India & Francois

Elegant and timeless, India Brown and Francois Viljoen’s romantic wedding was a dreamy woodland fairy tale...

SPLITHERE

"Francois and I met when two of our friends were dating – we shared a car ride home from Ponsonby and found instantly that we enjoyed each other’s company. Our relationship bloomed rapidly and organically. Francois told me on our very first date that he was dating me with the intention of marriage. He was not the type of chap I expected to end up with – a hairy and scruffy tradie! But it felt right from the very beginning. I just loved that Francois is such a genuine, lovely gentleman and old soul. All of our important values and ideals align and one of our key strengths is that we always communicate very openly and honestly."

SPLITHERE

"I saw a showstopper Jessica Couture ballgown in New Zealand Weddings & Honeymoons and thought it was the most amazing dress I had ever seen. For practical reasons I did not want a ball gown, but I was lucky enough to have Jessica herself caring for me when I was trying on dresses and mentioned how much I adored that gown. She said she had just the dress from her unreleased couture collection. I knew it was the one when I tried it on – I did not want to take it off. I felt like a woman, a wife to be. I had wanted something with a hint of colour, perhaps blush or gold so I adored the stunning lace in the gown with applique detailing of gold and nude throughout the ivory. I felt like a lace forest had grown up around me."

SPLITHERE

"Seeing Francois for the first time as I came down the aisle was so emotional and special. I would not trade that moment for anything. Our week was impacted so greatly by Covid that I could not believe we had made it until I was holding his hands in mine in front of nearly all of our nearest and dearest. We will always remember looking out at our amazing tribe of supportive friends and family in our stunning floral woodland creation as our ceremony ended. We could not believe that we managed to safely see our wedding come to fruition as everything was unravelling at top speed just days beforehand. It felt very sweet to have a celebration of love and family when we knew that a very challenging time was just around the corner. Our wedding day really was a timeless, soulful, dreamy fairy tale."