Fliss + Ben by Sapphire Studios - Together Journal

Then, all of a sudden, a plane flew past them, saying, “Fliss, will you marry me?”

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

We (Fliss and Ben) have made a beautiful life together after being together for over what is probably 14 years. After living overseas for a bit and travelling to many places around the world, we now have 3 beautiful girls of our own (Naomi 7, Pipi 5, and Goldie 1). We love taking our kids on adventures (usually involving the ocean) and making fun memories that we all will cherish forever.

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

The funny story is that Fliss met Ben one day when they were 14 years old at Muriwai Beach through a mutual friend and gained a massive crush on this ‘hot surfy guy’; however, Ben does not recall ever meeting Fliss! One day, Fliss finally caught Ben’s eye when they met again through mutual friends at a bar on K-Road when they were in their 20s. The rest is history 😉

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

Fliss realised Ben was the one when he told her at Rhythm and Vines (shortly after they met for the second time in their lives) that he wanted to take her on a date to McDonald’s (little did he know that she was a big fan of McD’s). She fell for Ben straight away. Ben likes to take his time when making decisions. He can’t recall the exact moment. Fliss thinks perhaps he is still deciding. Hahaha.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Fliss had been patiently waiting over 10 years for the day. Ben finally did the deed one afternoon when they were at Mount Maunganui (a place special to Fliss) with some close friends. He organised an afternoon picnic for them all with their kids, with crackers and wine, Fliss had no idea what was happening, and made a joke ”is there an engagement or something”.. But I never thought it was actually going to happen – because there had been plenty of times before she thought the same thing, haha. The kids started to play up, and Fliss considered going back to the house. Then, all of a sudden, a plane flew past them, saying, “Fliss, will you marry me?” Fliss then turns to Ben in confusion, and Ben is down on one knee! The community page at Mount Maunganui kicked off as everyone wanted to know if ‘Fliss said yes?!’ hahaha.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.

All we really wanted was for it to be an epic party with our friends and family! We knew we needed it to have good music, good food, and plenty of yum cocktails! All of the other amazing ideas and visions came from our amazing wedding stylist, Claire Donaldson—she is SO good at what she does!!

What was one element you were happy to splurge on? 

Food, drinks and music.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Having our children at our wedding. We wouldn’t regret it at all, it was the most special thing for our kids to be with us that day, it just made so much sense for them to be part of it too! But to have 3 kids there, where tantrums and one of us carrying them the whole day was highly likely a high stress for us prior. But we got lucky, and our girls were angels.

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

I (Fliss) wanted a classic yet simplistic dress. There’s nothing too out there, but it’s just stunning. I first thought I would wear something a little more ‘boho’ and lacey, but those dresses I tried just didn’t look as good as this one did. Ben would have been happy to get married with bare feet in boardies on the sand, but I (Fliss) seemed to get my way on this one. He wore a casual version of a suit & tie, with an untucked shirt and a semi-loose fit jacket & pants and Dr. Martens.