My involvement was full for their wedding, from organising the stationary, which was designed and produced by the talented Kate Holland of Ruby & Willow, to the de-rig the day after and even organising he shipping of their wedding gifts to London.

Deanna and Simon exchanged vows between the vines at Rippon on the 27th March 2010 (my own parents wedding anniversary!), the ceremony was carried out by a family friend. Guests were then escorted to the reception further down the vineyard towards the lake, which the bridal party had location photos around the vineyard. Deanna and Simon enjoyed helishots on their own before re-joining guests at the marquee for some drinks before dinner.

At the tables, guests were invited to fill up on lollies from the lolly bar for their favours. There was certainly no shortage of food, after their scrumptious meal from 63b; they enjoyed platters of sweet treat, fresh fruit and cheese! There was a lot left over the next day!

The dance floor was dressed with my white and black leather ottomans which were accompanied by my white coffee tables. When the sun set the effect of the curtain fairy lights, candles and lanterns really came to life and created the ambience they visualized.

It was a perfect wedding for a perfect couple!

I presented several options for their wedding venue and they chose The Venue, which both Fredrik and I used to run. They organised their own stationary and set up a website to update guests with more information as and when , on travel, accommodation, gifts and the following day BBQ

Lanee looked radiant on the day with her large gorgeous white bridal gown. She had 12 long single stem red roses for her bouquet and no flowers at the reception. Instead she opted for 5 large arrangements of white Ostrich Feathers to suite the Black and White colour theme she had. Guests gifts also included red foiled chocolate hearts, to incorporate a little red.

They were married by the lake front by Jools Macknight on the 19th March 2010. After the ceremony guest enjoyed a few drinks before heading back to the reception. Meanwhile, Lanee and David were driven by vintage jaguar to pick up a helicopter from town for helishots and were then dropped off at the venue by the helicopter, which always excites the guests! One of these days, I may actually get to fly myself, instead of just booking them.

I helped organise some hireage saving some money for them and gave them a heap of advice on various aspects of their day.

I was there on the day to get things set up with the support from the caterers and to help ensure the ceremony went without a hitch, with one responsibility being to look after their daughter – she certainly gave me the run around!

Jo and Simon were married on the 6th March at Look out Lodge, Wanaka by the lovely celebrant Caitlin Harvey. It was a perfect sunny day and after their late lunch, guests enjoyed a game of cricket on the lawn before returning to Wanaka

The relief she said she felt once she handed over control to me was amazing. She was finally able to sleep at night and look forward to her special day. I loved being there and ensuring she was happy.

There wasn’t much to do as Naomi was possibly a little more organised than she had realized, but I certainly had several things to take care of and quickly ticked all the boxes for her.

The ceremony was on the 1st March at Stoneridge Estate with Phillipa Cook. Guests were transported from here to The Wine House via the London Double Decker Red Bus, with the bridal party in Black London Cabs.

I met with them both at their home at Kelvin Heights and we carried out the consultation. Smita is English with an Indian background and Glenn is a kiwi. They didn’t want the Hindu culture to take over the wedding, but they were keen for it to have some influence.

We opted for yellow as the key note colour and Alyssandra designed some gorgeous stationary to get the look generated. Sarah from The Flower Room provided an array of gorgeous orchids and Smita’s bouquet was one of the most delicately manicured creations I had ever seen. It was amazing! The centre piece’s were designed to be given away to some of their closest friends at the end, and all guests were given a copper stone hand crafted by a local artist.

Smita wore a beautiful mint green / bronze sari, which I housed in my own home up until her final fittings, which I joined her at for support, as her parents lived in the UK.

Smita and Glenn were married by celebrant Phillipa Cook on the croquet lawn on the 12th February 2010 in front of approx 40 guests. Glenn and Smita enjoyed their location shots before the ceremony and arrived at The Wine House & Kitchen together. Glenn walked down the aisle ahead of Smita to ‘Sexy Boy’ and then Smita followed shortly after on her own, to ‘She’s Got Balls’ – it was a different entrance, but it suited them and was well received by all those who came to witness their exchanging of vows – which was really emotional too.

Their wedding reception finished at 8pm, when guests were driven back to town to continue partying the night away at a local bar.

I met them both during one of their visits to Wanaka to plan their day. They certainly knew what they wanted but having demanding jobs and building their own house at the same time was taking it’s toll on wedding plans.

I helped with a few things, but my help was mainly required the day of the wedding, to set up the reception and ceremony! Both looked amazing, and so did the couple themselves.

