Gabrielle and Jarrod- Photography by Erica Jane

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

Jarrod and I met at his sister’s wedding while I was still living in Melbourne. He tried to teach me how to dance. I stood on his toes and he told me I couldn’t dance. We laughed and we danced all night. A year later when I was back from Melbourne for Christmas he asked me out for coffee! 6 months later I was packing up my life in Melbourne to come home and we’ve been together ever since. Four years later on a surprise outing to some vineyards on Waiheke, Jarrod got down on one knee at our favourite vineyard, Man O’ War winery. Waiheke Island is one of our favourite places in New Zealand and we’ve spent a lot of time there together as a couple so it was a fitting place to get engaged. Little did I know Jarrod had arranged for a helicopter to pick us up and fly us home. It was an unforgettable day.

We share a love of adventure, motorcycle trips, flying and travelling the world and New Zealand. Jarrod works as an airline pilot and I started my own business called Papier hq. I couldn’t have done it without Jarrod’s support and it really does feel like our biggest adventure yet.

Our time together is something we both value a lot. It can be hard when Jarrod has to go away quite a bit for work so when we are together we try and spend quality time together as much as possible. As a couple we are always laughing and joking around which definitely shone through when we look back on our wedding photos.

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…

Our wedding was at Kauri Bay Boomrock in Clevedon. It was the first and only venue we looked at. As soon as we walked in we knew it was for us. It’s such a beautiful venue surrounded by rollings hills and ocean views and it really reminded me of my rural upbringing. It also overlooks the beach where we had our first date. We didn’t want to detract from the beauty of Kauri Bay so we focused on lots of greenery and crisp white flowers with hints of gold. We had eucalyptus greenery runners with beautiful vintage brass candle holders and two big greenery wheels hanging from the ceiling. We love the romantic look of draping festoon lights and candles so we made this a big feature. Each guest got a cute little cookie with our names and wedding date stamped into it. We also designed all of our wedding stationary ourselves through our business Papier hq. We had big brass stands to hold our seating chart and welcome sign. This tied in with our gorgeous acrylic table numbers and bar sign throughout the venue. In keeping with our botanical theme, we made place settings with a beautiful greenery design on them. This pulled the whole look together.

Our celebrant was a close family friend so it was really special having someone who knew both of us and remembered us from the day we first met. We wanted a personal and relaxed ceremony so we served champagne and beers before hand so our guests could mingle relax a bit before hand

Tell us about your main outfits:

My dress was designed and made by the lovely Georgia Young from Georgia Young Couture. I absolutely fell in love with this dress as soon as I tried it on. I really didn’t want anything traditional and this is far from that. I stayed away from lace and chose a dress made from a beautiful silk and one of my best friends made me a gorgeous veil that was as long as the train of my dress and tied the whole look together. Unfortunately it didn’t make it through the ceremony due to the wind! During the ceremony I wore some stunning pearl earrings from Elizabeth Cole. They suited the dress perfectly. Just before the reception I swapped the earrings out for a fun brass head band from Kitte. It was called queen bee and had beautiful gold bees entwined into it.

Jarrod had a clear idea on what he wanted to wear so picking his and the groomsmen suits was easy! They decided on some navy suits from Rembrant. Jarrod wanted to look a little bit different to his boys so he decided on a navy and white polka dot bow tie and a pair of suspenders. The boys wore ties in the same navy and white polka dots. We accessorised the suits with tan belts and shoes from asos.

I wanted the bridesmaids to feel comfortable on the day so I got them all to select a style of dress they liked from Blak in Newmarket. They all wore different dresses but they all suited their personalities and they all looked absolutely stunning. We decided on white for the bridesmaid dresses because I wanted to keep the look contemporary and fresh. They all wore beautiful gold statement earrings with nude heels with their hair pulled back into a loose bun.

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

Instead of a traditional cake we decided on a cake made out of layers of cheese. We love nothing better than sharing wine with friends over a delicious cheese board. We loved this touch and as a result was eating cheese for about a week after! As a surprise for our guests we also booked Alfie the caravan for cocktail hour which served up our favourite cocktails. This was a really cute touch and it was so fun sipping on aperol spritz, rose sangria and bellinis in the summer sun. A definite winner for our guests was the extreme golf. Kauri Bay have holes of golf set up in the paddocks which was a really fun activity during cocktail hour.

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

We had a bit of stress leading up to our day. Our biggest piece of advice would be to try not to let outside influences upset you and distract from the really cool moments. I think sometimes people get caught up with the planning and forget the main reason they are getting married. At the end of the day it’s about marrying the love of your life and choosing to spend the rest of your life with that person. Do what makes you both happy and try and stick to your guns on the important things to you and your partner. One last bit of advice is to take a moment during the day with your partner to soak it all in. I remember friends telling us to do this and we didn’t quite realise how important this piece of advice was until we were actually in it. The day goes so fast so it was really nice to stand back, take a moment and look at all of the amazing people in one room that are there for you.

Photography: Erica Jane Photography | Videographer: Eve Byers | Celebrant: Rev. Ron Byers | Ceremony and Reception location: Kauri Bay Boomrock | Bride’s gown: Georgia Young Couture from Melbourne | Groom’s outfit: Rembrant suit | Shoes: Bride- Senso, Groom- ASOS | Jewellery: Bride- Kitte head piece, earrings by Elizabeth Cole Jewellery, bracelet by Amber Sceats | Make-up: Leah Lim | Hair: Hannah Gordon | Fragrance: Flowerbomb by Victor Rolph | Bridesmaid’s outfits: Blak | Groomsmen’s outfits: Rembrant | Entertainment: 2Crew and Asch-Rose Music | Styling: Papier hq | Flora: Sally from Sweet Blooms | Hire: Two Foxes | Food/beverages/catering: Cocktails- Alfie the Caravan, Food- Kauri Bay Boomrock | Cake: Kapiti chesses | Stationery and Wedding Sinage: Papier hq