At midnight as our guests were leaving, we had had a grand total of 102mm of rain, simply unheard of in a single day in November! But one thing was for certain, no one let the rain dampen their spirits and we all had a great night on the dance floor in our gumboots.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
CM: I’m 29 years old, grew up in the country on my parent’s farm, was a top-level swimmer and gained a property qualification from Lincoln University. I worked in property asset management for a few years but I have now returned to the farm. My role on the dairy farm is varied with some outside work, accounting and compliance. I love the rural lifestyle and being able to work with a great team on farm. My husband is also now working on the farm and it’s nice seeing him during the day and having him home every night. I love to be active and keep fit, my current workout regime is running and circuits although I do like to mix it up to avoid getting bored. I also enjoy catching up with friends, reading and gardening.
GM: I’m 30 years old, grew up in Christchurch, have an identical twin brother and an older brother. I left school and started working in the civil construction industry driving heavy machinery like diggers, dozers and dump trucks. I worked for a few different companies and this work took me all around the South Island of New Zealand. I worked in this industry for 11 years and then returned to Canterbury where I now work on Claire’s parent’s dairy farms. It’s completely different work to what I’ve been doing but I love the rural lifestyle and working outside. It’s also nice to be home every night and it saves the FaceTime calls with Claire! I love anything outdoors; hunting, skiing, boating, fishing and in the winter months I play hockey.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
CM: I met George through my best friend Julia and her now husband Nathan. Nathan got to know George and his twin brother Hugo about six years ago as he worked with them in the civil construction industry and their friendship blossomed. Many a times Julia and Nathan would tell me how they had the twins around at their place at the weekend for drinks and dinner, and yet I never crossed paths with them. That was until the end of 2019. Nathan’s parents have a bach at Okiwi Bay at the top of the South Island and Julia and Nathan invited me to spend New Year at the bach with them. Upon arriving at the bach and being introduced to George, he seemed a bit shy and reserved. But as we talked during our time at the bach, it became evident that he was kind and caring with a quick wit and good looks to match.
GM: I still vividly remember seeing Claire for the first time when she arrived at the bach. My first impression was that she was pretty good looking and way out of my league! Clearly, I was wrong and as we talked and I got to know her more, she really was very down to earth, but still good looking. We chatted a bit while we were at the bach and then we each went our different ways; I was working in Blenheim and Claire was down in Christchurch. However after another couple of dates, I knew I wanted to be with Claire and so we started our long-distance relationship that would take us through until April 2022, with us sometimes only seeing each other twice a month.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
CM: Early May 2021 was a sad time in our household with the passing of my beloved grandmother. George and I had planned a trip to Queenstown, leaving on the 14th May for a weekend away. My Gran suffered a stroke on the 12th and sadly passed on the 13th. I immediately said we would postpone our trip away to be with family but my mother and her two brothers were adamant that we have our weekend away as that is what Gran would have wanted. So we left Christchurch on the morning of the 14th to drive to Queenstown. Coming into Lake Pukaki I was ready to stretch my legs. George parked the car and we followed a shingle path towards the lake. It was cold and windy and I turned around wanting to head back to the car. When I turned back around George was down on one knee and he asked if I would be his wife. Through tears and hugs I said yes. We walked back to the car and continued on to Queenstown and I kept admiring the new bling on my left hand!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
CM: Driving home from Queenstown newly engaged, we started talking about when and where we could get married. We both wanted a warm wedding and thought that early in 2022 would be ideal with summer weather. We had a large guest list and some venues couldn’t accommodate this. Driving through Milton I distinctly remember thinking about The Great Hall with its stunning architecture, grandeur and beauty. We decided to visit The Art Centre once we were home to see the venue in person. We were immediately sold on the venue after seeing a bridal party photo in front of the beautiful archways in the North Quad.
The Arts Centre and Great Hall are beautiful buildings in their own right so we chose to keep our styling to a minimum. We wanted to be able to admire the architecture and stained glass window and not detract from the existing beauty. We added plinths with some lilies to frame the end of the aisle where George and I would stand to get married and we chose wooden cross back chairs for our guests to be in keeping with the wood panelling and wooden ceiling in The Great Hall.
For our marquee, we both wanted a simple yet elegant look. We chose a white silk lined marquee because we loved the look of the silks draping from the ceiling with fairy lights around the perimeter of the walls and chandeliers down the middle. Our colours were white, navy and gold. Our guest tables were decorated simply with a gold centerpiece, gold table number, candle, a glass jar with two white stocks and navy napkins hanging over the edge of each place setting. The head table had a white flower garland, fairy lights, candles and white napkins. Walking into the marquee at the start of our reception, we saw our vision come to life, the marquee was beautifully decorated and looked very elegant.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
CM: We decided that we were happy to splurge on our videography and we’re so glad we did. We were always going to have a photographer but quite a few friends recommended getting a videographer as well as it would give us live footage of our day that would become even more special in years to come especially when our older relatives are no longer with us. We also chose to have our wedding livestreamed (by the videographer) for family and friends unable to celebrate the day with us in person.
