Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
Simon is a Youth Pastor and I am a Court Registry Officer at the Christchurch Family court. We met at our Church where we were both involved in leading Youth groups.
It took a mutual friend a year of hard work to get us together as we were both crushing hard but convinced the other wasn’t interested.
We have only been together for a year and a half, but that was more than enough time for us to realise we wanted to spend our lives together. Simon proposed on our one year and one day anniversary after I had said he couldn’t propose unless we had been dating for at least a year. Coming back from another wedding in Queenstown, Simon suddenly pulled the car into a field where a helicopter was waiting to take us over Wanaka (my dream proposal location). We landed on the Pisa range where we got out and Simon proposed as we looked over Wanaka.. and nearly got blown off the mountain.
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…
Being on a tight budget we decided to do the styling ourselves with lots of help from friends and family. We had fallen in love with the Gym as soon as we saw it and its industrial vibe. That set the tone for much of the styling with lots of black, metal and raw materials. Our florist provided us with a bunch of greenery as well which matched the minimalistic industrial vibe perfectly.
We got married in the church my parents got married in, so that held some sentimental value. Its also just a super cute, beautifully restored wooden church with a full set of working bells – the perfect way to end the ceremony!
Tell us about your main outfits:
I loved the dress I chose in pictures but was convinced I couldn’t pull it off. After trying it on in front of a few friends and family, their reaction pretty much made my decision for me. It was the first of its kind in New Zealand, and despite the nervousness around it leading up to the wedding, I am so happy I took a risk and went with a dress a little different. With it being a winter wedding, I chose a merlot colour for the girls which looked great with the cream in my dress.
Simon had to fight hard to convince me that a grey tweed suit would be a perfect match to the bridesmaids dresses. But when he found one in Barkers and tried it on for me, I instantly teared up and he won me over. The guys looked so good and we are stoked with what we chose (and for the amazing deal Barkers did for us).
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
Simon: For sure the best moment of the day and the one that will stick with me was when Laura walked in, looking so perfect that everyone else seemed to disappear. Photos with friends, family and lots of the youth group afterwards was pretty special too. Not to mention the early morning winter swim with my boys at Brighton beach and the hot coffee that followed. Having my ‘UK family’ travel over for the wedding was also so amazing.
Laura: Obviously walking down the aisle in front all of my friends and family and having Simon waiting at the end for me was pretty special, I think I had the most stupid grin on my face! Aside from that, spending the day with my most favourite people was pretty awesome, particularly when it came to dancing at the reception and seeing everyone having such a good time, it made me so happy.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Not sure we feel that qualified to be giving advice at this point. But maybe if we were to give one piece of advice we would say we think it’s not all just about falling in love, but more about committing to loving one another and knowing it’s not always going to be easy but it’s totally worth it.
Photographer: Jono Smit | Ceremony location: St Pauls Church, Christchurch | Reception location: ‘The Gym’ Christchurch Art Centre | Celebrant: Alistair Drye | Flora: A Twisted Bunch | Catering: Moveable Feasts | Wedding cake: Sophie Reynolds; Other cakes: Cakes by Anna | Bride’s dress: Lovers Society ‘North’ gown from Paper Swan | Bride’s shoes: Mi Piaci | Groom & Groomsmen attire & shoes: Barkers Menswear | Bridesmaid dress: Show Me Your Mumu | Rings: Canterbury Jewellers | Makeup: Anna Johnson | Hair: Courtenay Tennent
