Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
I’m a graphic designer and Liam is a construction project manager. We met 16 years ago when we were working casual jobs at Mitre 10.
Our personalities are naturally quite different but we’ve grown together and are best friends. We recently returned home to Australia after five years in the US. We love travelling together and have done a couple of long road trips in a small camper van in the UK and California. Spending 24/7 in a confined space for six weeks or so is a real test of your relationship and I think we passed!
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 didn’t rush into getting married and we’re so glad we didn’t – we ended up planning a day that really suited us. We celebrated with just our immediate family, in a beautiful area of Marlborough. We’ve always had a soft spot for New Zealand (our first overseas trip together was to NZ, and it’s also where he proposed years later). We chose the Marlborough area mainly because of the great wine! We came across Rosa and Mike’s gardens and venue, ‘Paripuma’, and we were obsessed just from looking at photos. When we got there we were blown away by how amazing it was. Huge, luscious gardens, buildings that look like they’re straight out of Tuscany, and a grand lawn leading out to the rocky coastline.
Our styling was all pretty simple, we wanted the reception to have an intimate, garden-party vibe. As it was a summer wedding, we embraced the vibrant hues of the season. We wanted the flowers to be the colourful main feature and Laura from Verve Farmer Florist totally knocked it out of the park (or garden, should I say?). We collected bottles from the local wineries in the days beforehand and we had the most amazing four course meal made by Sander from Karaka Cuisine. For fun, we placed a different crystal at each setting at the table, as well as a little card explaining the unique meaning or ‘power’ of that crystal.
Tell us about your main outfits:
As with a lot of brides, my dress wasn’t what I expected. I wanted puffy sleeves! But when I tried it on it was so much fun to wear with the pockets and split in the skirt, I couldn’t say no! Liam had his suit made from a textural charcoal fabric we liked. He had two options for the colour of his tie and pocket square, and let his mum choose on the morning of the wedding. My sister made her beautiful dress and she also made the flower girl’s dress and the ring bearer’s ‘bear’ suit.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
We gave my nephew, Hamish, an instant camera to go nuts with and he really took the responsibility on board. We ended up with a little album full. of arty and weird polaroids taken from his perspective, alongside notes from each person at the wedding. We didn’t do a rehearsal or anything so the ceremony was a little ad lib and a lot of fun. Rachel, our celebrant, was awesome. She nudged us in the right direction and laughed along with us. We wrote our own vows and shared them for the first time at the ceremony, which was more emotional than expected. We all laughed and cried, it was a real rollercoaster of emotions. At the end of the night, several wines later, everyone went out and danced on the lawn with our shoes off under the stars. It was the perfect way to cap off a wonderful day.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Plan your wedding to be meaningful for you as a couple and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. We were worried that our friends would be bummed about missing out, but they were all very understanding and just wanted us to be happy. Also, hire Francine! She’s super cool and is just the most talented photographer. We are pretty awkward in front of the camera and she managed to make us look great!
Photography: Francine Boer Photography | Ceremony and Reception location: Paripuma | Celebrant: Rachel Tau’alupe | Bride’s gown: Catherine R Couture | Groom’s outfit: Joe Button | Rings: Hers- Max Diamonds, His- Lori McLean Fine Jewellery | Bride’s shoes: Nine West | Groom’s shoes: Julius Marlow | Makeup: Lucinda Campbell Makeup | Hair: Transform Hair | Fragrance: Dolce & Gabbana | Nails: London Nails | Hire: Got It Covered | Flora: Verve | Catering and Beverages: Karaka Cuisine | Cake: Karaka Cuisine | Menu Design: Anya Lange Design
