CRISTEL & CHIL

Congratulations CRISTEL & CHIL

4.5.22

NSW

“Falling in love with Chil wasn’t like falling at all – it was like hesitantly walking into a house and then instantly having this uncharted sort of happiness from knowing that you’re home.

Cristel Gonzales and Chil Guño met nine years ago. “We remained mere acquaintances for over a year. We had chanced upon each other a lot and would do the occasional nod but never really spoke until we found ourselves in the same get-together with a big group. What was a full day of trivial conversations and casual banter turned into a friendship. Chil said she quickly developed a tiny crush on me until it became too big to just be ignored! Eventually our friendship turned into a steady ‘situationship’. It was everything you’d think could be love, but we were pretty good at reeling it in. It remained that way for a while because neither of us wanted to be the first to admit we were in love, but once we did, we were all in!”

“We were in Tromsø, Norway over the holidays in 2019. The original plan was to propose under the Northern Lights because the chances of it showing were supposedly really high during that season. Chil had it organised with our tour guide in advance and they even brought bubbles and an intimate picnic spread for us to enjoy a private moment away from our small group afterwards. The Aurora, however, decided not to turn up that night and remained elusive for several days! Plan B was at a very scenic viewpoint of the fjord and surrounding mountains in Senja. We got up for an early morning drive on 3rd January only to be met with a massive snowstorm. We got there eventually and the snowstorm stopped shortly after, but there was zero visibility. Chil was having an internal panic while coming up with a Plan C but within 30 minutes the sky cleared and the picturesque view finally revealed itself. Just as we were feeling small and in awe of this amazing sight of nature, Chil said her spiel. That night, the Aurora showed up as if to congratulate us.”

“We were going for a classic, romantic and elegant setting for the ceremony and tablescape for dinner. We didn’t have a specific theme in mind but had particular things we wanted to have on the day such as using the trees as the base of our arbour, the light tunnel for dinner, big white peonies or double tulips for the bouquets, and blush and toffee tones for the floral decor.”

“Waking up to a clear day after more than two weeks of rain was definitely one of the highlights. We started the day more excited than ever because we knew we would be able to have our ceremony outside of the cottage of Byron View Farm and dine under the stars with the light tunnel surrounding us. We hid our dresses from each other for about a year so we had our first look / dress reveal. We had a few bouts of emotions, partly because of each other’s radiance and partly in disbelief that we were about to finally be married. It gave us a moment together before the ceremony to connect, take a deep breath and bask in this surreal happiness. It’s something we’ll never forget. We chose to hand write our vows which made us feel more in tune with ourselves not just as we were writing them, but moreso while reading them to each other on our wedding day. ‘Your vows were very you, and my vows were very me’, was Chil’s feedback when I asked her about what she thought. It was both easy and a feat writing the best combination of words that encapsulated it all and we are happy to have put our own authenticity into it. We were surprised at how many people cried from the exchange and we were so glad they felt the profoundness of what the day meant for us.”

“Our advice for other couples planning their wedding is be mindful of how easy it is to fall into the traps of stress from the pressures of planning a wedding. There are so many details you didn’t think you would have to decide on to make sure it will be a perfect day for everyone. Ideally, take on tasks you’re good at or have a particular inclination towards. Chil is great with design so naturally she had a lot more to say on the dining setting, arbour style and placement and colour schemes. I am a very food-driven person so I took on the menu selection and all the cake-related decisions, plus I had particular ideas on the flowers so I took those on. You’d still run decisions by each other but owning specific areas means you can each focus on what to research, which suppliers you communicate with, costing, etc. Most importantly, try to have fun with it. At the end of the day, regardless if every detail doesn’t go to plan, the important bit remains: You will be married to the person you chose to do life with.”

“We haven’t planned an official honeymoon yet because we had visiting guests from overseas and decided to spend time with them. We then spent two weeks after the wedding just enjoying every single second of each other’s company – honeymooning in our new house, or eating and drinking and laughing all over Brisbane! We’re planning to visit Manila next year to have our post-wedding party with our friends and family and then see Tassie at the peak of winter.”

“For our photoshoot, we wanted to capture the real us - casual and naturally happy. Instead of the more common posed photos. After the ceremony, we opted to go around Byron town for a more urban setting and a relaxed shoot before headed back up to the Hinterland.

CRISTEL & CHIL’S WEDDING CREW

Marriage Celebrant SKAI CEREMONIES

www.skaiceremonies.com.au skai@skaiceremonies.com.au

Photography VAN MIDDLETON PHOTOGRAPHY

www.vanmiddleton.com van@vanmiddleton.com

Attire - White Lily Couture (Pronovias and Enzoani) Cake - The Cake That Ate Paris Catering - Fig Tree Restaurant Ceremony, Reception and Accommodation - Byron View Farm Florals - Anamundi Flowers Hair and Makeup - Ava Belle Styling and Coordination - Elope Videography - Yellowbull Weddings Wedding Hire - The Wedding Shed Zoom Livestream - Byron Audio