Hannah + Tom by Mic Image Weddings - Together Journal

We met in a bar on a Friday night. Tom was with his colleagues, and I was out with a girlfriend for a few
cocktails. I thought Tom was incredibly handsome, and confident. We hit it off immediately, talking for
hours. He’s charming, witty, and incredibly fun. That was about 5 1/2 years ago now.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
I work as a sonographer in private health care. Tom works in commercial real estate. Our careers our worlds apart, but it works incredibly well for us. We both are very social; family and friends are a big part of our lives. We love spending time in Wanaka boating, and up the mountain in the winter months. Our biggest love is our beautiful 2-year-old Weimaraner Albie.

Tom loves to golf and is a very patient teacher when I’ve tried my hand at it. My main sport and love has been horse riding, but a busy career has limited that over the last few years. We both love to travel, although that has been somewhat limited as of late! We pour a lot of love and energy into creating our Villa into a home in Christchurch, it is such a special social space.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
When you know you know right? There was something pretty immeasurable about our connection, I can’t
quite put it into words, but it just fits. We fell in love pretty quickly, it was a whirlwind. I think when I truly
knew was when I saw his kindness with his family, and his love of animals. You can tell a lot about a person from how they treat other people and animals, and Tom is a great example of that.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
We wanted it to feel like us. We didn’t care too much for tradition. We wanted it to be fun, energetic – a true celebration. We opted for cocktails, and walk and fork casual dining. It was perfect. It gave the feeling of so many special parts in our lives moving together. We didn’t want it to feel stuffy or formal. Fun, and authentic was our aim for the day.

I envisioned soft Bridgerton styling. Romantic and almost a little ethereal. From the florals to the couches,
and the roof lined with fairy lights – it was everything I hoped for and more. I wanted people to feel like
themselves, right down to the bridesmaids wearing what they loved. Even for me – I changed into a fun
party dress, which was perfect as we certainly love to dance the night away!

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful
at the time)?
Honestly, there are always little things that don’t go exactly the way you plan. But if you have the right
people around you it truly doesn’t matter. When we arrived to do our pictures before the ceremony there
was some furniture that needed reshuffling as it wasn’t quite right.

Asta from Flore Studios jumped straight in and started doing all sorts to help out and make sure it was all exactly how I wanted it. She went above and beyond. Everyone needs an Asta at their wedding, just someone to fix what needs fixing even though it wasn’t her job. We so appreciated her.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
I had been a bridesmaid a few times, so had trawled through designers online many times. I actually saved my Chosen by Khya dress to my Pinterest 2 years ago. It was everything I wished for. Paperswan in Christchurch got it down for me for a fitting before I went to Auckland to do a full try on. It was the first dress I put on, and nothing else compared. The organza sleeves were floaty and romantic, and the dress fitted like a glove. I felt 100% me in it – and that was so important.

My second dress was one my MOH found and was a surprise. Everyone knows I like to kick my heels off – so I needed something fun and flirty to dance the night away in. The see-through tulle was everything I wanted – it was just sexy enough for me to get away with! I loved it, super fun and very me! Tom was pretty easy about what he wore, but the Working Style tuxes are just a cut above the rest – so we had to do it!