Aimee & Tom by Lucy Li Photography - Together Journal

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

We met in London 5 years ago and returned to NZ for our big day.

We brought a heap of Brits with us, and lots of London based kiwis, which was super exciting to show them where we are from and the beautiful scenery and produce the country has to offer.

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…

We got married on a typical hot Marlborough day. Although we didn’t have a specific theme or style in mind, we did just want our day to be relaxed and to focus on showcasing Marlborough to our overseas guests. Paripuma stole our hearts the moment we found it, the most beautiful New Zealand native garden set on the East coast of the South Island. As we were organising our wedding from the UK it was important that we were able to liaise with providers remotely and Rosa from Paripuma couldn’t have been more delightful to work with.

Although we didn’t have a specific colour scheme, we knew wanted to keep it simple and in theme with the beautiful Paripuma garden. The groomsmen wore navy blue suits and the bridesmaids looked stunning in forest green. Jane from Flowertime Florist out did herself with the flowers, tying the relaxed garden theme together with her gorgeous cream, green and burgundy bouquets.

One of the most important aspects of the day was the food. Two of Tom’s best friends, Hugh and Hercules, are chefs and they agreed to be both groomsmen and chefs for our big day. Being based overseas they were keen to create a menu that used local produce and leave a personal mark on our celebrations. As much as they could they sourced the ingredients from the Marlborough region including 80 handpicked lemons, 16kg of salmon, 35kg of dry brined and smoked lamb, 6 kilos of herbs, 16 pavlovas and 8kg of berries. Hugh and Herc worked so hard the day before and the morning of the wedding insuring they had every gastric detail perfect, not to mention popping off to check on the lamb between speeches! They had all the groomsmen working late the night before the wedding zesting lemons and curing salmon. Only arriving in the country a week before the wedding, they managed to present the most exquisite menu of salmon, beef, salads and Eton Mess.

Tell us about your main outfits:

We wanted to keep what we wore relaxed and informal to fit with the garden setting. Tom wore a navy-blue suit from Aquascutum. Aimee wore Lily by Lena Medeyoff. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for in a dress, but my sister picked Lily off the rack and as soon as I tried her on I fell in love with her! She was so simple and easy to wear I knew she would be perfect for a hot summer day. It was a bonus that she needed no alterations and I was able to put her in my carry-on luggage to bring home! I also wore a simple cathedral length veil and borrowed some shoes from my mum!

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?

Most definitely the one of the highlights of the day was being able to have all our British and Kiwi family and friends in one place. Knowing that people had travelled so far meant we needed to throw one hell of a party! And of course, having Hugh and Herc cater our wedding and seeing the enormous amount of prep and effort they put into every detail of the food still is the coolest part of the day.