Real Wedding: Jonti & Katie – Photography Nisha Ravji

We got married at a bed and breakfast in Silverdale, about 35 minutes north of Auckland. We wanted a big, beautiful house on stunning grounds, and somewhere that wasn’t a commonly used wedding venue.My dress wasn’t actually the style I originally had in mind when I started looking – I was adamant I wouldn’t be in a strapless dress and I thought it would be more contemporary. But as I started to try dresses on, it was obvious strapless worked for my shape, and when I tried on this one I knew it was the dress for me. The lace and embroidery detail is just incredible, I loved the semi-exposed bodice and dramatic train. It was the dress I could imagine my great-grandchildren looking at in photos and saying, ‘Look at granny’s amazing dress, wasn’t it beautiful.’

Katie & Jonti-780

 

Our pageboy was our dear French Bulldog, Spencer, wearing a custom suit our friend had made for him. He’s such a huge part of our lives and we couldn’t imagine our day without him. It was such a special moment when I saw him all suited up, he looked absolutely adorable.

The reception was onsite at the venue. I’ve never been a huge fan of marquees but we found one that looked stunning. It was styled to complement the overall theme of the day, with terrariums styled with white flowers, wire house lanterns and tealight candles. I think the style of the whole day was a clash of classic, contemporary and chic. Being very design-oriented I like the idea of ‘things’ pushing against each other, for example a vintage silver tray with an astroturf bunny on it, the contemporary pushing against the old.

It was very important to us to honour family that weren’t at the wedding, so each table was named after a person unable to be with us on the day, and on the back of the menu for that table was a photo of them on their wedding day.

The whole day was amazing, but two particularly special moments stick out for us. The first was having Jonti’s grandfather make the wedding, as he’d been admitted to hospital a few months earlier. It was his first outing since being in hospital and Jonti lit up when he saw him come in. The second happened when we were outside farewelling family, and looked back through the marquee to the dance floor.Our friends and family were just completely letting loose on the dance floor, laughing and drinking and dancing – it was exactly what we’d wanted.

Photography by Nisha Rajiv

Katie & Jonti-469 Katie & Jonti-775 Katie & Jonti-243 Katie & Jonti-223 Katie & Jonti-214 Katie & Jonti-210 Katie & Jonti-196 Katie & Jonti-804 Katie & Jonti-782 Katie & Jonti-655 Katie & Jonti-646 Katie & Jonti-522 Katie & Jonti-315 Katie & Jonti-303 Katie & Jonti-255 Katie & Jonti-808