Cam & Alice by Nita Meyer

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship … We’re Cameron and Alice, and were together for ten years (and engaged for four) before we got married.

Although we went to law school together, we actually met in one of the most unromantic settings – We were employed by Police at the same time to answer emergency calls. Following six intensive weeks of training, Cameron and I were partnered together with a mentor to “go live”. I realised that he liked me after I answered a particularly harrowing call on our first night shift together. He later tried to flirt with me in front of our boss, which I found mortifying. Despite that, we soon became a duo. And, notwithstanding an ill-considered two day break-up, have been ever since.

We now live in a little wooden house perched on a hill in Wellington. We have a tortoiseshell cat, Betty Lou, and a patchwork pup, Mya. As a joke a few years ago, we amalgamated our surnames to “Pentecock” – We are now, almost officially, the Pentecocks.

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 really want a wedding – rather, a relaxed and intimate party that celebrated our relationship and the commitment that we were making to each other.

We held our wedding at a community hall, the Worser Bay Life Saving Club (#forbetterorworser), which is located in the neighbourhood that Cameron grew up in. With the often unpredictable Wellington weather, we knew that its harbourside location was a gamble, but it was one that we were prepared to take. Thankfully, our early autumnal weather could not have been better – The sun shone, there was barely a breath of wind and the water was like glass.

We loved the mid-century style and maritime history of our venue, so didn’t want to hide it away under decorations. As such, the hall styling consisted predominately of tea light candles in antique cut crystal vessels (from my personal collection) with natural linen tablecloths and generous vases of white florals with lush greenery.  Although most of the florals were supplied by our floral stylist, as an enthusiastic home gardener, I contributed an assortment of dinner plate and pompom dahlias. We hung rows upon rows of white laser cut paper bunting, which our families helped us make, in the entrance way, and hundreds of fairy lights from the hall ceiling. I found three large white shell chandeliers on Trade Me, which we also hung from the ceiling. Cameron and I got married under a beautiful floral archway and on top of a vintage olive rug. We had only seats for around half of our guests and the rest all gathered around – They almost couldn’t all fit inside the hall! We also had a light-box custom sign written with our initials and wedding date.

So as to encourage a casual and relaxed party atmosphere, we opted out of having a sit-down dinner. Instead, we served large amounts of canapés, with a sandwich bar later in the evening. As the evening wore on, it transpired that we had over-ordered, so our caterers kindly suggested taking the surplus food (which there was a lot of!) to the local soup kitchen at the end of the night.

As a big fans of puns, we enthusiastically embraced having a signature “Pentecocktail” to greet our guests with (“Pentecock” is an amalgamation of our surnames, which has become a long running joke). These were Gin Gin Mules and its non-alcoholic brother, Ginger Lime Fizz.

Tell us about your main outfits:

Even though clothing is incredibly important to me and something that I do tend to spend money on, I really struggled to justify spending thousands of dollars on a dress that, although beautiful and well made, I would only wear once. Furthermore, doing traditional bridal try-ons filled me with dread (I’m very decisive and usually shop by myself). Instead, I made a list of dresses that I liked and started to keep an eye on secondhand sites. One Sunday afternoon, during a casual browse on Trade Me, I stumbled upon a Rue de Seine “Juno” gown, which was on my list. Fortuitously, it was in my size and had never been worn. Half an hour later, it was mine. It really was the most perfect dress for me – It was made from Battenberg lace, which is a style of lace that I have always loved, and was a slightly unusual shape.

Early on, I decided that I wanted a floral headpiece, rather than a veil. Fortunately, our floral stylist, Yvette, and hairstylist, Emily, already knew each other and were able to work together to create the most beautiful piece and style. It sat like a hairband and looked almost regal.

My look was completed by Zoe and Morgan’s “Lovers” earrings, which, with their swallow motive (swallows, once paired, mate for life), were perfect for the occasion. I gave Cameron a pair of Bic Runga’s “Feather Kisses” cufflinks as a pre-wedding present, which tied in nicely.

