Dan & Mel chose to get married in New Zealand’s winter ééò which is always a bit of a risk given the unreliable weather ééò but I’d say it paid off in spades looking at these gorgeous images by JAMES BROADBENT. The light is just so much softer than in our harsh summers and the remnants of autumns colours look so pretty. Rather than brighten things up due to the winter bareness, they chose to enhance that look and foraged materials in keeping with the wintery feelééò even down to the bridesmaids climbing trees in the rain for the sake of the perfect branch or foliage! With their reception in the cellar of MILLS REEF WINERY Tauranga they had the perfect cosy ambience they envisioned.
HOW DID YOU MEET? We both met in our church choir when we were 4 years old. Our parents told us we looked like siblings – we don’t tell many people that. When Dan was 14 he high-tailed it to Singapore for three years, and upon returning had no friends. Mel befriended him and for the next seven years they were best friends, until Dan decided it was time that he asked her out on a proper date. The rest is history.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROPOSAL? On our one year anniversary Dan left a bunch of flowers by Mel’s bed with a note to meet him at the beach after work. He’d packed a picnic in his little tin boat and we set sail on a beautiful evening out to Matakana Island. Dan got down on one knee and popped the question through a poem he’d written. Mel obviously said yes! We spent the rest of the evening swimming and boating around the harbour.
TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR WEDDING DRESS: The wedding dress was made by a family-friend ééò who also (helpfully) makes wedding dresses. Mel knew she wanted something simple yet pretty – and it was amazing working with someone who cared about your dress as much as she did about your family.
ANY DIY/BUDGET ELEMENTS? The whole wedding was a family and friend affair, everyone was amazing at helping out and sharing their gifts and talents to help the day pull off. Dan’s brother played Mel up the aisle with a beautiful instrumental, Mel’s uncle provided smoked fish for the entr e, her Aunty made the cake and her grandma made the bridesmaid’s dresses. We feel very blessed by having so many generous, wonderful people in our lives. Mel also spent ages trying to find gold bridesmaids shoes – after no success she bought cheap heels from Number 1 and spray-painted them with car paint. Worked a treat!
DESCRIBE YOUR WEDDING FLOWERS: The wedding flowers and button holes were created by Kristi Arnold, she is a great sport and got on board with the ‘winter-foraging’ idea. She also wandered around her local area finding bits and pieces that made the flowers look as amazing as they did and they had a wonderful wintery look about them. We both really, really loved them and the boys looked great in their buttonholes as well.
FAVOURITE DETAIL OF THE DAY: There were lots of little things we loved. Dan’s surprisingly was the flowers! Mel loved the fact that the dresses were made by her grandma, and also the table numbers. We both love coffee and decided that each table would be called a caf , with a little story of fun moments that had happened for us at each different one on the back. It’s fun touches like that make a big event personal.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO COUPLES PLANNING THEIR WEDDING? Dan would say to start the wedding day surfing with your brother. Mel reckons you need to be decisive with what you want, and once you’ve decided – shut down your pinterest account. There are so many magnificent ideas but you can’t do them all – be content with what you’ve decided. If you see other great ideas you’d like to do – there’s a lifetime of dinner parties you can have to use them.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? The ceilidh! This was hilarious fun. Neither of us are very good dancers so decided the best way to get everyone up would be to have a band of fiddles, guitars, bagpipes and cello’s, with a caller to talk us through every move. The result was every able body on the dance floor having a riot of a time. At one stage we were slightly concerned that the staff at the winery would think there was some kind of weird ritual going on as we were all chanting ‘1, 2, 3, 4’ in unison to try and keep beat. It quickly became evident we weren’t the only one with two left feet!
Photographer JAMES BROADBENT / Venue MILLS REEF WINERY / Videographer JOSH BEVAN / Cake DONNA KNIGHT / Florist KIRSTI ARNOLD / Stationery KYLE KEOGH / Ceremony Venue BEHTLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH / Dress Designer ANTHEA RAMOHITAJ / Shoes ISABELLA ANSELMI / Jewellery SIMPLY JEWELS / Hair JUSTINE SUTTON / Make-up BARBARA JOHNSTON / Bridesmaids Dresses BRIDE’S GRANDMOTHER / Grooms Attire HALLENSTEINS / Caterer MILLS REEF WINERY
