Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

Kareem and I met through my older brother, Josh – they are great friends from medical school. We met specifically when my brother brought Kareem up to Whangarei for a week one summer.

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Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

We met in our early 20’s through mutual friends at a party. A graphic designer and a quantity surveyor brought together by our love for the outdoors, adventures, and DIY. Fast forward 10 years, we found ourselves getting engaged, travelling Europe, buying (and renovating) a house, and getting married all within 9 months! 

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…

We had always talked about having a small, intimate wedding, so we were very fortunate when Bartt’s family agreed to host our day at their beautiful BnB in Ferry Landing. Holding a wedding at a family home has its challenges, but more than anything we loved that we could have our day at a special, familiar place, that reflected “us” completely—and now it’s somewhere we can go and relive all the happy memories, over and over again!

The setting of the venue and the surrounding environment was the key to the overall look and feel of our wedding, being so close to the beach and native bush we were spoilt for choice with natural colour palette inspiration to draw on. I’m a sucker for detail, so enjoyed being able to use our stationery, florals, outfits etc to tie the whole day together.

I loved that we had so many personal touches to our day— mum made my bridesmaid’s gorgeous dresses (along with countless trips to fabric shops with my bridesmaids), for months in advance my in laws were mowing our ceremony spot and aisle, family members were foraging flowers and greenery for our dried florals, our arch and reception extension were constructed by hand, my brother played me down down the aisle with his guitar— we really couldn’t have achieved our dream “DIY” wedding without the help of our amazing friends and family! 

Tell us about your main outfits:

As our ceremony was outdoors amongst native bush we decided to keep our look simple, but stylish. Bartt wore a natural linen Barkers jacket and dark green chinos. I wore a gorgeous dress from Ruby — I fell in love with the simplicity and elegance of the V back and bow detail. The amazing ladies at Ruby celebrations came to my rescue after my original dress fell through only 7 weeks out from our wedding. I couldn’t have been happier with the end result— it really was my dream dress! I found the perfect handmade ceramic earrings online by Orche Ceramics, and added some fun with mustard heels from Mi Piachi. 

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?

We loved taking small moments to stand back and watch our guests enjoying themselves—it was such a great feeling to know our nearest and dearest are all in one place together celebrating us. Our guests might say that the mini espresso martinis were the highlight of the night! 

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?

Talk to each other, listen to each other— and always remember you are on the same team. 

Photography: Swift and Click | Ceremony location: Whitianga Rock Scenic and Historic Reserve | Celebrant: Hitched by Holly | Bride’s gown: Liam by Ruby and Trenery | Groom’s outfit: Barkers | Bride’s ring: Bert Jewellery | Groom’s rings: Laurie Mayo Jewellery | Bride’s shoes: Mi Piaci | Groom’s shoes: Barkers| Jewellery: Ochre Ceramics | Groom’s outfits: Trenery | Entertainment: Adam McLean Music | Hire: The Event Refinery | Flora: The Lost Flower Shed | Catering and Beverages: Mannington’s Hahei Beach Catering | Cake: Whitestone Cheese 

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

I’m a graphic designer and Liam is a construction project manager. We met 16 years ago when we were working casual jobs at Mitre 10.

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