On Sunday I went to a wedding. A wedding of a couple who were complete strangers to me.

I have been to hundreds of weddings after being a wedding planner and stylist for 15 years.

But at this wedding I cried and so did most of the people in the room. Seeing Haden the Groom down on one knee pledging his love and commitment to his gorgeous son Madden nearly broke my heart.

Both Madison and Haden wrote their own vows and made pledges to their children Madden and Frankie – who was fast asleep in her car seat capsule.

Their ceremony was heart felt and emotional, a young family coming together to be married!

Madison and Haden won a wedding promotion generously donated by the “ All you need is love “ team run by celebrant Rachel Dudfield.

Madison’s family are moving overseas in a few weeks and with 2 small children a wedding was just not possible.

But they were lucky enough to win a small wedding ceremony and high tea reception at Dransfield House catered by The Sugar Sisters.

Dransfield House is set right in the heart of our city on Willis St. It is quite surreal stepping off the busy foot path into a quaint country garden filled with vintage roses.

The interior is filled with charm and character, perfect for a creative and cool Wellington Wedding and they have an amazing collection of vintage china.

The Sugar Sisters created the gorgeous naked wedding cake and delicious high tea reception.

The darling of Wellington Weddings celebrant Rachel Dudfield is the epitome of style and elegance, head to toe vintage is her style, memorable ceremonies are her thing.

Treasuring Hearts Photography captured the day, we love how natural and soft these images are. Madison looked stunning with a fabulous flower crown and natural bouquet provided by Twisted Willow. Ashfonics entertainment provided the music for the day and did a great job, always so professional!

This wedding made me think that in this crazy and over whelming industry we often lose sight of the marriage over the wedding.

It is so easy to get wound up in wedding preparations and forget that the day is actually about getting married to the person you love most in the world.

So remember to take the time to plan your vows, take in every moment of your ceremony and remember the person who is now your MR or MRS.

Thanks Rachel and your amazing team for making me remember why I love my job and this amazing industry so much!

The Dream Team:

The Knot – Rachel Dudfield

Capture- Treasuring Hearts Photography

Setting- Dansfield House

Cuisine- Sugar Sisters

Entertainment- Ashfonics Entertainment

With the 2017 wedding season nearly upon us, we thought it was timely to update you with the latest trends.

We all love weddings, couples pledging their eternal love for each other, the dress, his suit, the food, the wine, the photo-booth, the candy bar, the cheese wheel stack as the wedding cake, the list goes on and on. Each season we see new trends emerging, each adding just that little bit extra to total experience.

But VINTAGE still reigns supreme over everything in your wedding, from your venue to the dress and everything inbetween, nothing escapes the wee nod to times gone by!

It’s all about the boy! The Mr in your life and his crew need to be looking sharp and we are loving the new fashions for men, waistcoats, bow ties and everything colour suit expect black! Hooray!   www.barkersonline.co.nz   www.mandatory.co.nz

Vintage Venues.  We are so lucky to have a fabulous venue right in the heart of Wellington, The Wellesley Boutique Hotel. When it comes to luxury look no further, we love their gorgeous entrance and lobby, stunning dining room and divine suites. www.wellesleyboutiquehotel.co.nz

A whisky Sir? Creating a comfortable lounge for your guests to sit down, relax and chat over a drink is lovely way for guests to catch up on old times. Even better when it’s a fabulous aged Whisky served in a gorgeous crystal glass by your very own butler. Let’s face it, so much of the wedding is all about the girls, so why not create a Gentlemen’s area just for the boys, to relax with a cigar and a drink to tell very big stories over.  www.gentlemenslounge.co.nz

Wooden everything!  As stylists Charlotte and I were so thankful to finally be able to source beautiful wooden tables and chairs in Wellington. We are so in love with this look! Not much more to say!  https://olivergoods.com

Glamping.  A romantic first night a fabulous tent or luxury accommodation for your guests, glamping is the way to go. www.taylorbelltents.co.nz

Wellington Wedding Show sweetheart Sally Eagle has her stunning bridal designs posted and shared in international magazines and showcased in the most fabulous bridal shoots. Sally’s latest collection DUSK, is inspired by romantic silhouettes and delicate watercolours and features her signature creative backs, fine lace and exquisite fabrics. Sally has used her design talent and experience to create a beautiful collection and something for everyone, from dresses will full length sleeves, racy open backs, fitted lines and soft skirts. The DUSK collection also gives brides the chance to pull off a really different bridal look, with some gowns having a painted floral effect in the skirt or bodice.

