Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
I am a teacher and Cam is a banker. We met on Tinder (cringe) after my hubby had returned from emigrating to Australia the day before. I was at a friends place and thought I would have a go at this Tinder thing. He must have read ‘Tinder for Dummies’ or something because he had the classic fishing photo, shirtless photo, and photo with a tiny family member.
The weird part is that he guessed I was a teacher without any evidence – he based it on the fact that I looked kind haha.
Long story short I invited him round to dinner much to my friend’s dismay, as ‘this was not safe’. But I had a feel for him after a couple of phone calls. He arrived with a giant teddy, a homemade dessert and a wide grin. He also had to make a quick phone call to his mum to assure her that no, he was not being ‘cat-fished’.
Within a week we had met one another’s parents and when I left his parents’ house for the first time his mum said “Cam, don’t ask me why but I think we all just met your wife”.
Three amazing years later and we fulfilled her prophecy.
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…
I knew after choosing Carringtons Pumphouse that I wanted a green and white theme to go with the aged brick look. This made it quite easy as greenery was free from our gardens and we just needed to top it up with white flowers which mum and I got from the flower market. What was really special is that mum, my aunt and two other ladies who practically raised me, assembled the flower arrangements and the bouquets which added a lot of sentimentality.
I made a lot of the decorations, but my favourite has to be the hanging aisle sign which says ‘It was always you’.
Tell us about your main outfits:
I was set on Grace Loves Lace since before I met Cam haha. I even secretly took my mum and his mum to the concierge when they came to Auckland, despite not being engaged yet. There were no questions – the Alexandra dress was perfection.
Cam always wanted a blue suit but not your typical Navy one. We found just the thing at Hallensteins and then took it to the cutest little Russian lady who must be the best tayler I know! She works from home and has exquisite embroidery all over her house which I thought were paintings but were her own work. Needless to say I felt more than comfortable leaving her to handle my dress and his suit. She even made the bowties from scratch.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
We love games. Any time we have friends over there is some sort of board game, darts or card game involved. So we thought it would be fitting to have a few at our wedding – we played a few games of minute to win it at the reception. But the ultimate game had to be that each table had a song designated to them with the instructions “When this song is played by the band, your table needs to make their way to the dancefloor with their best dance routine”. Well, we were in stitches laughing at one another and it made everyone involved in that part of the evening.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Compromise. A relationship is about two people becoming one, so make two differences of opinion become one too. One of my vows said “You will always be more important than a point to be made.”
Photographer: Hannah Beth Photography | Ceremony & Reception location: Carringtons Pumphouse | Bride’s Dress: Grace Loves Lace | Groom’s Outfit: Hallensteins | Shoes: Op shop | Celebrant: Tony Versey | Entertainment: Brotherhood Musiq | Catering: Carringtons Pumphouse | Cake: Bride’s sister | Jewellery: Pandora Bracelet & Daniel Wellington Watch | Hair: Boutique Bride | Makeup: Kate Solley Makeup
