Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
We meet on Tinder, a swipe right success! On our first date Gerard arranged for us to go somewhere we could bring my puppy, DJ, with us. I knew he was a keeper after that. We took things slow and got to know each other and it just all fell into place. We have hardly spent a day apart since we made it official.
On paper we are very different, I am a social worker and Gerard works in printing. I’m a proud New Zealand/Canadian and Gerard is a true blue Aussie. I love fashion, Gerard loves cars. But no matter what, we always support and encourage each other, personally and professionally.
Our weekends generally revolve around our dogs (Gerard married the crazy dog lady) and relaxing with each other, we love to go for a walk, find an awesome vegan cafe to eat at or cuddle up with a good TV show. It helps we are both homebodies and enjoy the simple things in life.
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….
It was important to us that our wedding was intimate and meaningful, we didn’t want a big wedding with people we hardly knew. We decided early on it would only be our immediate family and closest friends. Fitting with this, we decided to have our ceremony at my family home at Millbrook Resort, Queenstown. It couldn’t have been a more perfect location, with the mountains as our backdrop, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
Neither of us are fans of the typical big, showy wedding, with white tablecloths and formal attire. We wanted a relaxed bohemian theme and our stylist/florist, Gypsy West, from The Vase Queenstown beyond delivered! Early on, we requested a wooden tipi for us to be married under. Gypsy made the most incredible wooden tipi, complete with a floral arrangement you had to see to believe! It was so beautiful we kept it up for days after the ceremony!
Every detail was perfectly crafted, from the floral displays at the walk way to our house, to the candles, to the beautiful signage, Gypsy didn’t miss a beat. It helps to have someone you trust completely, given we were planning our wedding from Australia and getting married in New Zealand we couldn’t have meetings or see items in person before the day. We knew Gypsy shared our vision 100%, we gave her an overall theme and then let her have creative control! We are so glad we did, there isn’t a single thing we would of changed and it was so exciting to be surprised on the day.
Tell us about your main outfits:
About four years ago I stumbled across a two-piece Grace Loves Lace wedding dress; it was so feminine, boho and non-traditional: everything I ever wanted in a wedding dress. I remember thinking to myself that if I ever got married, that would be the dress for me. After we got engaged I had a look at a few other dresses but nothing felt as ‘me’ as the Jasmine 2.0 from Grace Loves Lace. I never even tried on another dress, I just knew that dress I found 4 years ago was the ‘one’.
We both loved blue suits so the colour was a no brainer. Much like my wedding dress, the suit we chose from Joe Black was the first suit my husband tried on. It fit him like a glove, so that was that! We went with a beautiful, deep, red tie as I knew my bouquet was going to be red. We decided early on that red was going to be the colour of our day.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
The whole day was so memorable that it is hard to think of only a few moments! As cliche as it is, the moment we first saw each other at our altar (under our tipi) was a moment we will never forget. It’s hard to explain the emotions you feel seeing each other and knowing you’re about to make a life long commitment, it is so special. We both had more than a few tears.
Before our reception, we went on a location shoot with our photographer, Jim. The shoot incorporated a helicopter ride into the mountains to a location of Jim’s choosing. It was truly breathtaking to land in the middle of the mountains to get photos! Jim was unreal. He just seemed to somehow know what worked with us as a couple and it was an incredibly special hour of our lives. The photos from the mountains capture an amazing moment in time that we will never forget.
Another memorable moment would be our reception, having all our closet family and friends there to eat, drink and celebrate with us was so special.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Value the things that matter to your partner, even if they don’t excite you, take joy in supporting your partner’s happiness. Most importantly, have fun and grow together as a team!
When it comes to planning your wedding, our biggest piece of advice would be to enjoy the process, don’t let it become a stressful experience; it should be fun! Most importantly, find people you trust and let them be creative! I think a big part of why our day turned out so perfect was that we didn’t let anything become stressful and we trusted the creative minds we had chosen to guide the way (after all, that’s what they do best!).
Photographer: Jim Pollard | Ceremony location: Family home, Millbrook Resort, Queenstown | Reception location and catering: Millhouse Restaurant | Celebrant: Philippa Cook | Styling and flora: Gypsy West | Cake: Grace Allan | Hair: Rosemary Chalmers | Wedding dress and earrings: Grace Loves Lace | Groom’s attire: Joe Black
