The style we wanted to go for was chic and elegant but with a relaxed vibe.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
I’m a facialist, and I work out of a studio from home. Matt is the designer and director of Special Studio – a homewares brand made of recycled plastic. Our jobs are very full on with us both running our own businesses, so in our downtime, we very much like to chill and take it easy. We live in Mount Maunganui and have a 2-year-old son, August and a King Charles Cavalier named Ralph. We are super fortunate to live right by the beach, so quite often, we will head there or to the park to let them run around and burn some energy. When we have some time to ourselves we love watching movies or documentaries, eating yummy food and hanging with friends and family.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We initially matched on a couple of dating apps back in 2017, but with Matt living in the Mount and myself in Auckland and both of us travelling a lot, we didn’t get a chance to meet up but would occasionally DM or reply to each other’s Instagram stories. Fast forward to 2019, Matt was in Auckland and asked me if I wanted to meet up for a coffee, which turned into a 3-hour date, and he took the next day off work to stay in Auckland and hang out. I thought he was really handsome and I could tell straight away he was a very kind person. Matt said he knew as soon as he saw me that he was going to marry me! At the time, I was planning on moving to Australia, so I decided to just stay as friends. A couple of months later, there was a gig in the Mount, and I was meant to go down with a friend, but she pulled out at the last minute, so Matt said I could go to the gig with him and his mates and stay at his place. I thought, “Why not?!” so I came down for the weekend, and by the end of it, I knew I was catching feelings. On the way back to Auckland, I told him how I felt, and the rest is history!
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
I think we both knew pretty much straight away but the most pivotal moment, which I can remember so clearly, was when we fell pregnant with our son – it came as a bit of a surprise, and when we made the decision to become parents, that was the moment we were both like, ‘ok, we are going to be in this together for the rest of our lives’.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding.
The style we wanted to go for was chic and elegant but with a relaxed vibe, as we are both very chill people. I knew I wanted some bows but not too over the top or girly – it was important to me to have just the right balance. I loved the idea of a black-and-white palette but wanted a slightly more delicate and feminine accent colour, so I landed on powder blue.
What styling and visual elements worked best for you?
As I already had the colour palette and overall vision in mind, when I secured Black Walnut as our venue, it helped me lean into those aspects and plan out other things like the florals and tablescapes. The black framed glasshouse, which is where we had the reception, had a lot of green foliage and white bougainvilleas, so we were able to keep the florals in there quite paired back with multiple varieties of simple stem white blooms. We had a hint of powder blue in the candles and a touch of femme with black velvet bows around the napkins and menus, tying in with the bows on my wedding dresses and the black bridesmaids’ dresses. Because the reception area was quite simple, I wanted to go for bigger clusters of florals in the ceremony area, which was on an open outdoor grass space surrounded by tall walnut trees, and we added some powder blue blooms to tie it all together.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
I loved (almost) every aspect of it! I loved designing my wedding wardrobe, choosing the florals, the colour palette, and the styling of it. Pinterest and Instagram were my definite go-to for inspo.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
My best friend, Lulu Jackson, is a bridal dressmaker, and we had spoken about wedding dresses on numerous occasions before I was even engaged, so it was very special and a lot of fun to go through that whole process together. I had a couple of ideas of what I wanted, and she added a few things she thought I might like (which, of course, I did – that’s that great thing about doing it with your best friend; she knew exactly my vibe and what would suit me). It also helps that she is an actual magician at what she does so I had complete trust in her. I initially wanted a ceremony dress and then a mini-party dress. However, during the planning process, Lulu had designed two different-sized bows to go on the back of my ceremony dress. When she showed them to me and my bridesmaids, one bow was resting on the shoulder of the mannequin, and they all suggested I wear it like that as a variation to my ceremony dress, so then there became three outfits.
What was one, or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on?
Definitely the venue, food and photography were things we knew we wanted to splurge on. I had wanted that venue ever since I had seen it years prior and food is a big part of how guests enjoy and remember a wedding. Our photographer, Ruby, had used previously for a family photo shoot, and I had always loved her work and style, so it was a no-brainer that we would have her. She is also a friend of our friends group so it was awesome to know it would be a relaxing atmosphere having her there capturing our most special moments. We are very lucky with hugely talented friends who were able to help us out in other areas of our wedding – celebrant, cake, wedding dress and florals, which enabled us to spend a bit more on those key elements.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time).
Everything went pretty smoothly, however my mic cut out while I was saying my vows – I didn’t realise until after but it didn’t matter as Matt could still hear me and that’s all that matters!
BRIDE Renée Watkins, @renee.watkins_ GROOM Matt Watkins, @matt_watkins_ VENUE Black Walnut, Whakamārama, New Zealand PHOTOGRAPHER Lovers By Ruby Jayne, @loversbyrubyjayne FLORIST L and the Flower, @landtheflower CELEBRANT Cam Neate, @camneate CATERING No Biggie Food, @nobiggie.food CAKE Sweetheart Caker, @sweetheart.caker RINGS Mayo Jewellers, @mayojewellery BRIDAL DRESS Lulu Jackson Bridal, @lulujacksonbridal BRIDE’S SHOE Gucci, @gucci BRIDE’S ACCESSORIES Jasmin Sparrow, @jasminsparrowjewellery MAKEUP Prita Fermah, @pritafermah HAIR Ogle & Co, @ogleandco_weddings BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE Le Labo, @lelabofragrances SUIT Dorset Suits, @dorsetsuits GROOM’S SHOE Zara, @zara GROOM’S FRAGRANCE Tom Ford, @tomford BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES Lulu Jackson Bridal, @lulujacksonbridal