Amy and Lance were married on the 30th January 2010 in Wanaka in front of approx 60 guests.

Laura and Chris lived in Perth and were really hard to get hold of, so they left me in charge of most things. That said, Laura’s family was extremely talented and creative, so I made use of their offer to help when ever it seemed appropriate.

After several months of looking, they finally chose Northburn Station as the venue for their wedding ceremony and reception. This new venue ticked all the boxes for them and suited them perfectly. We then started work on the them and design of the wedding. Laura had already suggested that she would like a floral pattern with dragon flies featured also. We sourced lots of floral patterns from Australia and I narrowed it down to two, from which Laura and Chris made the final selection.

This chosen fabric was then ordered in bulk and used to bind the stationary, which was designed by Alyssandra, the napkins and also hand made photo frames which were displaying photos of all the guests at their own or another wedding. Laura’s mum also sourced tiny dragon fly pins, which were used on the invites and the napkins also. Laura’s auntie did all the flower arrangements, with the help of her daughter and these were displayed in the families own collection of vintage crystal vases. Favours were made up of a selection of lollies mixed together and served in individual cup cake holders – it was really colourful (and yummy!) Laura’s Grandma made the most gorgeous wedding cake, which also featured dragonflies and her grandpa and other family members entertained guests before dinner with their own family band!

Laura and Chris were married by celebrant Jools MacKnight on the 29th January 2010 by the pond at Northburn. Laura didn’t want to be away from guests for long, so Fredrik Larsson of Larsson Photography too the photos onsite, really quickly but still with his amazing results! After dinner guests danced the night away to one of my best bands from Dunedin – all my clients rave about them, they really know how to please a crowd!

They wanted to plan most things themselves, with the help of Mark’s mum who lived at Kaka Point, but came to me for advise when they got stuck. I also travelled to Kaka Point and spent two nights there so I could help with the ceremony plans as well as on the day setting up.

It was a simply wedding which didn’t need too much as the marquee was situated up on a hill on private land overlooking the ocean – amazing!

It was really nice to bump into guests Tevor and Lynley Illingworth, who were parents of Leanne, who’s wedding I had planned a year prior – Fredrik and I enjoyed catching up with them for tea the next day!

After taking them to view several wedding venues, with my advice and input, based on their requirements, they opted for my favourite, The Wine House & Kitchen. They got married on the 19th December 2008 and we used the date as the logo / brand for all the stationary which was designed and produced under my direction by Alyssandra. The design was to also reflect the vintage, eclectic wedding theme, which was ever present at the venue and also in the floral décor, which was designed and supplied by Sarah from The Flower Room.

The ceremony was held on the croquet lawn and conducted by celebrant Jools MacKnight. After the ceremony, guests enjoyed drinks and canapés while family formals were taken in the Secret Garden on site, by their photographer Fredrik Larsson of Larsson Photography. The bridal party then travelled by car to near by Lake Hayes for Locations photos, returning to spend time with their guests before dinner.

When guests were seated they were greeted with bound stationary, of two parts. The first was a hand made lolly bag, which guests later filled at the lolly bar. The second was a blank card with a ribbon, for guests to write a note to the couple and then hand on the trees both inside and outside the venue – Guests really enjoyed having these elements of interaction. I even organised specially made pens for the day, with the logo on, and guests got to take these home too!

The food and wine as always at The Wine House was outstanding, as were the staff and service. Following dinner guests danced and talked the night away and I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow when I got home that night!

I’m still in touch with Leanne and Craig who are looking forward to their first baby at the end of the year – in fact it could arrive on their wedding anniversary, and that’s what I’m hoping for! 

Now Hayleigh was quite possibly one of my most organised brides and she certainly had an eye for design and detail. With the help of myself and the florist, she brought together one of the most gorgeous looking weddings I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. She even went as far as shipping numerous boxes of props and accessories over from Australia – opening them was like Christmas had come early!

Kathryn Ormond married them both on the 21st November 2009 at an outdoor ceremony at Stoneridge Estate, Lake Hayes. After the ceremony, guests were driven in the local open top, London Red Bus to Mt Soho for the reception. Meanwhile, Fredrik went with the bridal party in Black London Taxi’s to the airport to meet their helicopter which was to take them for helishots in the snow!

On arrival back at Mt Soho, Hayleigh and Luke re-joined their guests for some drinks before dinner. Dancing followed with a DJ who Hayleigh had booked direct from Christchurch.