We clicked instantly and knew we would be together from the get-go.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We live in beautiful Gisborne on our farm, which has been in Ruie’s family for around 75 years. Ruie works full-time on the farm, and Jamie is a Registered Nurse.
Ruie was born and raised in Gisborne, whereas Jamie was born in Hamilton and has lived in a few different places.
Jamie moved to Gisborne from Hawkes Bay when she graduated nursing school, and Ruie took over the family farm in about 2017. We have many dogs, which we love. Some are working dogs, and we have a couple of house dogs. They are very spoilt. We love to spend time with each other and go and do activities together.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Ruie and I have known each other for many, many years, and our parents are great friends and were before we started dating.
We started dating when Jamie moved to Gisborne, and we saw each other out at a family friend’s 21st party. We hadn’t seen each other in a very long time and just hit it off straight away. We clicked instantly and knew we would be together from the get-go. It didn’t take us long to realise we really liked each other, and I moved in with Ruie after about 3 months of being together. We had been together for nearly two years when Ruie asked me to marry him.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
We definitely knew pretty early on that we were right for each other and wanted to marry each other. I would say within the first 6 months of being together, we both knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, and I think all our friends around us knew we would get married someday.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Ruie wanted to propose at the beach, but as every girl is, it ended up being difficult, and it never happened at the beach.
It was about a couple weeks after cyclone Gabby, and it was the only sunny/nice day we had had in a long time, so Ruie decided that was the day. Like I said, he wanted to go to the beach, but that never happened. Ruie ended up cooking me dinner and setting up a little date night on our deck at home, which was perfect. He got down on one knee and asked me, and of course, I said yes. It was exactly what we both wanted nothing extreme and just the two of us.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

A lot of stuff we did for our wedding was DIY, and we tried to keep it as cheap as possible. But we were happy to splurge on the champagne and have something that was decent. We were also happy to splurge on having RTDs – pals’ drinks because not everyone likes to just drink beer and wine, and I always loved going to a wedding when they had other options, not just beer and wine.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
In all honesty, nothing went wrong on the day, and everything went so smoothly. I don’t think either of us was stressed and I think that is because everything was very well organised.
PHOTOGRAPHER Pia & Gabe – Curate Weddings, @curate.weddings FLORIST DIY by our family ENTERTAINMENT The Search, @thesearchgisborne MARQUEE Macpherson Marquees, @macpherson_marquees HIRE Chair, Tables, and Outdoor Furniture – Martins Party Hire, @martinspartyhire SIGNAGE Welcome Sign – Live Creative, @live_creative_sign_and_print; Other Signage – By the Bride RINGS Jaime Lucinda Jewellery, @jaimelucindajewellery BRIDAL DRESS Trish Peng, @trishpeng ACCESSORIES Earrings – The Whole Bride, @thewholebride VEIL Yours Truly Bridal MAKEUP Lucy Tweedie, @lucy__tweedie HAIR Ash Hair Design, @ash.hairdesign_ SUIT Hallen Steins, @hallensteinbrothers GROOM’S SHOE RM Williams, @rmwilliams BRIDESMAID DRESSES BLAK Bridesmaids, @blakbridesmaids GROOMSMEN SUIT Hallen Steins, @hallensteinbrothers
