We wanted a very relaxed day full of love, which is exactly what we had.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Stella is a born and bred Wellingtonian, whilst I moved here from Invercargill 10 years ago. We now live in Petone with our fur baby Teddy and love taking him for morning walks along the esplanade. I am a Project Manager working in commercial construction, and Stella is an Investment Adviser. We both have quite full-on jobs and love nothing more than to come home after work and curl up in bed with Teddy and watch Netflix. Stella loves cooking and baking and I love eating it, she makes sure I never go hungry and always makes beautiful meals. I am 6”1, so I have recently started a passion project of sewing pants for tall women – they are so hard to find, so I gave up looking and am trying to fill that gap in the market. Stella and I spend most of our free time together; you will generally find us tending to the veggie garden, at the gym or eating burgers from our favourite local.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Pip and I met through mutual friends back when we were both in long-term relationships with men. I honestly was quite scared of her, this gorgeous 6 foot tall blonde goddess who didn’t talk too much, she was far too cool to be friends with me. Eventually, after two breakups, we made our way back together for an official first date in 2020, and we haven’t spent a day apart since then. Neither Pip nor I ever thought we would end up in a long-term relationship with another woman. However, we knew after our first few dates that we had something really special. It is something that we had never experienced in prior heterosexual relationships; we are best friends, lovers and now wives. It makes me emotional to think how happy I am with Pip; I know I have found my forever love.
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 similar timing, about three months in. I don’t think we have spent a day apart since meeting in August 2020. Even spending every day together, we somehow never got bored and just had the absolute best time in each other’s company. We are always in sync (literally), and we share the same drive and ambitions for our future. We have always wanted to be mums. It feels like the safest decision to do this with Stella, as there was no questioning how we both felt and what we wanted. Prior to dating I had always admired Stella, she was super confident and would walk into a room and captivate everyone by her warm energy. I always remembered that party where I met her years prior to dating. Call it admiration or a girl crush, or perhaps that was love at first sight without realising.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
We had booked in a weekend away at a canopy glamping spot (Moonlight Peak in the Wairarapa) to celebrate our first year anniversary. During the trip, Stella set up a treasure hunt with clues, the last one being asking me to be her wife. Prior to the proposal, we had both separately been in contact with Naveya and Sloane, designing what we thought would be the perfect ring for each other. Unbeknown to us, two identical rings were being drawn up. Luckily a mutual friend who was in on both secrets intervened and we prevented the expensive mistake of having two very similar rings being produced. My ring was finalised after the engagement and we were both able to have input in the design – they are both perfect!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
We drew a lot of inspiration from our engagement rings, which were designed three years ago. My ring has light yellow sapphires and light pink diamonds, and we wanted to reflect this colour scheme on the overall look. Our florist, Lulu, was incredible; we told her “butter yellow, light pink and peonies if possible”, and what she came up with was AMAZING. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the florals on the day; she is one talented florist! We wanted a very relaxed day full of love, which is exactly what we had. I can get stressed quite easily, but having our coordinator, Alicia, at our side was one of the best decisions we made for the wedding. She allowed us to focus on ourselves and our friends and family. We never had to worry about the logistics of anything throughout the day – she was worth her weight in gold, and if anyone was questioning whether or not to get a coordinator for the day, most definitely do it!
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
We both agreed that we wanted to create a beautiful ambience during cocktail hour and what better way to do that than with a live pianist? Being a pianist myself, I knew that a Spotify playlist could never match the sound of live music, and when we discovered Shaun Preston on Instagram, I knew we had to have him perform at our wedding. Shaun performed at Boomrock, which created the most picturesque atmosphere you could ever ask for. Blue skies, sipping champagne, all our loved ones and soft piano tunes – it was incredible. Shaun even learnt some Fred Again and Stormzy (at our request) and sang these whilst we were pouring our champagne tower! We couldn’t recommend him enough; he is absolutely worth the splurge.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
The day before the wedding we had checked into our hotel and all was running smoothly. As I passed my dress to Pip to hang up on the hook, I heard a noticeable rip. I then realised I had been standing on the bottom of my dress as I passed it upward; I caused a tear of about 30cm long at the top of one of the tulle layers – front and centre. Luckily, Pip knows how to sew, so we ran down to a sewing shop (conveniently 1min away from the hotel), and she spent half an hour calmly stitching it back together. On the day you would have never known – she kept me very calm throughout the ordeal, which is one of the main reasons I love her!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
We chose our dresses together at the Paperswan Bridal boutique in Wellington. We are best friends and do everything together; there was no way we would have been able to pick our dresses without each other’s help! Pip was fortunate enough to wear her Granny’s pearl necklace on the wedding day. She almost wasn’t able to wear this after her sister wore the heirloom necklace for our hen’s do and broke it, but luckily, this meant it could be restrung to Pip’s desired length, so in a way, it was a blessing (thanks, Amanda!). On the morning of the wedding, I gifted Pip the beautiful silk bow bag handmade by Alice Hayes from Hayes Bridal. She hadn’t bought a bag for the wedding day as she couldn’t find the perfect bag, but luckily I knew this one was her dream bag – she loved it and will treasure it forever.
LOCATION Ceremony – Boomrock Lodge, Wellington NZ, @boomrocklodge; Reception – St John’s Bar, Wellington NZ, @stjohnsbarwgtn PHOTOGRAPHER Tim & Nadine, @timandnadine CONTENT CREATION Kat – Papped You, @pappedyouweddings STYLIST Georgia – Something Special Events, @somethingspecialevents.nz PLANNER Alicia – Elegant & Wild, @elegantandwildnz FLORIST Lulu – Cellar Daisy, @cellardaisy_ CELEBRANT Libby Carson, @libbycarsonevents ENTERTAINMENT Shaun Preston, @shaun_preston HIRE Something Special Events, @somethingspecialevents.nz CAKE Breanne – Em & Skye Cake Co, @emandskyecakeco STATIONERY & SIGNAGE Something Special Events, @somethingspecialevents.nz RINGS Naveya & Sloane, @naveyaandsloanejewellery PIP’S CEREMONY DRESS Chosen by Kyha from PaperSwan Bride, @chosenbykyha, @paperswanbride PIP’S PARTY DRESS Odd Muse, @oddmuselondon PIP’S SHOE Mi Piaci, @mi_piaci PIP’S ACCESSORIES Veil – Hera Couture, @heracouture; Bow Bag – Hayes Bridal, @hayesbridal; Sleeves – Chosen by Kyha, @chosenbykyha PIP’S FRAGRANCE Rouge – The Perfume Oil Co, @theperfumeoilcompany STELLA’S CEREMONY DRESS Hera Couture, @heracouture purchased from PaperSwan, @paperswanbride STELLA’S PARTY DRESS Maggie Marilyn, @maggiemarilyn STELLA’S SHOE Wildfire – The Iconic, @theiconicau STELLA’S ACCESSORIES Veil – Fritz & Sarah, @fritzandsarah STELLA’S FRAGRANCE No. 4 – Maison Louis Marie, @maisonlouismarie MAKEUP Jaymie Jarvis Makeup, @jaymiejarvis.makeupartist LASHES Heidi – Hi Lash, @hilash_heidi HAIR Natasha – Dollhouse Do, @dollhousedo
