Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas – Photography by Heather Liddell

Doug nailed the proposal! He arranged for us to meet at Piha beach after work, the place where we first hung out two and a half years ago, and he had set up a picnic. Sitting there was a piece of plywood that he had spray-painted a giant engagement ring onto. He passed me a can of spray paint to tick the box with my answer but had strategically only painted a ‘yes’ box, and left out the ‘no’ box!

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Later that evening he surprised me again. Both our families were waiting at his flat with desert. We couldn’t stop laughing all evening. As our best man said, “I’m sure every North Shore girl grows up dreaming of the Westie Prince who will sweep her off her feet and spray paint a marriage proposal on a sheet of plywood.” We always thought we would have a summer wedding, but when we chose the last day of daylight savings we fell in love with the idea of a cosy, family day with lots of music. We wanted it dark enough to light hundreds of candles. I am a graphic designer and definitely a details girl, so once we had finished making all the big decisions I loved spending time with my mum dreaming up smaller wedding details, such as the dried flowers from MarkAntonia. Antonia created a beautiful dried arrangement to sit above our table and it was the most beautiful part of the room. My Granddad and I painted the water colours for our invitations in his little art studio and I then spent my weekends at the office trying to finish the design before the printers closed for the holidays – luckily I had Doug to keep me company. On the day of our wedding it was raining heavily so we had to change some of our plans, for instance we used the hall next door to the church to run through while our friends threw confetti over us. We think it turned out even better than we had planned. The rain made for a pretty hectic hour following the service with my brother driving us around in our friend’s old Japanese limo, but luckily we still managed to have our photos taken in the misty woods nearby and it felt like the first time we had been alone in weeks. The evening was overwhelmingly beautiful and we felt so lucky. Our advice would be to disappear on your honeymoon as soon as possible because it’s the best way to hold onto that high. We couldn’t stop talking about our wedding and spent the days of our honeymoon reliving every memory.

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Categories: Weddings-Real Wedding: Stephanie + Douglas - Photography by Heather Liddell

Photography, Heather Liddell | Bride’s attire, Daughters of Simone ‘Lola’ Gown at Secret Lace, Mum’s veil |  Bride’s shoes, Kathryn Wilson |Bride’s earrings—BHLDN | Suits and ties, Rembrandt |Bride’s hair & makeup, Natalie Dent | Reception venue & catering, Provenance, Waimauku | Ceremony location, Holy Trinity Church, Devonport | Pew and table flowers, Tori Slaughter | Bouquets, headpiece & buttonhole, MarkAntonia | Groom’s ring, Walker & Hall | Cake, Sarah Holmes | Bride’s ring, Custom-made by Heards Jeweller using family heirlooms | Bridesmaid dresses, Custom-made by Kama Aliska