Lindsey & Stephen
Having been friends for a few years, our first date was a weekend away together to the beautiful Waiheke Island, 30 minutes from where we both lived in Auckland. We returned to this island to get married!
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HOW DID THE PROPOSAL HAPPEN?
I was dreading my 30th birthday, so planned a weekend away with five of our closest couple friends. That evening we enjoyed a beautiful three-course meal and decided to dress up to make it special. Afterwards, my friends all sang happy birthday with a lovely cake and Steve put our favourite song on to play. The next thing I knew he was on one knee and proposed – it was an amazing surprise to all of us!
THE DRESS
I tried on lots of gowns and, while some were lovely, each one was not quite right, so I turned to Nicola Dawson to design my dress for me. Within five minutes she had a sketch of my vision and I knew I was onto a winner! I chose lace for the top part of the dress with gorgeous beading, a flowing silk skirt and a beautiful low heart-shaped back, outlined by more lace. It was amazing to reveal my dress on our wedding day.
THE ACCESSORIES
I wanted comfortable shoes that still had a bit of bling as our venue had brick flooring, so I chose silver diamante peep-toe shoes. Steve’s sister gifted me a beautiful bracelet and I added pearl earrings. Because the dress has a lot of beading and lace at the top, I didn’t want to overdo it by adding a necklace or tiara.
THE GROOM
Luckily we both had similar colours in mind when it came to Steve’s suit. Being a summer wedding, we chose light grey for Steve and the groomsmen, adding pastel pink ties to complement the grey and tie in with the bridesmaid colours. He looked amazing!
SHOP pastel pink details now at Wedding Ideas
THE BRIDESMAIDS
My four bridesmaids wore one style of dress but in several pastel shades from Weddington Way, which was the easiest way to please everyone. They all looked beautiful and the dresses turned out perfectly.
HAIR AND MAKEUP
I hired a separate makeup artist and hairdresser to keep things calm and relaxing, not rushed with one person doing everything, and we enjoyed food platters and drinks as the experts worked their magic.
WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE CEREMONY?
We had an official celebrant in the background to make our wedding official, but our close friend Kirsty acted as the celebrant for us during the ceremony. Steve and I wrote the whole service ourselves, including a beautiful reading and our own vows, and gave them to Kirsty separately so we could surprise each other on the day. Having our friend marry us made the day so special.
WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR YOUR WEDDING BREAKFAST?
Our three-course meal was delicious, with scallop or pork belly starters, snapper fish or lamb loin for the main and a dessert bar of petit fours afterwards. We didn’t want guests to feel obliged to eat dessert if they were too full, so this worked really well and those who wanted to could start off the dancing.
INSPIRATION
Although we married thousands of miles away in New Zealand, we wanted our wedding to still feel like home, choosing a pastel and rustic theme that reminded us of the UK and Yorkshire in particular. My mum bought me endless copies of Wedding Ideas – I just loved seeing the decorations come to life in the real weddings and gathering ideas for our own rustic theme.
RECEPTION DECORATION
My mum and I crafted most of the decorations ourselves, making ‘Mr & Mrs’ bunting, white wicker hearts, rose petal cones and wedding CDs for the favours. Our seating plan was made from an old gold frame, to which we attached string and hung seat places on with miniature pegs. I wrapped a flower garland around the frame for a finishing rustic touch.
THE FLOWERS
I really wanted a bouquet I could keep forever, so my mum made all the bouquets from vintage fabrics and beading.
THE CAKE
A friend made our beautiful pastel two-tier cake with lots of lemon and orange and chocolate and raspberry cupcakes – delicious!
THE FIRST DANCE
Acoustic Soul played ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ by Savage Garden for our first dance – the song Steve proposed with.
Venue Mudbrick Vineyard, Waiheke Island, New Zealand| Dress Designed by Nicola Dawson | Bridesmaids dresses Weddington Way | Groom For similar, try Moss Bros | Flowers For similar, try Charlotte Laurie Designs | Cake For similar, try Afternoon Crumbs | Decor For similar, try Hobbycraft | Honeymoon The Pacific Islands | Photographer Lydia Ashley Photography
