Penelope and Mikey by David Le

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

We are both adventurous and amibtious spirits; we love traveling and creating new experiences together.

We have actually been best friends since we were 15 years old. We both grew up in Wellington with the same friends group, and created a loving supportive friendship we both grew to rely on over the years. It wasn’t until we both lived in London did we decide to take a leap of faith and risk our friendship to see if there was something “more” between us… thankfully it all worked out, and it didn’t take long for us to both realise we were madly in love and made the right decision! It is so cliché but we can genuinely say we married our best friend and have years of history behind us to create a loving supportive future. Our friends and family all said quote “it is about bloody time” when we finally took the chance at our relationship together.

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 location definitely influenced our wedding style. The Bach is Mikey’s family holiday spot, a lakeside farm; it is all about relaxing, having fun and enjoying the good company of your family and friends. Without even really discussing it, we both knew that wherever we got married it needed to be a meaningful place to us both, so it didn’t take us long to settle on The Bach as there is so much history for both of us and our friends and family.

We wanted our wedding to compliment the natural surroundings; wood and lots of greenery with hints of blue to reflect the lake. Making it feel “effortless”.

We chose to do a lot ourselves, this was really important to us – we wanted all of our guests to feel surrounded by love; our love that we hold for them and for each other, and we felt that by creating a lot of the wedding décor ourselves it would create a personal and authentic environment around them. Wherever possible, without causing too much stress to our family (as that was also very important!), we would incorporate personal touches, for example, our celebrant was Mikey’s sister, and our delicious three-tier wedding cake was made by Mikey’s other sister Nikki. We made all of our own lighting features, our wedding archway was made out of trees around the Bach, and all our wedding signage, including our guest book that we built out of pellet wood we found at our first home we bought together in Wellington… which is now hanging on the wall of our home!

Tell us about your main outfits:

I wore the Emanuela dress from Grace Loves Lace, which was created to my exact measurements. I loved everything about the dress, comfort was absolutely key to me – I didn’t want to be restricted at all, I wanted to be able to dance, go to the bathroom, walk aound confidently and not feel weighed down or overwhelmed. The lace was divine with gorgeous detailing, I feel in love the second I put it on and didn’t want to take it off!. I even considered wearing it again the next day!!

The bridesmaids wore a mix of Shona Joy dresses in a gorgeous light blue we felt complimented the natural surroundings. I wanted my ladies to love their dress and feel beautiful, so I chose them all a different style that suited their body shape, complimented with Country Road strappy mid-heels. Mikey and the boys wore a mix of Barkers and Industrie Clothing trousers. The boys all looked so smart, in their tailored blue jackets and crisp white shirts. Again, we wanted the boys to all love their outfit and want to wear the clothes again, which to our delight they have! Mikey was unique in having Hugo Boss brown leather shoes, which were originally my dads who has sadly passed away but very much a part of our day.

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

Our speeches! They were epic and absolutely blew us away. We’re so thankful we organised to have our speeches recorded so we can re-live them again and have those memories forever. We also both loved our post-ceremony photo location! It was a last minute decision i.e. the day before, but a local friend kindly offered us their tiny slice of lakeside land which was around the corner by boat from Mikey’s Bach. It was so much fun piling the whole bridal party, plus the videographers and photographers onto the boat to speed around the corner. We popped champagne, had a picnic basket in what turned out to be an unreal secluded location, that to be honest we never appreciated its full beauty until that moment! It was also the first moment after getting married Mikey and I were able to actually stop and appreciate the fact that we just got married… plus celebrate of course – the champagne was flowing!!

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

It is so easy to lose sight of why you’re organising the wedding in the lead up to your big day. You’re both so busy setting everything up and trying to make sure it’s all perfect, you can easily forget that the wedding first and foremost is being organised because you have declared your love for each other – this is what is most important to remember, take a moment to stop and appreciate the hard work going on around you and your love for each other… the décor, the detail and the party are secondary priorities. Your guests are there to celebrate you two and your love for each other.

Our motto is “communication is key”. We live by this, and believe it is one of the most important components to a healthy relationship. Listen to each other, there were many moments in the lead up to the wedding that we didn’t agree on certain elements, but try and keep yourself grounded by remembering the wedding is a celebration of you both. We are both control freaks so we had to communicate a lot haha!

Photography: David Le | Ceremony and Reception location: Mikey’s family bach – a lakeside Farm in Waikite Valley | Videography: Wild Souls | Celebrant: Mikey’s sister Kelly Rumens | Entertainment: The Noodles Band | Bride’s gown: Grace Loves Lace | Groom’s suit: Barkers suit jacket and shirt, Industrie pants | Rings: The Village Goldsmith | Shoes: Country Road | Make-up: Laura Simpson | Hair: Belles & Brides | Bridesmaid’s gowns: Shona Joy | Bridesmaid’s shoes: Country Road | Planner: Bespoke Events & Marketing | Hire: Event Essentials, Bespoke Events & Marketing, The Pretty Prop Shop | Marquee: TopKata | Floral: XOX Flora | Catering and Beverages: Hereford Kitchen | Cake: Mikey’s sister Nikki Davidson | Stationery: Remote Lea Creative