We both grew up in Christchurch and met while on a snowboarding camp when we were 15 years old. I was instantly attracted to this handsome, tall, stylish and funny boy, so at the end of the camp, I wrote my landline number on a piece of paper and gave it to Jake. The following Friday he picked me up after school in his Kermit-the-Frog green Toyota, and that was that!
We share a pretty unique sense of humour and find each other hilarious — other people generally don’t. It’s a fantastic feeling knowing someone is always there for you, whether it’s to laugh or to cry. We dated for six years and in that time we really grew up together, but when we turned 21, it became obvious that we needed to do our own thing. We both moved away, lost touch, and dated other people, but never stopped thinking about one another. Seven years later, after very little contact, Jake reached out to me and we were married within six months. The church in Sumner where we were married was a post-earthquake rebuild and was lacking character, but we decided to leave the inside as it was and instead focus on creating a beautiful floral lichgate for outside the church. It created a real sense of occasion and looked great in photos. We didn’t look at any venues for the wedding reception as we always knew we wanted to have it at home. Jake and I loved the idea of it feeling more like a dinner party, where everyone could mingle in the house and garden without being made to conform to the rules and regulations of a venue. Jake’s mum is Scottish so after the ceremony we had bagpipes play as we left the church and then walked with all of our guests, and the bagpiper, 200 metres down the road to our home – luckily there wasn’t any traffic! That was one of my favourite moments and I don’t think any of our guests were sure what to expect when we arrived at the house. One of our closest friends managed to locate some old red paint in the garage so he wrote in large letters ‘TOOT JUST MARRIED’ on the road outside our home – we still get a couple of toots every day! Our advice to other couples getting married is to not worry too much about wedding trends or what everyone else is doing. Plan the wedding you have always dreamed of, with the things and people you love, and it will be perfect.
Photography, Danelle Bohane | Brides Dress, Jane Yeh | Groom & Groomsmen’s Attire, Crane Brothers | Styling, Hayley & Co | Wedding planner, Emma Newman | Bridesmaids, Karen Walker | Flora, Sweetpea Weddings | Catering, The Catering Department
