Bryony & Tim by Sophie Isabella Photo

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

Tim and I met the summer I finished high school. We met on the late bus home from town one night in our home town, Nelson. He finally plucked up the courage to ask for my number. In a city as small as Nelson, it’s hard to believe we didn’t already know each other.

We text once or twice, but I wasn’t really feeling it (sorry Timmy)! A few months went by, and with some persuasion from his older sisters, he finally asked me out on a date. We went for coffee followed by a rom-com marathon at his flat. When a guy is prepared to sit and watch rom-coms with you all afternoon, you know he is a keeper! We planned to meet again the following weekend, and I just never really left. As cliché as it sounds, our relationship is based on an extremely strong friendship. We genuinely love each other’s company, and have so much fun together. Although we have so many differences, we also share a lot of common interests, which I think is key to making a relationship work long term. We are often out and about doing some kind of activity whether it’s mountain biking, walking or riding our electric skateboards. Tim can’t sit still, so naturally I’m (dragged) along for the ride.

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 love the ocean, so it was must that our day was near the sea. Because of this, we chose to have our ceremony overlooking the ocean from the beautiful Thackwood Cottage and our reception over the water in the Boathouse. I think both locations lent themselves to the relaxed vibe we wanted to create. We wanted everyone to be able to chill and enjoy the sunshine with us. In all aspects of our life, our style is pretty understated. Whether it’s our white on white interior décor, or our day to day fashion, we love to keep it simple with a slight twist on traditional. So this was the very broad, overall theme for our day. As we organised all of the styling items and florals etc ourselves, things changed and evolved as we got closer to the day. But in the end we were stoked with how everything came together, and the minimalist, neutral look we ended up with. My favourite details are the ones Tim and I worked on together. We had some fun building the bar together, making our own lawn games, and hunting for decorative bits and pieces along the way. Although Tim will be happy if he never has to visit Kmart or a flea market again.

Tell us about your main outfits:

I had always pictured myself in a plain white, slip style dress: no frills, no lace. I travelled to Wellington to have the dress made for me by the amazing team at Sally Eagle Bridal. As the dress was so simple, I wanted the fit to be just right. And I could not have been happier! My twist on traditional was all in my accessories. I found the most beautiful pearl earrings made by an Australian designer Amber Sceats. To me, the pearls scream tradition, while the way they were set on gold hoops was a modern take on a wedding classic. My white mules by Jaggar had a surprise of their own, with the tortoise shell heel. I matched these with a tortoise shell clutch
from Zara.

For Tim, a man who has never owned a suit in his life, he decided ‘Why not go all out!’ and opted for a black Tux. I feel like this was the perfect complement to not only my dress, but the whole theme of the day. He paired this with a pair of moustache socks to make up for shaving his prized moustache the week before the wedding! (He did this willingly, I promise!)

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

There are so many parts of the day that we will remember forever. For me, first and foremost it was walking up the aisle arm in arm with my Dad, and seeing the look on Tims face as he watched me walk towards him. The Bolitho men sure don’t shy away from showing emotion! This was followed closely by the feeling of walking back up the aisle hand in hand with my new husband, with all of our loved ones watching on. That is definitely a feeling the both of us will never forget. Another moment I am so glad was captured by Sophie, was Tim stealing a kiss before we had been announced as husband and wife. So before the whole ‘You may now kiss the bride’ part of the ceremony. All of our friends and family told him off and had a good laugh about it! The look on his face was just Timmy to a tee.