Hannah + Rory by Jonny Scott

The scenic beauty of our venue, Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds, made styling easy.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We have been together for eight years and have been living in London for the past three years, working in business strategy and law. We love our friends and family so much and are lucky to have lived our lives surrounded by such wonderful people. We love and miss our favourite places in NZ, Mahia, Marlborough, and Lyttelton, and are looking forward to being closer to home soon.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met in our first year of university but spent four years on opposite ends of a wider friend group. After a brief early romance, we thought that was the end of it, until Rory happened to be in a local bar and his friends forced him on stage to perform. Hannah’s friends happened to be there too, and bombarded her with videos of him, which brought us back together. We were pen pals for the summer while Rory worked in Malaysia, before moving in together a year later, and the rest is history.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The scenic beauty of our venue, Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds, made styling easy. The venue is a place close to the hearts of Hannah and her family, who have been connected to the Sounds for almost 100 years. We picked this venue without looking anywhere else.

Hannah’s sister and Maid of Honour, Olivia, hand-designed all the wedding stationery, taking inspiration from the Sounds. For our name place cards, Liv called around the local oyster farms to see if any would be willing to sell to us. Tyler Reid, from Flip Farm, said we could have them for free and spent months putting aside the best-looking oyster shells for us. Liv then hand-painted the shells and also created original art based on Sounds motifs: blue cod, scallops, crabs, and even real topographical maps are found throughout our wedding art.

To top it all off, Rory had a necklace made for Hannah’s 30th birthday that she wore on the welcome party evening. It’s a paua shell cast in gold, and the original shell came from the belly of a fish we caught while fishing in the Sounds years earlier.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Our wedding planning process ended up being two years from start to finish. Our best piece of advice would be to surround yourself with professional vendors you trust to take the load off you, and to keep your vision for the day flexible. So many things can change at the last minute and are out of your control. For example, we had to pivot at the last minute because rain across the country in the lead-up to the wedding meant the colours of our chosen flowers had all changed. We would never have thought that rain could change the colour of hydrangeas.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We were so happy with all our vendors! Every vendor brought a degree of professionalism that made us feel like we were in safe hands for the weekend.

We brought our planner, Kate from Soiree Studio, on board early when we realised planning a wedding from London in a remote and logistically challenging location was going to be too difficult. Kate completely understood our vision, and we could trust her entirely to advocate for us on the ground. When we got to our wedding weekend, everyone warned us to try to take it all in, because it would be over so quickly. We were able to “be where our feet are,” knowing Kate and her assistant, Kelsey, were running the show seamlessly behind the scenes. We all felt a deep sense of calmness over the wedding weekend, and we have Kate to thank for that.

Jonny Scott (our photographer) and his videographer Dan were incredible. We got on like a house on fire, which made things much easier. They dressed up so well, the only thing giving away that they were not part of the guest list was the large cameras in their hands. They gave clear, easy directions for our photos and made it all feel natural and unposed.

We also loved our florals and have Bianca from Dirt Studio to thank. We gave her photos of our ceremony and reception locations and the bridesmaid dresses, and told her to take her creative liberties. She did that and more!

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Rory is of Tibetan heritage and spent the first five years of his life living in Dharamsala, India. We wanted to incorporate his heritage into our wedding weekend. Tibetan culture draws parallels to the American Southwest, with strong connections to horsemanship. Rory wore Tibetan saddleback rings, pins, and a bolo tie; each of the groomsmen also wore bolo ties. During the ceremony, Hannah and Rory and immediate family were given Tibetan silk scarves called Khata, which are draped over people in times of major celebration.

For Hannah’s wedding dress, after a series of wedding dress appointments, Hannah found a photo of her dress on Instagram and tracked down the one stockist in London, who happened to be at a bridal store which was a five-minute walk from her London flat.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Adrian from Fifth Avenue Diamond Experts made our engagement and wedding rings. Adrian has been the person their family has gone to for special milestone gifts for the past 20+ years, so there is no one else we would trust more.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We knew from the start that the weekend would go by in a blink and therefore wanted to make sure we had it captured well. Rather than following a traditional path, we gave Jonny and Dan (our photographer and videographer) the brief of capturing the weekend from the eyes of the guests, so we could remember the feeling of the weekend. When we received our wedding video and photos, we knew they’d nailed the brief and were worth every penny.

We also think that having our guests at our venue for the entire weekend made it extra special. We were able to see so much more of our guests just by wandering around the lodge, and our guests from each side left as friends afterwards.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

It is hard to pick out a single moment or two from a day that was so special from start to finish. Rory’s favourite moment was when he and the groomsmen were getting ready on the boat and could see the outline of the girls getting ready on the balcony. Right before they left for the ceremony, the girls started booming out Raye’s “Where the Hell is my Husband” and dancing around on the deck.

Hannah’s favourite moment was her first look with her Dad, Simon. Beyond it being the usual special moment, it was made even better by the fact Simon wouldn’t tell her what he was wearing for the wedding day, only saying his suit was Karl Lagerfeld and would not be confused for a work suit. It ended up being a reverse first look with Simon as her something blue!

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

Being married to us has felt very much the same as being engaged, and before that being in a committed relationship. Each stage has been an affirmation and strengthening of the existing love and affection we have for each other. Being married means experiencing enduring love, which shines through despite tetchy travel days or someone loading the dishwasher wrong.