Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
Chase and I both work in real estate, myself (Sophie) for residential side and Chase in commercial. My family are all involved in real estate, so it was only natural for me to end up with a real estate agent! (Even though we
are working for rival companies! Haha)…
Chase and I met almost 11 years ago. We started off as friends and were quite on and off for a while as I ended up travelling overseas and working on superyachts. We always kept in touch and we always had a pretty unique relationship and connection that kept us never wanting to let go of each other. I came back to NZ for a quick vacation from superyachts where we met up and the rest is history. Let’s just say I quit the superyacht life and very quickly moved in with Chase and started our next chapter together. We have been married for 1 and a half years and have really packed a lot into a short space of time. We brought our first home, got our Toy Cavoodle fur baby Louie and have a baby due in a month’s time.
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 ultimately wanted a day that fitted our personality. We wanted to keep the day fun with good music, wine, food and most importantly with the people that matter most to us. Some of our most favourite details from the wedding were ones that were created by ourselves and our family. Our families spent a lot of time leading up to the wedding helping to create amazing pieces for our wedding – instead of hiring them or paying someone else to do them.
Our ceremony was based at my mum and step dads beautiful home in Dairy Flat, Auckland. My mum Kim is so creative and pretty much turned into the wedding planner, which I was so grateful for! Chase’s older brother Ryan was a huge help in building structures for our wedding, including our circle archway and hanging bases to attach our floral to at the reception. The two of them worked for months coming up with creative ideas – my husband even joked in his speech that they were going to start a wedding planning business together after this wedding! Which they had seriously considered!
Our style was rustic complimented by whites and greens. My mum did all the floral for the day, this included having 500 peonies flown in from Christchurch a few days before the wedding and having the huge task of
creating all of our beautiful table arrangements and floral for the archway – whilst managing to keep them alive in the heat that was hitting us in November.
We had our reception at The Tasting Shed in Kumeu. We chose this location not only for its incredible food and service but also for its stunning venue. The day before our wedding we were around at the crack of dawn attaching olive branches to our two hanging structures in the marquee – mum had to get the gardener round the day before to pretty much cut down her whole olive tree just for this special occasion! A lot of blood, sweat and tears went in to styling our wedding, for which we are so grateful to our family for!
Tell us about your main outfits:
I never really had a specific idea on what I wanted to wear on my wedding day. I literally chose my dress the first bridal shop I went in to after trying on only a handful of dresses. I actually ended up choosing a dress I would have never thought I would have liked, but I loved the mermaid style and the fact you could have a dramatic train and also tie it up underneath to make it perfect for hitting the dance floor. Chase went to his go-to shop for the best suits – Life For Men in Takapuna. The owner Scott is super talented and put his entire outfit together, from the suit, waist coat to the belt and shoes.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
For me it was walking down the isle to Chase. We chose to spend the night before the wedding staying apart from each other, so I really missed him by this point and couldn’t wait to see him. I was a nervous wreck, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so sick in my life, but seeing him was a huge comfort and I was also so excited to marry my best friend. For the ceremony we had confetti canons given out to our guests to trigger when we had our first kiss as husband and wife. This was such an epic moment as it literally rained down a thick blanket of white snow, much to the surprise of a lot of our guests who had no idea there were going to be confetti canons going off! We were all covered in it!
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Do what makes you both happy – don’t try and change who you are to impress others. Your family and friends are there on your special day because they love you, want to see you happy and to join in on the celebration of love. Also, marrying your best friend is pretty amazing, once you find that person your life will never be the same – for the better!
Photography: Skye Carter |Reception Venue: The Tasting Shed |Flowers: Florienne Flowers |Videography: Deerlight Videography | Celebrant: Melanie Kerr | Entertainment: Audio Club DJ | Marquee: NZ Marquee Hire | Stationery: Harlan Creative | Rings: Walker & Hall | MUA: Kimberley Hill | Hair: McInnes & Co | Cake: Amy’s Secret Kitchen | Bridal Gown: Pronovias | Grooms ring: Cutlet | Brides Shoes: Badgley Mischka |Grooms Attire: Life for Men | Hire: Maree & Co