For our friends and family watching the livestream of our ceremony we got incredible feedback from them about the quality of the livestream and how grateful they were to be able to join us virtually. The videographer continued the livestream after we left The Great Hall and they were able to see our guests as they came past us to offer their congratulations. This was our way of having our friends and family able to witness the most important part of our special day without having to be physically in Christchurch.
We have now received our wedding video and the content and voice overs from both our vows and speeches make for a stunning video that perfectly sums up our special day in seven minutes. So not only do we have stunning photos, but we also have a special video that can also be shared with our family and friends who joined us from a distance.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
CM: Leading up to our wedding day, I had been checking the long-range forecast and there was 40mm of rain predicted for the 19th November. With my parents being farmers, my dad made a quick call to Farmlands on the morning of the wedding and not long later there were 56 pairs of gumboots lined up ready for our guests. Some guests bought their own gumboots, some wore the ones from Farmlands and some opted for rubbish bags over their shoes.
The grass inside the marquee turned to mud, the wine barrel with the cake on top started leaning, a few guests found themselves closer to the ground as their chair legs sunk and the dance floor was black by the end of the night. At midnight as our guests were leaving, we had had a grand total of 102mm of rain, simply unheard of in a single day in November! But one thing was for certain, no one let the rain dampen their spirits and we all had a great night on the dance floor in our gumboots.
We always wanted our guests to be dressed up (in fitting with The Great Hall) so we encouraged our guests to wear hats or fascinators. I must say the hats and gumboots combo was just perfect! The bottom six inches of my dress was brown with mud, although I prefer to tell people it was ombre!!
GM: During our first dance, I slipped on the wet dance floor and hit the floor. I quickly got back up and we kept going with our well-rehearsed dance routine (it was the same one we learnt for our original February wedding) as though nothing had happened. There were a few gasps from our guests both when I slipped and when we finished our dance with the death drop!
Ceremony location: The Great Hall at The Arts Centre, @artscentrechch / Reception location: Private property at Prebbleton, Christchurch / Photographer: Eilish Burt Photography, @eilishburtphotography / Videographer: Lightchasers, @lightchasersnz / Celebrant: John Sheaf – Anglican Priest and family friend / Entertainment: Dangerbaby Band, @dangerbabybandnz / Hire + Styling: Something Borrowed Something New, @sbsn_ltd / Marquee + Styling: Silk Estate, @silkestatemarquees / Flora: A family friend did our florals / Catering + Beverages: At The Great Hall – White Tie Catering, @whitetienz; At the reception – We used Canterbury Country Spit Roast (John Whitford is the owner) and as of 2023 they are retired / Cake: Twisted Flour & Sugar, @twistedflourandsugar / Stationery: Wedding Invites (original date and postponed date) – CQ Print, @cq.print; Welcome Sign, Seating Plan, Name Cards, Ceremony Booklet and Vows and Thank You Cards – Hilton Press / On the Day co-ordination: Jodie Shaw from On The Day Events, @ontheday_events / George’s Attire: Uberstone 3 piece suit from Ballantynes, @ballantynes_department_store / Claire’s Wedding Dress + Veil: To Cherish Bridal Boutique, @tocherishbridal / Ring/s: Stewart Dawsons, @stewartdawsons / George’s Shoes: Florsheim / Claire’s Shoes: Django & Juliette, @djangoandjuliette / Claire’s Bracelet: Dyrberg/Kern, @dyrbergkern_nz / Other Accessories: 2 rings on my right hand – a 3 stone diamond ring which was my “something borrowed” from my mother and a 4 stone diamond ring that was my “something old” as it belonged to my late grandmother / Earrings: Robilliards Showcase Jewellers, @robilliardsjewellers / Makeup: Leah Louise Makeup, @leah_louise_mua / Hair: Balayage, @balayage / Bridesmaids’ Dress: Annah Stretton, @annahstreton / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Mi Piaci, @mi_piaci / Bridesmaids’ Bracelet: Stewart Dawsons, @stewartdawsons / Bridesmaids’ Earrings: Willow Collective, @willowcollectivenz / Groomsmen’s Attire: Uberstone suits from Ballantynes, @ballantynes_department_store / Groomsmen’s Shoes: Florsheim
