Juliette + Matty by Sapphire Studios - Together Journal

We’re both family orientated and have creative minds. I’m an interior designer and lucky enough to work alongside my mother, Rose Schwarz, for our spatial and interior design studio, Schwarz Design.

Matty – I think we pair up nicely. I’ve learned a lot from Juliette and now appreciate food in a way I never did. We share a lot of enjoyment from cooking and eating well. We have a “who is head chef” versus “sous chef” debate sometimes over who gets to call the shots in the kitchen. Juliette generally calls the shots.

I originally tried to pick a location for our first date that would make me seem cooler than I am. I went with the Gypsy Tea Room in Grey Lynn. I didn’t own a car, so being able to walk there was key. When Juliette walked in, it was actually the first time we’d met so I was pretty nervous to see how refined and attractive she was. When we decided to call it a night, I offered to walk her home and found I lived directly across the street. juliette– You know you’ve met someone special when you find out on your first date that you live across the street…

Juliette and I love doing hikes so I thought we could do the Pinnacles walk in the Coromandel and I’d propose just as the sun was setting. The day came and there was a major cyclone event over the North Island. Scanning the weather reports, I convinced Juliette that Nelson was still sunny, so we threw clothes in a suitcase and I popped the ring box in a sock. We stayed at this gorgeous accommodation called Zatori. I asked the owner about local places to see and she suggested Wharariki, on the tip of the South Island, with grassy paddocks, grazing sheep, white sand, caves and majestic cliffs. I knew I had my spot. As we walked around one of the hills, a remote beach opened up before us, stopping us in our tracks. I waited until Juliette was looking at something and darted around the corner. I knelt down on one knee, then stood up and ran backwards a few metres and knelt down again. When Juliette came around the corner, her eyes were the size of full moons. She took one slow step at a time toward me.

As a designer and stylist, I loved being hands-on with the wedding planning. We hired rather than purchased. We decorated our tables with minimal flowers and reused our floral arrangements from the ceremony at the reception, achieving high decorative impact with low waste.

Amid the sunny autumn weather we’d been enjoying, it poured with rain on our wedding day, although fortunately the rain paused and we were able to be married outside with just enough rainfall to create a magical ceremony. My mother’s wedding dress was designed by the formidable Vinka Lucas, so it felt only natural to approach her daughter Anita, who is now at the helm of Vinka Design, to create my own bespoke dress. The process was so much fun and the dress exceeded all my expectations.

matty– I was honoured by my grandmother to be the first in the whānau to wear our family korowai besides her. It showed respect to our whakapapa and was adorned with a symbolic collar designed by my brother Bradley, connecting generations to come.