Cameron wore a traditional black suit with a white shirt and black tie, which complemented our bridal party, who were also in black suits and black dresses. We went to Barkers for his full look – The service that we received there was unparalleled and Cameron’s suit fit him extremely well.

My wedding and engagement rings are both from Partridge Jewellers, whereas Cameron’s wedding ring had been his father’s, which we had engraved with our initials and wedding date.

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

The day started at the hall. We were only able to get the keys on the morning of the wedding so everyone pitched in to help us set it up. They went above and beyond the call of duty, which extended to returning to the hall early the following morning to help clean up whilst most were feeling quite dusty. After setting up the hall, Cameron and I went our separate ways with our gangs (as my brother was in my bridal party, instead of having “bridesmaids” and “groomsmen”, we had a “bride’s gang“ and “groom’s gang”) to get ready.

We didn’t see each other again until our first look, which was held on rocky outcrop beside the harbour. It was a perfect moment where we could quietly see each other in our wedding finery for the first time. I pinned Cameron’s buttonhole to his jacket and fixed his hair (as I often do). Bits of seaweed and shells got caught in my train.

As it was important to us to be able to enjoy our wedding in its entirety with our guests, we had all of our formal photographs taken before the ceremony. Our incredible photographer, Nita, scouted locations close to the hall ahead of time, including one that required a bit of bush whacking up a hill. We had a blast and these particular photographs are some of our favourites.

We then drove to our wedding together in our old and rather battered hatchback, which our whanau had decorated with large green heart-shaped helium balloons. Despite our best efforts, we were early and had to drive around the block to avoid arriving at the same time as some of our guests.

It was important to us that both sets of our parents were included in our wedding as they are a fundamental part of our story. Both sets of parents met and greeted guests as they arrived and we both entered the hall with our parents – Cameron went in with his before the processional.

I have always known that I would walk down the aisle to Cat Power’s cover of “I Found a Reason”. For balance, Cameron chose “Il Mondo” by Jimmy Fontana as our recessional – It never fails to make us both smile. Our first dance was to “Sea of Love” by Phil Phillips. I loved compiling our eclectic wedding playlist, which included songs requested by our guests (as we had asked guests for song requests with their RSVP).

We were lucky enough to have our good friend, Emma, as our celebrant. Whilst preparing our ceremony, she asked us to both provide her with some background to our relationship – how we met and got together etc. My account was relatively brief and factual, whereas Cameron wrote a (very self-serving) novel. To our surprise, Emma chose to read Cameron’s account verbatim and in its entirety. It was side-splitting and a true highlight of the ceremony.

Another highlight was hearing the vows that Cameron and I wrote for each other. We kept them a secret from each other, but agreed to both finish with the same quote from Maya Angelou – “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” Hearing each other’s heartfelt vows for the first time during our ceremony was simply the best. We will treasure our words and use them as a blueprint for our marriage.

Venue: Worser Bay Life Saving Club | Photographer: Nita Meyer Photography | Celebrant: Emma Von Veh | Styling: The Bride | Hire: The Vintage Party | Flora & Bride’s Headpiece: Yvette Edwards | Catering + Beverages: Blue Carrot Catering | Cake: Jo Dalrymple, Bride’s Godmother | Custom lightbox: Marieke Leonard, Chalk Me Up | Bride’s Dress: Rue de Seine | Groom’s Outfit: Barkers Clothing | Ring/s:  Partridge Jewellers | Shoes: Wittner | Bride’s earrings: Zoe and Morgan | Makeup: Victoria Faith | Hair: Emily Faye Belle | Bride’s Fragrance: Byredo “Rose Noir”  | Groom’s Fragrance: Yves Saint Laurent “Y” | Bridesmaid dresses: Blak | Groomsmen suits: Hallensteins | Bridemaid’s earrings: Ruby