Lesa & Josh by Abi Hackling

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship …Josh and I met in our last year at high school when we were just seventeen.

I don’t believe in love at first sight at all, but what I felt came pretty close to it; to me he was the most attractive boy I had ever seen! There was so much chemistry in the beginning, I think neither of us knew what to do with it, so naturally, we decided to move in together as soon as possible.

I work in conservation, and Josh fixes things that are broken. The combination of both of these aspects make for pretty interesting chats at the dinner table. We both long for the outdoors and love getting into nature, especially climbing our local mountain when the weather is good. Because of this love for the outdoors, Josh chose Cornwall Park in Auckland as the perfect engagement spot. He even set up someone playing music and a hidden photographer to capture the moment! His thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze me.

The two of us have grown since the beginning, both individually and together. Parts of us are polar opposites, our taste in music is an example of this! But that’s what makes us so passionate; and we’re still so obsessed with each other. Above all else, we make sure that we always have a laugh, both at and with each other at least once a day, and we always take care of each other.

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details … We were very keen on a small and intimate wedding of no more than sixty. We were struggling for a venue for a while but luckily my dad is a member of the New Plymouth Yacht Club, and was able to score us the venue the week after they closed sailing for the season. With exposed beams on the ceiling, and refurbished hardwood floors; it was perfect for what we were after. The walls are covered in old medals and trophies, and had pictures of generations of sailors displayed that really added to the homeliness of it all – and I think my dad secretly loved that we used his weekly stomping ground for such a special occasion.

We had a loose theme of beachy boho mixed with rusty and deep red accents, Persian rugs,  mismatched chairs, and a massive amount of dried palms! Our florist Rebecca was able to turn something so lifeless into works of art – this included a beautiful installation suspended in mid-air above our guests with fluffy toetoes and clouds of gypsophilia. We had an amazing pick of vendors, we felt very lucky to have the ones we did, and our planner Victoria was an absolute gem that took so much stress away from us – I really don’t know how we could have pulled this off without her!

Tell us about your main outfits: From the moment we started wedding planning, I knew where I would be getting my dress from. Grace Loves Lace is a brand I’ve had my eye on for a while, so I thought I would risk it and order my favourite without trying it on; and it turned out perfectly! I wanted to combine this with a pair of gold statement earrings, which actually took much longer to find than the dress itself.

 Josh has always been an avid fan of Hallensteins, so he decided on a black velvet jacket and bowtie, but with lighter pants to stand out from the groomsmen. We strongly believed that everyone should have freedom to dress how they wanted, we gave a loose theme and the bridal party chose their own outfits. We decided not to follow the traditional something blue, borrowed, old, and new, but did have one thing older that we incorporated. My nana’s wedding band was left to me after she passed away so we decided it would be very special to get the gold melted down and use it for my new band, so in some way she was there with us.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day? I have been friends with my maid of honour for over twenty years, and our weddings are something we have thought about since we were little. The single second before she walked down the aisle where she turned and looked at me. My emotions were in check all day up until that moment; this was something we had been waiting for our whole lives and here it was. That look just took me back to all the memories we had together growing up to where we are now – it made me realise the journey is not just about two people.

We chose to sit in the middle of the room with our guests during dinner, and it was one of the best wedding decisions we ever made. We wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, as the day just goes way too fast! With our first dance, we wanted our guests to join us quite early on and be really involved. That feeling of relief that washed over me when the attention was finally off us, and we could have our own private moment within everyone else was one of the most special times of the night for us. That then morphed into almost five hours of dancing, some not leaving the dancefloor until after midnight!

We also created a floating frame for polaroids, which then had each guests name hanging off it where they could add a polaroid at some point during the event. Seeing it full of photos by the end of the night was a real winner for us. To have this idea forming in the very early planning stages and then seeing it come to life with people attaching memorable (and cheeky) snaps was incredible, especially as we were able to display this in our house afterwards to keep reliving the night! Along with this, we had some of the smoke bombs saved that we used for sunset photos, which I was unaware of and got very excited when I saw the groomsmen pull them out! There were four of us that ran down to the beach and persuaded our photographer Abi to capture some of this for us, and they turned out so well!

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together? Friendship is the key in any long lasting relationship. Josh and I wouldn’t survive if we weren’t best friends, you have to love and like each other.

Venue: New Plymouth Yacht Club | Videographer: Mark Lahood | Photographer: Abi Hackling Photography | Celebrant: Sam Bennett | Planner & Styling: Victoria Jayne Weddings | Hire: TLL Events | Flora: Pineapple Sage | Catering: Public Catering | Cake: Tartan Rose | Stationery: Etsy | Bride’s Dress: Grace Loves Lace | Ring/s: Dalgleish | Bride’s Shoes: Number One Shoes | Earrings: Lovisa | Makeup: Makeup by Annalee | Hair: Lola | Fragrance: Jo Malone | Groom & Groomsmen attire: Hallensteins | Bridesmaid attire: Princess Polly & Debenhams