We met when we were quite young and our relationship slowly developed over the years to become what it is now. We often talk about how we quickly fell in love with each other but the beauty of our relationship is that it hasn’t had major turning points or changes, but grown and developed as we have. And here we are!
We met in our first year of high school and were in the same friendship circle but were never on each other's radar. It wasn't until 6 years after we finished school that we reconnected and officially started dating in 2018. It was so natural and easy because we already had such a strong friendship and long history, everything just fell into place.
Since we didn’t have a bridal party, and therefore no ring bearer, we decided on an Oprah moment, hiding the rings under two random seats. Everyone had to look under their seats to see if they were there!
Jake actually never asked me to be his girlfriend officially. I think as time went on we both just knew we wanted to be together. We moved in together quite quickly, then moved down to Christchurch and then moved overseas. We lived in Europe and the UK while Jake was playing rugby for three and a half years–we both just knew it was something we would always do together.
Roberta — Well, for many moments I thought we were soulmates, and destiny just wanted us to meet and be together. However, I must say that seeing him play and care so much about our two little neighbours (pretty much our nieces) just sparkled something in my heart, that told me: he is the one, I want to marry him, spend my life with him and have a family together.
I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him when I understood his values and saw how important first impressions were to him when it came time to meet my parents. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing someone for who they are and how they act with those you love most.
Kat —— I work for a sports marketing consultancy in London and Simon runs his own business. We travel a lot and are both social souls who spend as much time as possible with friends and family. We met a decade ago on the dating website, Plenty of Fish. I was resistant to online dating but was convinced by my flatmate to give it a go.
"Every time I looked at her pictures, I couldn’t believe she was real. It was a nervous wait when she turned up 30 minutes late to our first date. But, when she walked in, I was gobsmacked, and it was love at first sight."
As Alex is such a jokester it took a good 10 minutes and an insistence that he get down on one knee to prove the proposal was real. We travelled around the South Island that summer keeping the engagement to ourselves which was quite a special thing to do. It allowed us time to honour it and sink in to the commitment we were making to ourselves first before telling our loved ones.
Lauren —— We’re both from New Zealand but now live in Los Angeles. I work in health/wellness and sustainability PR while Dano is an audio engineer who tours with bands. Many people would say we’re pretty different but it works for us (on good days!).
Julia —— We’re actually both wedding photographers. Before we met, we both had photography backgrounds and together have created HAUTE Weddings, our wedding photo and video company. We love that our job gives us the flexibility to be able to do more of the things we love: travelling, fashion, exploring new business ideas, taking photos, trying new restaurants. One of our favourite things, though, is to slow down and unwind in Italy. Aperol spritz in hand, of course.
Abundant textural foliage, florals and plants that tied in with the landscape was brought into the clear marquee and blended in with a crisp white base accented with modern and masculine elements in the tablescape and furniture selections. If there is one way to describe it, it was quintessentially “Huy and Sam”.
