Following the Monaco Wedding Expo we hosted the first ever Monaco Bride of the Year with all proceeds going to the Nelson Cancery Society. Due to the fact that Nelson has not had a Bride of the Year competition for a couple of Years we opened the competition up to all Brides who live in or were married in Nelson between the start of April 2008 to the end of April 2010.
All up we had 18 beautiful Brides who got back into their wedding gowns to enter the competition. It was of course a fantastic sunny Nelson day and we hosted the event on our famous Village Green complete with a red carpet runway!
Guests sipped complementary bubbles and enjoyed a lovely selection of canapés from the Orangerie Restaurant while the 18 brides re-walked the isle to show off their gorgeous gowns. Check out the winners and thier prizes below…
1st Prize winner - Helen Pascoe
Helen won a stunning handmade diamond eternity ring valued at $2,300.00 from Paul Harris Jewellers.
2nd Prize winner - Vicky Thompson
Vicky won return flights for two to Wellington, with two nights accommodation and full buffet breakfast at the Novotel Wellington.
3rd Prize winner - Chantell Bramley
Chantell won a night’s accommodation in a Summerhouse Cottage at the Grand Mercure Nelson Monaco with wine and chocolates on arrival.
This wedding in January saw a Baby Grand Piano brought into the Marquee! It set the tone for a very elegant affair with the tables dressed in black and white. The floral arrangements were provided by Sara Lee from a Perfect Day and complemented the elegant look wonderfully. 
October had brides with a real spring in their step. This wedding used sprigs of greenery on each place setting with each guests name tied to it. The centre pieces were tall vases filled with twigs which had small white trumpet flowers wired on.
The Village Green always looks amazing when set up for a wedding ceremony and this wedding in January looked exceptionally so, especially with the two large perspecs pillars from a Perfect Day at the head of the isle. Each pillar held a stone Urn filled with a beautiful floral arrangements. 
Our beautiful two bedroom and two bathroom cottages provide the perfect place to get ready with your bridal party. For this wedding in March the hairdressers and make up artists all came on site to help prepare the bridal party for the big day. This is a fantastic option if you want to relax and enjoy being pampered while you are getting ready, and added advantage of this as you will not have the stress of running around to different appointments all morning. Alot of our brides are now choosing this option. We can also deliver to your room a delicious breakfast platter of fresh seasonal fruits and pastries for you to snack on while you are getting ready. 
Often through January, February and March we host more than one wedding a weekend. This wedding was the second this particular weekend in March and it was lovely in light tones of white, off white and baby blue, behind the head table hung a silk and fairy light curtain and in front of this was a crystal and rose bud curtain which looked stunning both during the day but even more once the sun went down and the lights sparkled. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this wedding however was the Candy Bar; each guest received an empty candy jar on their place setting and were invited to fill (and refill) it during the reception. 
