Mason + Lalakai by Wildfolk - Together Journal

The theme for our wedding was Alfresco dining.

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

Myself (Mason): I am a mum to two beautiful children, a 4.5-year-old girl, Huxlee and a 2.5-year-old boy, Zion. My profession- early childhood teacher. My husband, Lalakai- is a professional rugby player. We love travelling as a little family either overseas or even on little road trips to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. We enjoy the little things in life, as simple as an early morning coffee together before work and the day ahead.

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

We met at the young age of 14, and we became best friends. I guess you could call it a crush. My husband asked me out when we were 15, and we haven’t looked back; it hasn’t been smooth sailing, but how can you expect it to be when we met at such a young age.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

My husband says he knew from early on that he wanted me to be a part of his life forever, but it magnified when I flew to France and left everything behind as a 19-year-old to be by his side while he was alone playing rugby in another country, “my wife left her safe place in her hometown and family to come to support me when she didn’t have to”. For myself- Lalakai is everything I’ve always dreamt of, everything I’ve ever wanted. I knew from a very young age that this was going to be forever.

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

The theme for our wedding was Alfresco dining. Elegant, understated and warm. The flowers- greenery and white. I wanted to do most things myself, styling anyway. I love getting creative, and I am quite particular when it comes to the aesthetic of things. I could have such an intimate, 30-person wedding with just our family. I bought pretty much everything on temu- glasses, candles, holders, vessels, etc. I bought everything over from Australia- fitting it in all of our suitcases haha. Most of my ideas came from myself/instagram/pinterest. On the day, my soon-to-be sister-in-law helped set things out the way I wanted them to go as I finished off getting ready.

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).

Everything turned out perfect- quite literally. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It was perfect. The beauty of our location, Waiheke Island, was incredible, but the Putiki estate on Waiheke was just insane/picture perfect. The design of our venue and the way it all flowed with mine and my husband’s very relaxed nature- it all just worked.

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

La and I have two kids. So truly, spending one night a week after we had put the kids to sleep, talking about the wedding/planning it over a glass of red wine and dinner became our date night most of the time. Tips for future couples – enjoy it, try not to stress too much (hopefully it’s the one and only time you’ll do it). Plan a date night once a week and talk about it/organise it together.

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

Not really a story, just we both had what we wanted it and went with it. I had been looking at this Vivienne Westwood dress for a year, I think I had seen Georgia fowler in it and I had fell in love. It was honestly the first dress I tried on at the first wedding dress shop I went to. I live in Sydney and flew to Brisbane with my mum and sister for the day. I tried the dress on first and fell in love; I tried another seven dresses on- as I wanted to make sure I had tried all styles on.. and still loved my first and only choice. Flew home that same time, sat on it for two days and rang back and said ‘yes to the dress’. My husband chose his suit a month before the wedding- men, haha. He went with a black velvet blazer and loved it, and so did I- he looked very handsome/dapper on the day.

What was 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?).

The venue- the estate was perfect for our intimate 30-person wedding. We had most people stay on sight, as our wedding was only our immediate family- this was a huge thing for us going forward with getting married- we wanted everyone to be able to stay on-site, if not close by. We had the estate for three days- to have that time with all of us was so special. Memories made for a lifetime. We have two kids, a 4-and-a-half-year-old and a 2-and-a-half-year-old- they did not wipe the smiles off their faces for three days! Spending all that time with their cousins, aunties, uncles, nannas and poppas- so special. The food- was our next non negotiable. We had our own chef and he was absolutely amazing, the food was amazing. Everyone there complimented the food. It was incredible. We are big foodies, so this was very important to us. Making sure everyone’s bellies were full.