Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
[O] I love late nights with good company, skinny dipping in the ocean, slow mornings and dancing with reckless abandon.
[M] I am a professional creative and an old-soul. I love a variety of art, design and vintage ephemera. I also have a penchant for beautiful rocks, the occasional old fashioned and, of course, giving my wife a run for her money on the dance floor.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
[O] We met in our first year of uni, we lived in the same hostel. I thought he was tall and charismatic. I was excited to sit by him at the dinner table. We laughed a lot together, binge-watched “Lost”, explored Wellington with first year eagerness and ate way too much Mi Goreng.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
[M] After a while of being best friends and flatmates, it became apparent that it saddened me to think about a future without Liv as either of those things, and I realised that people usually end up marrying those who they’d love to spend all their time with. It got me thinking about Liv in a new way and it started to click that she was my person.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
[O] We were on holiday with a handful of our friends, I was completely oblivious to Matt’s plans. One morning he asked me to go for a walk with him along the lakeside, for some alone time. We stopped at a spot peppered with water lilies in bloom and he told me to stand looking out at the water so he could take a photo, “yeah that was a good one” he said, I turned around to find him on one knee. Immediate tears.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
[O] We really just wanted to inspire an environment for people to relax and have fun – and hopefully be able to do the same ourselves. We went with a kind of ‘less is more’ approach when it came to styling our venues. The church already had such character with it’s dark wood interior and dappled light streaming through stained glass windows. It was the church my parents got married in 27 years ago, and was built by my ancestor Samuel Williams – it holds such sentimentality and will always be such a special place to us.
The new wood panelling, still fresh enough to smell, and the panoramic view at Back Paddock Lakes was already such a feast for the eyes – we wanted those elements to shine! We arranged a few dozen posies and tea lights, and our work there was done.
[M] We wanted our wedding to reflect us; as laid back as we could manage, some earthy tones, some vintage things, some good food and natural, low pressure moments with our favourite people.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
[O] Authentic photos and good food were two things we both felt strongly about. Originally, we had a different photographer + a different catering company lined up – both of which ended up not working out. Stressful at the time, but an absolute blessing in disguise! Zara felt like part of the family, went above and beyond to make our vision come to life and made us all feel at ease behind the camera. And yeah, the food was bomb. The happy butterflies filling my tum only let me eat about 12 bites but they were delicious!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
[O] To be honest, our day went pretty smooth! Matt had typed up a full run sheet which turned out to be the logistical dream! I am more inclined to ‘wing it’ and Matt’s always well prepared – it mostly balances out to produce the stress-free spontaneity which our relationship seems to thrive on. One thing I wish I had done was bring a spare pair of shoes. I ended the day barefoot, with a big smile and blackberry prickled toes.
[M] While being driven to our reception venue we were supposed to direct our driver, and we were so happy and distracted with ourselves and the fact that we had just gotten married that we completely missed our turn off and had to pull over. Fortunately we pulled over underneath some cherry blossoms and we came away with a beautiful photo of the car thanks to our photographer who was close behind at all times.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
[O] After hours of scrolling Pinterest and opening and closing hundreds of tabs, I was feeing overwhelmed and a bit disheartened with my wedding dress search. On a whim, I reached out to a local seamstress and tried to put into words what I had been envisioning. I pulled aspects from a bunch of different images and she assured me it was doable. Together we brought my dress to life – floaty, tasteful and with the dreamiest sleeves!
[M] I knew I wanted to wear a dark green wool three-piece suit on my wedding day for a while, but had low expectations of being able to attain one at a reasonable cost. I couldn’t find anything close enough to what I was after in NZ or Australia, and I ended up shooting my shot and getting one made in Wales. It felt a little risky, but when it arrived it fit me perfectly. I completed the look with a silk tie, my late Grandfather’s compass on a watch chain, and a signet ring gifted to me by Liv during our engagement.
Reception location: Back paddock Lakes | Photographer: Zara Staples | Flora: Flower by Bella | Catering + Beverages: The Crafted and co | Stationery: Stuff and Things | Brides Attire: Sonia Seamstress | Grooms Attire: Abitto | Ring/s: Good Gold | Shoes: Hannahs | Engagement ring: Meadowlark | Makeup: Hannah Southcombe MUA | Hair: Abby Schofield | Brides Fragrance: Givenchy ‘l’interdit’ | Grooms Fragrance: Givenchy ‘Gentleman’ | Bridesmaid Attire: Dish + Blue dress: Amelius
