Nicole + Daniel by Kate Alexandra Photography - Together Journal

I just remember looking at Rebecca, our celebrant, pleading with my eyes for her to speed things along! Luckily, just as we were about to postpone the family photos and quickly herd everyone back onto the bus to escape for the Packing Shed, the storm changed course and headed back into the hills. Someone was looking out for us that day!

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Daniel and I both grew up in Central Otago, and didn’t migrate far from the nest when we settled in Dunedin after both studying here.
We both love the (little) city life – the beaches (also a favourite for our Golden Retriever, Olive), the amenities, and the fact (both being impatient people) that you can get anywhere within a 20 minute car trip!
We both enjoy getting into the outdoors and keeping active, doting on our pets, and spending time with our friends.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We first met in high school but weren’t in the same year group so didn’t have much to do with one another – so I can’t fib and say it was love at first sight!
We caught up again once we’d both started uni – bumped into each other on the infamous Hyde Street and I guess the rest is history.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
We are both quite driven and motivated, but never take ourselves too seriously – so we are quite well matched I feel. Neither of us can recall the ‘moment’ – maybe it was when we got our first child (a Ragdoll cat called Astro) – although Daniel might disagree with me! The cats are definitely more my babies than his.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
I’ll be the first person to put my hand up to say I’m not overly creative. I spent many nights agonising over little details and wondering why I hadn’t put more effort into finding someone to help us to style the event!
I have a thing about timeless classics, so I knew I wanted a “rustic yet clean and modern” vibe – not sure what I had in my head but I was really pleased with how it turned out! My main focus was something that wouldn’t age badly as the years go on and trends change.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
We were really pleased that we splurged on getting all the florals that we wanted, and the big clear marquee. The latter was a late addition to the plan – but it really made the reception venue and the vendors were a dream to work with.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
It rained all morning (after weeks on weeks of 30+ degree days!) which was typical but stressful. It cleared up as the day wore on, but as we drove out to the farm for the ceremony a very foreboding pack of storm clouds looked like they were heading straight for us. We didn’t have a “plan b” at the farm, so we just hoped for the best. As my car pulled up to the end of the aisle, I swear the biggest bolt of lightning I’ve ever seen cracked in the middle of the sky, and the thunder rumbled all through the ceremony. I just remember looking at Rebecca, our celebrant, pleading with my eyes for her to speed things along!
Luckily, just as we were about to postpone the family photos and quickly herd everyone back onto the bus to escape for the Packing Shed, the storm changed course and headed back into the hills.
Someone was looking out for us that day!

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Not too much to report here – other than the fact I tried to combine my two favourite dresses that I tried on. I love the whimsical look of the tulle and big bow at the back – but I didn’t think about how hard it would be to manoeuvre in! It looked great but scored low for practicality – I’m not sure I’d repeat that decision in all honesty!