Lucy + Harry by Lume Weddings - Together Journal

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

I (Lucy) grew up on a farm in Taranaki, studied Occupational Therapy in Dunedin, and now work in recruitment which was quite a pivot! Harry grew up in the Bay of Plenty in a little town called Athenree. Harry also studied in Dunedin, coming out with a BComm and BA, and now works in logistics for a beverage company. We currently live in Auckland after having a stint in London, and are soon heading across the ditch to try out Sydney.

We are both very social and enjoy spending time with our families. We love to travel, having recently got back from our honeymoon. We were lucky enough to travel back to the UK, celebrating in London with a bunch of our closest friends. We then tripped over to the Mediterranean, spending time in Greece with Harry’s family then headed down to Turkey. Next up was a trip to Munich for Oktoberfest (arguably Harry’s favourite part), before making the long trip back to NZ.

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

We met the old-fashioned Dunedin way at a university flat while both were studying. It was actually Harry’s first flat on Castle Street, and as you can imagine, it had seen better days. Looking back, it’s quite surprising that the empty beer bottles on the ground and burnt couches outside didn’t scare me away!

Well, we have been together for a long time now so it is hard to remember what our first impressions were! I’m sure our Dunedin friends (most of which are our closest today) will have a different version of when we first met. Safe to say, the flatting life didn’t put either of us off having ticked over 10 years together before we even got to the wedding day.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it… 

Over the last couple years, our friends would question if there was a ring every time we went away. The one time I did think that it would happen was after we purchased our first home in Tauranga, about two months before he proposed.

The weekend of the actual proposal is a bit of a blur. Harry had organised a weekend away at Piha Beach; it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Harry to organise something like this, and I had been very busy at work, so I didn’t think much about it. Harry had packed a breakfast for us to have on the beach, and once we sat down, he started pulling every item that he had packed, which was about when I thought something was up. It might seem surprising, but even after all this time together, it still came as quite a shock when he asked if I would marry him. It was a bit surreal and so special as he had coordinated with my sister to bring up my Grandmother’s engagement ring, which involved her hiding it in a friend’s garden for Harry to collect.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding. 

The ceremony and reception were at Harry’s family home, which is on the edge of Tauranga Harbour. We love spending time here and wanted the wedding to be somewhere that meant something to us. It is a stunning location. Harry’s mum, Sally, had put so much effort into the garden, planting it full of hydrangeas, dahlias, and zinnias. I wanted our theme to match this with a wedding day that was relaxed, fun, and colourful.

We got very lucky with a king tide, water right up to the edge of the banks and beautiful hot weather. The ceremony was held at a reserve right next to Harry’s family home, and a clear marquee was set up on the lawn with a separate dancefloor, which was used late into the evening. I was keen for a stress-free lead-up to the wedding. I couldn’t be more grateful to my sister Hannah for being my right-hand woman and to Alina, the wedding coordinator, who worked amazingly with all the vendors to ensure we had no hiccups on the day—a special shoutout to our photographer, Jake. One of my bridesmaids, Kate, is a photographer and showed me his work. I was obsessed! The photos and video he and Loren took on the day were nothing short of incredible.

Our friends and family came from far and wide, which meant a lot to us. Our MCs, Harriet and Frank, who came from London and New York, did a fantastic job. One of my bridesmaids, Bex, had her baby 3 weeks before the wedding. Bex, husband Tom, and their wee baby Vera made the mission all the way up to Waihi Beach from Hawkes Bay. We felt very special that people went to such an effort to get to our wedding, so we wanted to make sure we threw a great party.

To keep with the fun and relaxed theme, we held at the local bowling club the day after. All our friends and family put on their best whites and enjoyed the afternoon playing bowls, some of which were better than others. It was a great way to keep everyone entertained and continue celebrating with all our closest people. The whole weekend was perfect.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on? 

Food and cocktails. My favourite was the Panzanella salad, and Harry’s was the skirt steak with chimichurri. We both love food and a cheeky bevy, so we were happy to splurge here. We had amazing caterers, No Biggie, everyone raved about the food.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

We had our photos before the ceremony. After the photos were finished, I jumped in the car to head to the ceremony. Unbeknown to me, as we drove off, the veil was jammed in the door and got caught around the wheel of the car. It was my sisters, and the intention was for it to be a “family heirloom”. It ended up with a large hole in it. The girls jumped into action with a pair of scissors as we were driving to the ceremony; cutting it down the side so you couldn’t really see the hole… was the only thing that went wrong on the day, so it could have been a lot worse. A good story to laugh about looking back now!

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

I was set on wearing a short dress for the whole wedding. I wanted to break away from the traditional longer dresses. However, as the time got closer, I realised this was the one day I would be able to wear a beautiful long wedding dress. About 2 months out, I called Megan from Kenny and Harlow in a bit of a panic, and she got me to come in the next day with Caro and Kate, two of my bridesmaids. I tried on a number of her dresses but kept coming back to the one in particular. I was so glad I did change my mind and managed to pull it off so close to the date. I loved the dress and felt super comfortable. I then changed into a short Trish Peng dress for the reception, which was the perfect party dress.