Our biggest joint hobby is socialising, we love spending time with our friends and family and celebrating every single milestone in life, we truly believe in celebrating the small stuff, this keeps us smiling!
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We are Emma and Johnson, and we are coming up to one year as a married couple. We live in Rotorua with our two ginger pups. Our biggest joint hobby is socialising, we love spending time with our friends and family and celebrating every single milestone in life, we truly believe in celebrating the small stuff, this keeps us smiling! During the week, you can find Emma as a marketer and Johnson in the bush working in forestry, but at the weekends, you won’t find us at all – we love going on weekend getaways, whether it’s to a beach on our rooftop tent or to a secluded glamping spot with a woodfired hot tub and no cell reception. We love to laugh at ourselves and at each other, which slowly but surely turns into cackling after a few beverages.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We had many mutual friends and our mothers even knew each other but we had never met before. One night, we met at a bar in our hometown and instantly knew who each other was. He was handsome and had average dance moves; he liked her skirt, and she had great dance moves; call it fate.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
When we met, we lived in separate cities and started driving ridiculous amounts of hours to see each other, even If it was for a short period of time – we went above and beyond for time with each other, so we knew it was the real deal. It was either that or the first time Johnson cooked Emma a steak that sealed the deal for sure.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Emma grew up holidaying in a small Northland beach called Whananaki, she and her family have a strong connection to the place, and Johnson knew proposing here would make the place even more special. On New Year’s Day, early in the morning, we had the beach to ourselves. Our two fur babies were running rampant, and he got down on one knee. Although he was trying, absolutely no words were coming out of his mouth. Paper Rings by Taylor Swift was playing on his phone, so Emma had a fair idea of what was going on by now. The ring had been stuck in customs for a while, so he proposed with a paper ring, which was just perfect.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
The theme of the wedding was FUN, intimate, modern and glam with pops of colour! Emma is very creative and detail-oriented so we wanted everything to be intimate, special and customised to our beautiful guests. We decided to have a 30-person micro-wedding so we could put the time, energy and money into those small details that mattered to us. We wrote personalised notes on everyone’s table cards, hand-made the candles and caught the fresh Kai Moana – we wanted everyone to feel special and appreciated.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Emma studied photography, and Johnson is a hunter and diver, so we were happy to splurge on gorgeous photos/videos and amazing food! After all of the effort we both put into our big day, we are so happy to have invested the time and money to find a photographer and videographer that we were obsessed with. Both individuals (Joel and Olga) enhanced our day, and the beautiful shots will line the walls of our house and the grids of our socials for years and years to come.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
– My maid of honour gave birth a few days before the wedding (Surprise, 2 months early!). She managed to attend the ceremony, bless her heart, and her healthy baby girl got ready with us the morning of it was so special.
– Nothing was stressful for Emma because she turned off her phone and was offsite for the day (lol). If Johnson had developed cold feet, she never would have known.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Emma tried on more dresses than you would believe but struggled to find ‘the one.’ She wanted something that matched the theme – modern, glam and FUN. As soon as she saw an image of Brooke Tyson’s dress, there was no going back. The sleeves are removable, and the dress was custom-made to her measurements.
CEREMONY + RECEPTION Glasshouse at Block 295, @the_glasshouse_at_block295 FLORIST Aster & Bloom, @asterandbloom PHOTOGRAPHER Olga from Wild & Grace, @wildandgrace VIDEOGRAPHER Joel de Vries from Small Room Visuals, @smallroomvisuals STYLING + PLANNING The White Wedding Club, @thewhiteweddingclub OFFICIANT Tesh Randall, @latesharandallnz MAKEUP Ashlee Hastings, @ashleehastingsmakeup HAIR Rikki-Lee Nooyen from Flyger & Co, @rikkilee_hair, @flygerhair BRIDAL DRESS Brooke Tyson Ritual, @brooketysonritual BRIDESMAID DRESSES Dissh, @dissh SUIT Barkers, @barkersclothing TIE Peggy and Finn, @peggyandfinn JACKET Gibson, @gibsonclothing BELT R.M. Williams, @rmwilliams WEDDING RINGS Silvermoon, @silvermoon_jewellers ENGAGEMENT RING Anna Sheffield, @annasheffield BRIDE’S SHOES Merchant, @merchant1948 GROOM’S SHOES R.M. Williams, @rmwilliams CAKE Whipped By Geo, @whippedbygeo BRIDE – GETTING READY HQ Private Raglan Batch GROOM – GETTING READY HQ Glasshouse at Block 295, @the_glasshouse_at_block295
