Emi + Zeke by Hollow & Co

We wanted our wedding to be timeless and a beautiful blue-sky day.

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

We are both doctors who love travelling and finding adventures. We went bungee jumping and swimming with sharks in our first two weeks of dating, and we haven’t stopped having fun together since. Skydiving is next on our bucket list.

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

(Emi) We met during Medical School at an event called ‘Knees Up’. This was a rural medicine chapter-themed event, so think hay bales for seating, and people dressed in dungarees and gumboots. A few days later, we met again when Zeke was a tutor for an exam I was preparing for. Zeke was teaching the upper limb neurology station. Zeke had competed in the Commonwealth Games for weight lifting, so he was chuffed when I had to feel his bicep as part of that station. I asked him out afterwards, and the rest is history, so we’d say first impressions were pretty good!

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

We wanted our wedding to be timeless and a beautiful blue-sky day. We are so grateful that we can truthfully say it was the best day of our lives. We kept the colour scheme simple; charcoal groomsmen suits, cream bridesmaids dresses, a white aisle and stage, white patio garden umbrellas, white parasols, white roses, greenery, and candles. We got married at Mudbrick, which is a vineyard on Waiheke Island. The venue and the landscape are naturally stunning, and there was a beautiful view of the sunset.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Some people think a wedding is just one day, but we like to think that your wedding is a season; it starts from when you get engaged, it includes the engagement party, the bachelorette and stag-do, the rehearsal dinner, and it culminates in the wedding-day itself. Enjoy every moment of your wedding season as a bride-and-groom-to-be. (Thinking of it this way can also help justify to yourselves the cost of a wedding!).

We found that all of our vendors knew Waiheke Island, our venue, and each other so well. This meant that the coordination between all parties was seamless, and their insight helped shape the layout and flow of the day.

Choosing vendors that you trust completely to bring your vision to life means that you will be able to relax and be fully present.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We had the absolute best day of our lives, and all of our vendors were a huge part of that. Having our wonderful Day-Of Coordinator, Michelle from Waiheke Island Weddings and Events, meant that we could soak up every moment, lose track of time chatting and dancing, all the while knowing that everything was taken care of.

We used Hollow & Co for photography and videography. Tom (photographer) and Josh (videographer) had a great presence that made everyone feel really at ease in front of the camera. We were able to enjoy our day with full trust that Tom and Josh were capturing the magic for us. We felt like we had the dream team.

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

(Emi): I wanted a wedding gown reminiscent of the ball dresses my late Gran used to own as a young woman. Something so distinctly a gown that it could only be worn once – at your own wedding. I found ‘the one’ at Helen Rodrigues bridal in Sydney. It was called the Bloomsbury gown by British designer Suzanne Neville. At my bachelorette, all the girls drew their best guess of what they thought my wedding dress would look like, and they all got it spot on. Needless to say, I felt completely in my dress, yet it was also the most beautiful dress I’ll ever have. It even had pockets! I didn’t want Zeke to see the wedding dress before the big day, but my ballet background said never perform a dance without a dress rehearsal. This is how we ended up dancing around our living room with me dressed up in a duvet as a make-shift skirt. By comparison, I felt light as a feather dancing in the wedding dress during our first dance on our wedding day (although Zeke might beg to differ on that…there were a lot of lifts!).

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

We both chose our own rings.

(Emi) My rings were a labour of love to find – many hours of Google searches and trying on different rings in different shops. Zeke’s ring was basically the first one he tried on – it fit perfectly, he really liked it, decision made and job well done – maximum efficiency. This sums up our different approaches to shopping.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We hired a big lodge on Waiheke Island that slept 22 people, so there was room for the 10 bridesmaids and groomsmen, their partners, and our MCs. We had our rehearsal dinner there, and Zeke got ready there with his groomsmen on the wedding day. It was a bit of an expense, but it was completely worth it for us. It gave us time to catch up properly with our friends, it served as a bit of a thank-you gesture to our bridal party for being such a big part of our lives and making our wedding as wonderful as it was, and it was a great location to kick off the wedding celebrations.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

(Emi) Walking down the aisle was such a surreal, magical moment for both of us. Zest String Quartet, who we can’t recommend highly enough, was playing, ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love’. The sky was blue, and the waters of the Hauraki Gulf were sparkling. We both thought I would be crying the whole way down the aisle, but instead I was smiling so hard that my cheeks were sore the next day.

(Both) We wanted our first dance to be special, so we took ballroom dancing lessons in the months leading up to the wedding. In a quiet moment during sunset, we slipped out of the reception to the rooftop deck that overlooks the vineyard. We practised our first dance, just the two of us, and it was one of the most special moments of our wedding. We could really soak in that newly-married bliss. Waltzing around in golden hour was one of the happiest core memories of our lives.

At the end of the wedding, Mr Brightside played, and friends lifted us up on their shoulders. Our friends and family were crowded around us, everyone dancing their hearts out, and the room was just brimming with energy and happiness. Whenever that song comes on in the car, we turn it up loud, sing along badly, and relive that moment of feeling on top of the world.

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

We both enjoy the show Friends. Phoebe talks about finding her ‘lobster’ and how lobsters ‘fall in love and mate for life’. We like to say we are ‘each other’s lobster’. This is marriage summed up for us – having a best friend and cheerleader in each other who will be there for you, holding your hand throughout life.

One of the traditions we’ve started is buying a Christmas ornament whenever we travel or to mark important life moments. Starting this off is an ornament exchanged on the wedding day as gifts to each other. Part of the magic of Christmas for us will be looking at our Christmas tree, decorated with life’s special memories, and planning ones to come.

Dog lovers like us will tell you that no human can match the pure excitement of a dog greeting you at the door. We don’t have a dog (yet), so we’ve created our own little ritual when one of us gets home from work —a two-second silly dance to greet each other. It sounds completely ridiculous, and it is, but we love it. It helps us take off our work hats and be present with each other. It’s the small, happy moments of being silly with each other that help to make every day a good one.