Andrea + Rob by Stephan & Nakita - Together Journal

We wanted our baby boy involved, so his godmother Aunty JoJo carried him up the aisle to one of his favourite songs, ‘Rubber Duckie’. It really was a true Italian family affair.

Andrea —— Someone once said to me, “it will happen for you and when it does it will all happen at once”. And it did. In the few short years Rob and I have been together, we’ve shared so much: love, loss, becoming parents, christening our baby boy Sebastian, buying a house, and getting married.

I was raised in a large Italian family in Island Bay, Wellington. After seven years overseas, I set up Unique Model Management with my business partner almost eight years ago. Rob and I had been dating for several months when the first lockdown occurred in March 2020. We instantly knew that we didn’t want to be apart so we moved in together. Being together 24/7 really solidified and fast-tracked our relationship. He made me feel so happy and completely safe.

We’d planned to go to Queenstown for my birthday, but another lockdown pushed out the trip and also Rob’s father had been unwell. I suggested we postpone the trip, but Rob was adamant we go. I had no idea he’d been planning a proposal until he got down on one knee in an intimate restaurant and asked me to marry him. I was in complete shock and started crying and it took me a little time to respond “yes”. We spent the following day skiing and were on cloud nine.

We bought our home together in October that year and had an engagement party/house warming on a gorgeous summer’s evening the following February where we also announced that we were pregnant. In hindsight, organising a wedding with a teething baby, Covid, and a few other things in the mix was a tad crazy, but with the support of our family we made it happen.

Our vision was chic, romantic and classic, with an element of fun.

Wedding dress shopping was tricky as I was six months pregnant. Thankfully, the first dress I tried on at Vinka Design was perfect. My mum and sisters were there for my final fitting and I’ll never forget their reactions when they saw me in my dress. On my bouquet was pinned a brooch which belonged to my Nonna. With his lucky cufflinks and a classic tuxedo designed by his friend Chris at Crane Brothers, Rob couldn’t have looked better.

When I told my father we had secured a venue, his first response was, “Great, I’m going to ring Father Barry (our family priest) to book him in.” My father runs a seafood wholesale business and insisted on providing crayfish, oysters and other seafood. We had Italian and jazz music playing throughout our day. And we had a table with photographs of our parents and their parents on their wedding days. We wanted our baby boy involved, so his godmother Aunty JoJo carried him up the aisle to one of his favourite songs, ‘Rubber Duckie’. It really was a true Italian family affair. Sadly Rob’s father passed away two weeks after our wedding. We feel blessed that he was able to see us get married.