Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Radek owns a Gym, TOMFIT, on the North Shore and I am the Head of Marketing Communications at Samsung NZ. We both love keeping healthy, working out, skiing, and we definitely overindulge in wine. Travelling is a big part of our lives, Radek is from Prague and pre COVID would go back every year to see his family. We’re both super excited we’re able to travel outside of NZ again.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Our story began through meeting via a mutual friend. On our first chance encounter, Radek was sitting with his former business partner, Tommy, at an Auckland restaurant when he say’s “in walked the most beautiful girl he had ever seen” (me). It then took him by surprise when I approached their table and gave Tommy a hug. I had known Tommy from PT (personal training) college when I had studied a couple of years earlier. Radek remembers thinking, that without even knowing me, if he was ever to be married, it was to this girl.
This serendipitous meeting sparked a friendship between us, and despite (Anne) moving to Australia and London, over six years, we kept in touch, with dinners on my return to NZ.
When I eventually moved back to NZ, I lived with my friend Jess, whom I thought could be a great romantic match for Radek. I had organised for Radek to come meet with Jess and I one night on the town. Within 5 minutes, it became clear to Jess that there was a much stronger connection in the room that night, and she turned to me and said “This guy is SO in love with you, you need to kiss him now” And kiss him I did…and since August 2019, I have never stopped.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Radek knew right away, but it took me a little longer. We’d been friends for such a long time, it was a mindset change to realise what was standing right in front of me. Radek says he wants to write a guide how to get out of the friend zone.
The turning point was when we took a ski trip to Queenstown within the first 2-3 weeks of dating. Radek has been snowboarding for 20+ years but I had just started skiing, and was very average. The trip was so effortless. I wasn’t embarrassed of being myself or falling over in front of him. He was so patient and encouraging. We laughed a lot. That trip was the moment I realised that I would be happy doing this, with this man, forever.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
I am a bit of a control freak and typically do all the organising for us. We had come out of another lockdown and Radek’s birthday was coming up. He said to me he wanted to organise where we went, and it was just so out of character I flippantly said “Why? Are you planning on proposing?!” He was so caught off guard he said “No.” and he let me organise his birthday.
I ended up booking for us to go to Paris Butter. A restaurant that neither of us had been to before but we wanted to try. We had drinks at Andiamo first and then headed to the restaurant. Radek didn’t have time to ring ahead and let them know he was planning on proposing.
After our meals he pulled his chair around beside mine. He said that there is only really one thing that he really wanted for his birthday, and that’s me. And he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
I was so surprised. It was wonderful.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
We have a very minimalist style, and I think our wedding reflected that. We wanted to let the beautiful architecture of the Man O’ War chapel speak for itself and had very paired back styling for our reception.
It was really important to us that we all sat at the same table, because each person at our wedding was so important to us, we wanted to be together.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Because our wedding was so intimate, we really wanted our guests to have the most amazing experience. We invested in great food and wine and didn’t get too caught up on styling. Our goal was to create an amazing fun day for our guests, and us.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
No nothing. We didn’t take ourselves too seriously and just believed in the magic of life and everything happening as it should.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
I was at Turet Knuefermann’s store one night after work with a colleague. Turet had kept it open late for us as my colleague was a friend of hers. This was mid 2018, way before Radek and I got together, and I was very single. I was trying on all the stunning clothes when I spotted the most beautiful wedding gown. After a few bubbles I decided it would be a GREAT idea to try it on.
It fit like a glove and I fell totally in love with it. I contemplated buying it that night but ultimately decided against it, thinking it would probably seem a little crazy to buy a wedding dress before I had even met anyone. I bought almost everything else from her.
Fast forward to June 2020, post proposal. I was in in a Pinterest rabbit hole looking at dresses and remembered the TK dress I had tried on years earlier. I called the store and asked if they still had it, and to my surprise, they did! I organised a time to go in and as soon as I put it on, I felt so emotional and knew this was the dress. Turet popped some bubbles and was such a special moment between her and I in the store. She’s such an amazing designer and person. I absolutely adore her, so you must go check out her clothes if you haven’t already.
Because my dress decision and purchase happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to bring my Mum or closest girlfriends on the dress buying journey. My parents live in Wellington so Turet offered to close the store early so I could bring my parents and girlfriends in to do a dress reveal when they were next in Auckland. We did and it was magic. Turet created so many special moments for me in the lead up to the wedding. I feel incredibly lucky to have a relationship with the designer of my dress, and I love that I only tried on one. The perfect one.
Radek knew what he wanted to wear from the get-go. Being a gym owner he’s only ever in activewear. The team at Working Style were amazing and helped him achieve the exact look he wanted. Radek’s timepiece was the hero of his look, a limited edition Patek Phillipe White Gold 10 Day Power Reserve. There are only 3000 watches of its kind made in the world, in four precious metals. 450 were made in 18K white gold with blue dial. The watch was created to celebrate the arrival of the millennium in the year 2000. His father gifted it to him especially for the wedding and the white gold with blue dial matched his suit perfectly.
Ceremony + Reception location: Man O War / Videographer + Photographer: The Wedding Guys NZ / Celebrant: Wed By Renee / Entertainment + Hire: The Island Collection / Styling + Planning: The Island Collection / Flora: Flavells Florist / Catering + Beverages: Man O War / Cake: Little Tart / Stationery: The Island Collection / Registry: The Lovely Registry / Grooms Attire: Working Style / Brides Attire: Knuefermann / Ring/s: Cartier / Custom engagement + wedding band: Partridge Jewellers / Shoes: YSL / Grooms Watch: Patekphilippe / Diamond necklace custom: Partridge Jewellers / Sleeper earrings: Mejuri / Diamond Studs: Custom Andrew Swann / Brides Makeup + Hair: Abby Jayne Black / Grooms Hair: The Barbers Chair NZ / Grooms Fragrance: Creed Boutique / Brides Fragrance: Mizensir
