Lou + Zack by Nat Symonds

We wanted our wedding to be beautiful and chic, but also relaxed.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Hello – We are a couple from Wellington, New Zealand. Louisa is a Dentist and Zack is a hairdresser. Louisa makes jewellery and Zack is a DJ. We both love exercise, music, food, drinks, nights out and all our amazing friends. We have a beautiful daughter, Frankie who is the light of our lives.
 

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met on a night out in Wellington 7 years ago, there was an instant connection between us.
Lou: I wasn’t looking for love but I was always looking for fun and Zack is the funnest person in the world. His energy drew me in and I was hooked. Zack is always the life of the party, he is outgoing, kind and loyal and would do anything for those he loves.
Zack: I was drawn to Lou’s confidence, her go – getter attitude and obviously thought she was beautiful.
 

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We knew we wanted to get married in Wanaka. To us, it is the most beautiful place on earth and we spend a lot of time down there at Lou’s mum’s house. Zack is from Hertforshire and a lot of his friends and family had never been to New Zealand so he wanted an opportunity to show them some of the best scenery New Zealand has to offer. We found Dublin Bay and were blown away by the magnificent lake views, the varied landscape and large area for a marquee. The owner of the property Kristy-Lee was so lovely and easy going that we knew it was the perfect spot for us. We wanted our wedding to be beautiful and chic, but also relaxed. Above all, we wanted it to be the best party we could possibly throw and for everyone to have a rude amount of fun. We knew that the venue and the views would speak for themselves so when it came to styling we kept it quite simple. We chose warm pink and orange tones for our palette with beautiful wild, unstructured, garden style blooms. We asked our bridesmaids to choose their own dresses so they felt comfortable and confident. We gave them a warm colour palette to choose from but everyone landed on pink so that was pretty cute. Lou’s friend Angie helped a lot with styling on the day and she tireless handmade all the guests friendship bracelets with their table names on them.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

We chose the marquee to compliment the natural beauty of the space. It was large and open and let the views be the centre stage. We wanted to have a big dance floor and party lights inside the marquee and we were blown away by Mike from Visual Events who tirelesslessly hung up disco balls for us. The visuals inside the marquee were amazing and when the sun went down, the party kicked off and a huge blood moon came out. We aren’t superstitious but were sure that it had to mean something!

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

We loved sitting down together and thinking about what our dream day would look like. We started planning more than two years in advance which took a lot of the stress out of it. Having a baby, working, and planning a wedding was pretty tiring but Lou is very organised and was up for the challenge. We got inspiration from instagram and other weddings we had been to and made notes that we could draw from when it finally came to planning the details. Our advice for people planning a wedding is don’t overthink it! Trust the process, know that it’s going to be perfect no matter what. We made quick decisions and didn’t mull over all the different choices.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

One of our best friends, Bridget Cowles, became a wedding celebrant to marry us. She took the role very seriously and created the perfect personal and intimate ceremony. Since we wanted the dancing to be the highlight of the day we knew the importance of nailing the music. We asked our dear friend Bonnie (BonTempo) to DJ for us. We couldn’t think of someone we would trust more to bring the vibes than her.
We chose our caterers Raspberry Creek because Sam, a fellow UK man, was so passionate and took such care with us when we were planning. All the canapes and the meals were carefully chosen to reflect food that holds a special place for us. Our photographer was Nat from Run the Shadows, she took all the beautiful shots and was so easy to work with, it felt like hanging out with one of our friends all day.
Our amazing cake was made by Aimee from Willow cakes. We were so impressed that she managed to drive it safely over the crown range. After all the time spent trying to agree on flavours Zack didn’t even eat any of it! Our wedding planner Emma Newman made sure everything on the day ran seamlessly.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Lou: I knew I wanted Lulu Jackson to design my outfit. I own a few pieces from her Molly Perkinson’s range and trust she has great style and attention to detail. I have followed her wedding page for a while and was so impressed, I also like the idea of supporting a female New Zealand designer. When we first started designing my outfit I knew that I wanted trousers, I wanted to be able to feel comfortable, to be able to dance and I didn’t want to have to get changed during the night. I wanted an outfit with different pieces so that I could easily wear each item again. Lulu absolutely blew me away with her ideas, she sent me 4 concepts to choose from and I know that all of them would have been amazing. We landed on a simple flattering silhouette with white trousers and bodice with a luxurious bridal overcoat and scarf. The coat was reversible so the outfit took many forms during the day. I’m so grateful it came together perfectly and it was completely me.

Zack: I had visions of an 80s suit, a miami vice vibe. The guys at Zambesi were helpful in customising the suit to fit my ideas. My shirt was custom made by a designer in Sydney which made it a bit more complicated but luckily it all worked out!

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Lou’s engagement ring is emerald and diamonds and was made by a Melbourne jeweller Seb Brown. Zack had his brother bring the ring to Zurich and hid it at their Dad’s house for him to collect. We went for a two day hike in the Swiss Alps where Zack proposed. It was nice to have the whole family involved in the plan! Our wedding rings were made by Lou, simple chic gold bands that are easy for everyday wear.
 

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We wanted to spend as much time with our friends as we could because everyone had flown there to celebrate with us, many from all around the world. We rented a huge house for lots of us to stay in so we could spend quality time together. We knew that it would be hard to get around everyone at the wedding so having a day before and day after event helped take the pressure off. We had a lot of our photos taken before the wedding so we could enjoy the party. We had also heard from other people its easy to forget to spend time together when you’re swept up in the day so we made sure we had lots of little moments where we came together and really got to soak it in.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

Everything about those three days was perfect that it is so hard to choose. Having our daughter as a flower girl was so special and everything about the ceremony we loved. It was very heartfelt and had almost everyone in tears!