I wish in this review, I could give an accurate description of the food I ate or the wine I drank...unfortunately, I was filled with such an intense amount of happiness and excitement, that I hardly tasted a thing.

But the success of a wedding venue is rarely in the dining but the atmosphere. All brides feel like a princess on the day of their wedding, but few venues make it their sole purpose to create a magnificent Victorian world complete with garden adornments, beautiful antique-filled sitting rooms, paved pathways, hundred year old buildings and most importantly...quiet unobtrusive staff that are not waiters and waitresses, but gentlemen and ladies.

When the time came for us to leave, my only regret was that the night had flown too fast. As we sat in our old Rolls Royce and waved goodbye to the balcony of guests, I choked back on tears as I looked at the smiling faces waving so wildly, so earnestly, so selflessly...I had never seen so much humanity and pure well-wishing in all my life.

My last look back was at my family who had such a look of love and joy on their face that it made me pause and recognise that this was what life was truly all about. If I had had the power to bottle up that feeling and keep it under my pillow for the rest of my life I would have...but instead, I smiled to myself and burned the scene into my memory forever.

We checked into the room of our luxury hotel and stood by the window that sat high above the city but felt high above the world. I held the hand of the man I loved with such almost desperate passion and thanked whoever was listening that I was where I was at that very moment.

A few days later we looked through some of the photos and took in some of the details of what we had missed. What touched me the most was that there were so few poses - it seems that everyone was too lost in their own emotions to notice the cameras. Photo after photo I saw couples kissing, partners dancing, families talking, friends laughing and even children sleeping.

All the messages on the cards we received were touching and heartfelt but there was one message that rang home to me. It said:

"There is nothing in life like a wonderful marriage".

The thing about weddings, is that they make you appreciate. They not only celebrate new love but they also remind couples of how and why they fell in love, bring friends and memories together, make family as strong as it will ever be and most importantly, they remind us all that dreams can come true.

Henry D. Thoreau, an American author, once said:

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake".

Thank you to Araluen, friends, family and of course, my cherished husband...you have all made my dreams come true.