Real Wedding: Amy & Tom – Photography by Acorn Photography and Cinema

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

Tom and I met 10 years ago at university and have been together ever since. Tom is a farmer and I’m a high school teacher. We both love the country lifestyle and the outdoors where we spend much of our spare time. Family and friends are important to us hence the large wedding we had!

We’re both the youngest of four siblings and the last in our families to get married so we’re happy now to let our parents start save for their retirement ha-ha! We both love animals and have a wealth of pets around our home.

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 special day was amazing in every way! With our love for the country life and outdoors we found the perfect venue in Glendhu Station Woolshed, Wanaka. The beautiful rustic appearance of the Woolshed for our reception and stunning views over Lake Wanaka for our ceremony gave us all we ever wanted in a wedding venue.

One thing I had always wanted for my wedding styling was something colourful, so I decide to go with a floral theme. I got a lot of styling inspiration off Pinterest and one thing that really caught my eye was some beautiful floral napkins. I searched worldwide to find something similar and with no success I took on the ambitious project of sewing 144 of these! I then had trouble finding fabric in Christchurch that fitted my theme but after coming across some beautiful Laura Ashley fabric it all fell into place.

We had numerous complements from our guest on our styling, it was great to see it all come together on the day! I also made 110m of bunting to decorate the Woolshed which worked in perfectly with our floral theme. To decorate our tables I got some wheat from Tom’s crop and Studio24 topped off the tables perfectly with their beautiful floral arrangements that matched our napkins perfectly and topped out styling off better than I could have ever imagined. All the signage, invitations and table name tags were purchased off Etsy to again tie in well with our floral theme.

Tell us about your main outfits: 

After getting engaged I started to look in magazines and online for a wedding dress before spending a day a couple of months later trying on wedding dresses. The first dress I tried on happened to be the dress I ended up settling for I knew I had to keep an open mind for the rest of the day and keep trying different dresses on.

I absolutely loved my Rue de Seine dress; the beautiful unique lace was everything I had ever dreamed of. I’m just gutted you only get to wear it once!

Tom and the groomsmen’s suits came from Scriber & Marks and the bridesmaid’s dresses came from The Iconic. I bought these very early on as I fell in love with the colour (a favourite of mine!).

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

The one thing that I did not want for our wedding was rain! A week out it was predicted that 36mm of rain would fall out our wedding day… my worst nightmare!!! As the week went on forecasts got better however just before our ceremony it started to rain this is particularly memorable as it really got the emotions going!

Persisting with our outdoor ceremony and walking down the aisle with umbrellas eventually had a silver lining when the rain soon stopped, and the most magical cloud formations appeared for the rest of the day and made for the most stunning photos. To look back now and think the rain was actually a blessing in disguise. Another memorable moment were our speeches, theses filled the Woolshed with laughter and left many of us in tears from laughing so hard.

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

We absolutely loved our day. I think the biggest advice is to enjoy the day after all that planning it goes way to quickly, so it is important to make the most of every moment!!

Enjoy the planning stage, don’t rush things and think carefully about what you want from your day. What is important to you as a couple and what can you afford to skimp on.

Don’t stress the small stuff. I got told this by numerous people and they couldn’t be more correct, remember if things aren’t going the way you like it don’t stress you’re the only one with that picture in your mind others will never know any different.

Photographer: Acorn Photography and Cinema | Ceremony and reception location: Glendhu Bay Station Wanaka | Celebrant: Liz Maluschnig | Entertainment: Calico | Flora: Studio24 | Catering: Moreish Kitchen | Cake: Cakes of Wanaka | Hair: Louise Molloy | Makeup: Anna Turnbull Makeup | Wedding dress: Rue de Seine | Bridal boutique: Paper Swan | Shoes: Chaos and Harmony | Groom and groomsmen’s attire: Scriber and Marks | Bridesmaids’ dresses: Fresh Soul Clothing