Nicole + Hamish by Rambo Estrada - Together Journal

One moment that we are still laughing about was the conga line that formed to Tipsy by J-Kwon. Seeing family and friends of all ages doing the conga to a hip hop song was an absolute highlight.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Nicole works in international development in the Pacific and Hamish works in a Ministers office. We moved back to Wellington in early 2020 after 4 and a half years living in Germany.

We love spending time in the outdoors and going on new adventures. Some of our favourite activities are hiking, diving, skiing, and swimming at the beach. We also love travelling, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met in the first year of university through a mutual friend and then really hit it off at a party in second year. We immediately got along and realised we had a lot in common. There was a lot of laughter and fun from day one.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Nicole: I knew very early on that I liked him. He gave me warm fuzzies from the first day we hung out. He was funny, kind, intelligent, and very importantly, handsome. We spoke for hours on end about anything and everything, and quickly found out how compatible we were. Growing up together during our years spent in Wellington and then in Germany confirmed that he was the one for me. Every adventure we shared was enjoyable and even when things are tough we were always there to support each other.

Hamish: It is hard to pin down a “when” because I think my love for Nicole grew over several years as we grew up together and shared so many experiences together. I knew she was the one because she quickly became my best friend, and I would find that I liked doing things more if she was around. Even mundane life activities were more fun just because we were doing them together. It is easy to know that she is the one because of the feeling I get in my chest every time I look at her, it is like my heart is full and I am content with life because she is in it.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Nicole: Hamish proposed to me in February 2020 in Tutukaka. It was expertly executed. We spent a beautiful day out on a boat at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve snorkelling with some of our best friends. When we got back to the house, Hamish tried his hardest to get me away by myself. This proved rather challenging to pry me away from my friends and my Aperol spritz. Once he got me away, he took me down to the rocks overlooking the ocean, with the Poor Knights in the distance. As the sun was setting, he got down (rather dangerously on the edge of the cliff) on one knee and started reaching into his pocket. He then pulled out my grandmother’s engagement ring and asked me to marry him. I said yes, and in typical fashion, I was already crying. Shortly after our friends joined us on the rocks with bubbles where we celebrated until it got dark.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
We wanted to have a wedding that was classic, relaxed and fun in a beautiful setting. When we first saw The Waterlily Gardens, we knew we had found the right venue for us. The established gardens and wide range of spaces provided the perfect backdrop for our big day. We used the venue as inspiration and our outfits, design collateral, and styling fitted the theme of a romantic, garden wedding.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Having Rambo Estrada as our wedding photographer. Nicole is from Tauranga and had loved Rambo’s surf photography for a long time. His wedding photography was equally as impressive and captured the happiness and love of our day.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Our best man put together an amazing DJ set for our dance floor which included some of our favourite songs. Rumour has it that he had the DJ set locked down months before the wedding, but only finished his best man’s speech the week of. One moment that we are still laughing about was the conga line that formed to Tipsy by J-Kwon. Seeing family and friends of all ages doing the conga to a hip hop song was an absolute highlight.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
We both knew we wanted a classic look for our outfits that we looked back on in years to come and felt they were timeless. Hamish wore a tailored black suit with bowtie and Nicole wore an A-line wedding dress by Chosen by Kyha. There was also a dance floor dress change by Nicole where she slipped into a fun dress by Aje to dance the night away. One of the most special elements of our outfits was that the engagement ring was Nicole’s grandmother’s. She passed away a few years ago so having something of hers as such a key part of the wedding felt incredibly special.