Sally took the opportunity to invite brides and friends from the wedding and fashion industry along to her pretty Cuba st. store to reveal the DUSK collection and the photographic campaign. This year’s striking campaign, shot by Danelle Bohane, shows the gowns set against the deserted central plateaux and shows a fashionable edge to the DUSK collection.

The launch celebrated the new collection, toasted all of Sally’s hard work and got everyone inspired about the approaching wedding season over a glass of bubbles from Matahiwi, drinks from Good Buzz, catering from The Sugar Sisters and Sweet Bakery.

A very special thank you to our very special guest writer Yvette Edwards, florist/stylist and images from Billie Brook Photography

You can view the full collection : http://www.sallyeagle.co.nz/index.php

Today we bring you the stunning wedding of Aimee & Campbell, held at the gorgeous waterfront venue Foxglove and captured by We Do Photography.

We asked Aimee and Campbell how their love story began:

We met at Easter 2009 at Waikawa Beach. We were both staying at the bach of mutual family friends and, as the only single people along for the weekend, were relegated to sleep on bunk beds in the garage. We did not hit it off, and spent the weekend constantly fighting and squabbling. However, there was a bit of spark (even my parents who were there for the weekend noticed it) and we decided to catch up for a coffee back home in Wellington. The rest is history.

We love their proposal story ………

Campbell: I somewhat blew the element of surprise with the proposal. I had a photo of the engagement ring on my phone, which I had sent it to Aimee’s Mum to make sure I was buying the right ring. I completely forgot that it was on my phone and was showing Aimee photos of a friend’s new puppy when she swiped across one photo too many and saw the ring. Aimee was convinced that I was planning to propose during a weekend that we had booked at the White Swan in Greytown in a few weeks’ time. That’s exactly what I had planned, but I wanted it to still be a surprise, so I had to use my best acting skills to convince Aimee that I was going to hold-off proposing until I could make sure it would be totally unexpected.

A few weeks later we went away for our long weekend as planned. We decided to make a day of the drive over and stopped for a picnic at Lake Ferry on the way – we had a picnic hamper that Aimee’s Dad had given us for Christmas and still hadn’t used. Inside the picnic hamper was a long-forgotten Christmas cracker, which I had taken an afternoon off work to surgically open, put the ring inside, and then rig to make sure that when we pulled the cracker Aimee would win. We had the picnic and I apologised again for blowing the engagement surprise and suggested pulling the cracker for a bit of a laugh. Thankfully everything went to plan, Aimee won the cracker and said ‘yes’.

Aimee’s wedding planning advice:

If you’re in a position to do it, my biggest hint would be to start early. A few people had a giggle (or thought I was nuts) when I booked in our key vendors (venue, florist, photographer, band) over 12 months in advance of the wedding, but it was such a weight off my mind knowing that those things were done. From our perspective, the only things we needed for a good party were people, a venue, food, drink, music, and someone to catch the action. Once we had those things sorted, I knew we had the makings of a great day and that the rest would follow.

Aimee and Campbell share their most memorable wedding moment:

Our ceremony was a real highlight of our wedding. We didn’t want a religious ceremony, or one that was too cringe-worthy, so we opted to write our own vows. We wanted to keep them light, and for them to truly reflect our relationship and our lives together. We made promises to support each other through tough times like bad Black Caps’ seasons, to stay up and fight rather than go to bed angry, to have wine and comfort food ready after hard days and to share the remote. It was short and sweet, everybody had a laugh and it set the tone for the rest of the day.

Aimee and Campbell’s dream team:

Setting: Foxglove Ballroom
The Knot: Rachel Dudfield
Cuisine: La Cloche – dessert
Pamper: Rebecca Connor / Penny Rose
Fashion: Pronovias
Style: Twig & Arrow
Entertainment: Conway Jeune & The Relatives
Capture: We Do Photography

After a very busy and sucessful wedding season our industry friends gathered to celebrate the past year. We are so very lucky to have so many clever, talented and committed people creating amazing Wellington Weddings for you.

The location was the fabulous Ohariu Farm, set with a gorgeous long table, roaring fire and amazing food.  A special thank you to Tranzit for providing a luxury coach for us to travel in style, Blue Carrot Catering for the delicious dessert, Hype Entertainment for the tunes and Mel Waite Photography for the stunning images.

It is always lovely to catch up and chat and we all loved the warmth of the stunning open fire. Everyone commented on why we don’t do more winter weddings, fur, candlelight, roaring fires, so glamorous!

The people behind the people, who love and support our hard working vendors, it was lovely to catch up with you.

Fun and games had by all, these people know how to party!

Charlotte and I would just like to say how much we admire and respect all our Wellington Wedding Industry friends, you make Wellington the coolest little pace to get married! paula x