Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:
Meggan: Ben and I met at a Halloween party in Mt Albert nearly six years ago.
I was born in South Africa and moved to New Zealand with my family as a child and Ben was born in Hong Kong, adopted by his English mum and Kiwi father, and moved to New Zealand as a toddler. We come from very different backgrounds but share the same values and I think that’s a big part of what makes our relationship work. We are opposites in a lot of ways but we balance each other out.
I’m a lawyer and Ben is a builder. Ben is definitely the creative one out of us two, but I’m more organised so took over the role of planning the wedding.
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 meant to have our wedding at Kauri Bay Boomrock with our closest family and friends. However with the announcement of the extension of Auckland’s level three restrictions we had just days to replan a much smaller wedding with just 6 guests at Ben’s family home.
We decided pretty early on that getting married was our main priority and the celebration with our family and friends could wait until restrictions eased. It was a difficult decision to make as my mother and brother as well as Ben’s brother couldn’t be with us on the day due to Auckland’s restrictions on travel. It was bittersweet at times but we live-streamed the wedding which allowed our family and friends from all over the world to be part of our special day.
The ceremony itself took place in front of the fireplace in the living room. There were two photographs behind us; one of Ben’s parents on their wedding day flanked by both sets of Ben’s grandparents and the second was of my mother’s parents on their wedding day. The flowers included protea’s which are my favourite flower and a nod to my South African heritage. Our florist, Carol, did an amazing job of making the setting look incredible with wildflowers and candles.
Tell us about your main outfits:
Ben’s suit was custom made by Sharon from Working Style. It was a pretty cool and enjoyable process as Ben got to choose every part of his suit including the lining, the fabric and he even had the date of our wedding stitched into the pocket of the suit jacket. The suit jacket had a textured print which doesn’t immediately pop out from far but looks amazing in person and was a really great suggestion by Sharon. Ben also wore cufflinks gifted to him from his godfather when he was young.
My dress was actually the first dress that I had tried on. I immediately fell in love and had it custom made to fit me perfectly. The process was made really easy by Trish who is incredibly accommodating and so great to work with.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:
Our wedding was live-streamed by our videographer. As the wedding itself was so small (with only five guests) I think Ben and I completely forgot that we had over 100 people watching us on the live stream. After the ceremony, we got to speak to our family and friends through the live stream which was really special and made us both feel like everyone was with us. Everyone also loved the live stream which is something we would have never even considered doing if it wasn’t for Covid-19.
On the morning of the wedding, my brother had beautiful pearl bracelets and a letter delivered to me. My brother lives in Melbourne and wasn’t able to make it due to the restrictions. He was meant to walk me down the aisle, so not having him there on the day was really hard. However, he was probably our biggest supporter when we first considered going ahead with getting married despite not being able to have a “wedding”.
The ceremony we had was perfect. It was about Ben and I and our love for one another and having only five guests allowed us to enjoy every moment of the day. On reflection, I don’t know if either of us would have enjoyed saying our vows in front of 80 people!
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:
Your wedding is just a day. The important thing is getting married to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Everything else is just an added bonus.
Both of us were pretty upset we couldn’t have the wedding we had planned but the thing that upset us most was the thought of not getting married on 29 August. While we would have loved to have had a big wedding, we count ourselves lucky that we could still go ahead and get married, unlike many other couples who had to postpone due to level 4 restrictions.
There are some things you can’t predict or plan which is why we decided to go ahead and get married and (hopefully) celebrate our first anniversary with all our friends and family at our original wedding venue.
Venue: Ben’s family home | Videographer/live stream: Side Project Films | Photographer: Wild & Grace | Celebrant: Rochelle from NZ Wedding Celebrant | Flora: Branch & Bloom | Catering + Beverages: Free Range Chef | Cake: Amy’s Secret Kitchen | Meggan’s Gown: Trish Peng | Ben’s Suit: Working Style | Rings: Naveya & Sloane | Shoes: Senso + Working Style | Meggan’s earrings: Amélie George Bridal | Megan’s Pearl Bracelets: Kirstin Ash | Makeup: Shane Cyrus | Hair: Amber from Exile Design | Fragrance: Giorgio Armani Si
