Annelise + Max by Amanda Thomas Photography - Together Journal

When we got to the top, I told her to look out to the sunset and said I’d take a nice picture ‘for Instagram’, and when she turned back around, I was down on one knee.

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

A: Max and I were raised in Auckland and are currently living in our own little villa in Ponsonby. I’m a Marketing Manager at a children’s toy company called Planet Fun, and Max is a civil engineer for Fletchers Construction. Outside of work, Max is also the captain of the New Zealand Men’s Lacrosse team, which keeps him very busy but also gives us the opportunity to travel around the world. We coordinated our honeymoon to tie in with the World Championships in San Diego, California, this past June. Now that I’ve finished planning the wedding, my spare time is centred around preparing to renovate our home in 2024.

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

M: Annelise and I met during high school and have been together for 11 years.

A: Two of our close friends were dating each other, and they decided to set us up together after Max’s mum jokingly complained to them that Max wasn’t taking his dating life seriously enough! They orchestrated an elaborate plan at a party, and the rest is history. I thought Max was gorgeous and could instantly tell he was a nice guy (he just has that vibe!), so I went along with it.

M: I had actually met Annelise several times prior to that night, but I must not have made a very good impression!

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

A: Within about two weeks of seriously dating, I knew Max was a special person, and I was really committed to seeing where our relationship could go. After two or three years, I knew this was really it!

M: It wasn’t a specific moment for me, but more gradual. Even though we met quite young, we just grew and changed with each other. We have experienced a lot together over the years, good times and tough times, but everything has been better having her there.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

A: After over 8 years together, Max proposed at sunrise at Te Mata Peak in Hawkes Bay during a long weekend away. Apparently, he’d planned to propose at dinner at Craggy Range at the beginning of the trip, but I’d accidentally made us late for our reservation and thrown off the whole mood. Poor Max then had to nervously carry the ring around in his pocket for the rest of the trip, looking for the right time. When he finally proposed, I was completely thrown off guard, as I too thought he was going to propose at Craggy Range, so when it didn’t happen, I thought, ‘Oh well, it’s not happening on this trip’.

M: I was really nervous that morning, but Annelise didn’t notice at all because it was before 6 a.m., and she was basically still half asleep. When we got to the top, I told her to look out to the sunset and said I’d take a nice picture ‘for Instagram’, and when she turned back around, I was down on one knee.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…

A: I’d been planning this wedding in my head for many years, so once we were engaged, I was ready to go! Fortunately, Max knew I had strong feelings about the styling, so he gave me free rein. The words on my mood board were fabulous, formal, joyful and romantic.

To achieve this, we embraced colour with lots of flowers and candles, anchored with various shades of pink. I knew early on that I wanted to work with Floral Stylist Co. because they are so good at working with colour to make really vibrant, dynamic floral displays, and they really delivered! We were also incredibly lucky to find our beautiful venue at The Northern Club, which had a mix of stunning original heritage features to add charm and bold modern design to ground all the styling.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

A: We were really fortunate to be able to splurge in a few areas, but perhaps an unexpected area we splurged in was our wedding stationery. I worked with Kim at Smitten with Love, who created some amazing illustrations that featured lots of iconographical motifs and symbols about Max and I’s heritage that we then replicated throughout the wedding, from invites to our wedding website, seating chart and menus. Everything on the invites, from the flowers to the animals, insects and other symbols, had specific meanings. I felt that the Save the Date and invitation were the first introduction our guests would have to the wedding, so it was important to me that they really set the scene, told our story and got people excited. Kim’s artwork was so beautiful that we’ve found lots of our guests still have their invitations up on their fridges or noticeboards many months later.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

A: Everything went broadly to plan on the day – I actually couldn’t believe it! The only real bump was our three-year-old niece, who was our flower girl, having a bit of a nappy incident right before I was due to walk down the aisle. Everyone was running around stressing, looking for the nappy bag and trying to delay the ceremony (to no avail), but I just thought it was hilarious. You’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected when you’ve got kids in the ceremony!

M: All the music had started, and everyone was wondering why Annelise wasn’t coming out and joking she must’ve done a runner! But eventually, the truth got around, and everyone was chuckling, it really broke the tension. When our niece was finally ready, she totally stole the show again, dancing down the aisle all by herself!

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

A: I’d always known I wanted a big fancy dress, I mean, when else do you get the chance? As I’m short, curvy and very particular, I decided I’d save myself the stress of trying on lots of dresses and just go to the experts and get one custom-made. After a bit of research, I decided Anita at Vinka Design was the perfect choice. My decision was later validated when I found out we had connections on both sides of my family – such a small world. I shared overall wedding and dress mood boards, and Anita was fantastic at translating this into my dream dress, merging my favourite design elements with what would look best on me to ensure I felt amazing on the day.

My mum passed away 9 years ago, and I discovered she’d left me a little kit with a piece of her wedding dress fabric and a little blue ribbon she had used as her ‘something blue’ at her wedding, so Anita hand-stitched those into my dress lining so I could have mum with me on the day. Max’s outfit was much less sentimental, but he still looked incredible.

M: As an engineer on-site, I don’t have much use for a formal suit, so we just decided to hire one. After I saw Annelise’s pink-sparkly-fluffy shoes, which I thought were completely insane but perfect for her, I knew I needed to get some fancy shoes to match! I have no idea when I’ll go to something fancy enough to wear patent leather lace-ups again, but it was fun for the day.