Julia + Cam by Antonova Kseniya - Together Journal

Julia —— We’re actually both wedding photographers. Before we met, we both had photography backgrounds and together have created HAUTE Weddings, our wedding photo and video company. We love that our job gives us the flexibility to be able to do more of the things we love: travelling, fashion, exploring new business ideas, taking photos, trying new restaurants. One of our favourite things, though, is to slow down and unwind in Italy. Aperol spritz in hand, of course.

I’m from Germany and Cam is from New Zealand. We met by chance in Bali. When I first saw Cam, I thought, “Wow, he is so handsome, but why is he wearing those flip-flops?” Cam thought, “She’s waaay too hot for me!” We knew very early on that we’d found our big love, but being from different countries, we knew there would be obstacles.

Cam proposed when we were in Queenstown for my birthday. He usually plans a lot for my birthdays, so I didn’t suspect anything. Even after sailing on Lake Wakatipu at sunset, I still wasn’t aware of what was happening. It was such a special moment: in the sunset on an amazing yacht with a few glasses of champagne.

Having photographed so many, we had a strong vision of how we wanted our wedding to feel. We’ve seen so many couples get caught up in the details and not enjoy the day, so we knew we wanted a big old party with the theme of ‘Pizza, Pasta, Grand Amore’. I can proudly say I was probably one of the most relaxed brides ever. Maybe a little bit too relaxed at some points! The key was choosing vendors we trusted so that, on the day, we knew they would take care of everything. We’ve seen so many trends come and go, so we knew we wanted to keep our styling and concept timeless and classy, something we’ll look at in 30 years and still love. We splurged on the venue because we knew that if we chose the right place, so much of the work was done.

We’ve always found the cake-cutting a little underwhelming, so wanted to make a big deal of it. Our cake was surrounded by candles and flowers and our guests held sparklers as we popped champagne and cut the cake. But a waiter was a bit too enthusiastic and lit 20 sparklers at once, causing a fireball that set the surrounding grass on fire! After the initial shock, we were able to laugh about it.

I studied fashion so I had a clear vision of my wedding gown. I love flowers so I wanted the dress to be a huge petal. I scoured the internet but couldn’t find anything I liked. I eventually came across a photo on Instagram from Kaviar Gauche that looked similar to what I wanted. It was a one-off piece but they let me try it on and I fell in love with it straight away. As it was a short dress, we designed an overskirt for the more official part of the day. Later in the evening, I took the skirt off and danced the night away. My veil was custom-made by my friend Natalie, who owns a beautiful bridal store in Auckland. Cameron wore a classic tuxedo from Working Style with a few special details from P Johnson tailors.