Intimate Hawkes Bay Wedding

We’re staring off the week with a beautifully intimate Hawkes Bay wedding by the lovely MEREDITH LORD. I love this couple’s story when it’s right, it’s right and by it’ I mean love!! It totally wasn’t in bride Erin’s plan but it all just fell into place so easily it seems. Being that she is from Canada their wedding was a small affair at THE MANSE, a luxury Bed & Breakfast in this beautiful wine region. Once she and her Kiwi husband-to-be had found the venue and met the gracious and accommodating owners the rest of the day fell into place with ease. Knowing their family would be relaxed and have an abundance of good food, wine and hospitality on offer was all they needed for inspiration. Local florist LUSHKA created some stunning florals full of texture and autumn tones.

HOW DID YOU MEET? I am from Nova Scotia, Canada, and in 2008, in a period of frustration while trying to finish my PhD I looked for some motivation to push me through. Through a variety of serendipitous events the result was a job offer in New Zealand. New Zealand had always been the only country I had an ongoing love of and fascination with despite having never visited. Suddenly I had this fantastic opportunity, but it meant leaving all of my friends and family to move to a country where I knew no one and start a new life.

After months of work, writing papers, sorting visas etc., and building up to the big move it all began to happen. In a bit of a whirlwind over a two-week period I defended my PhD, packed up all my belongings, said goodbye to family and friends. I arrived in New Zealand on a Tuesday, started my job on a Friday and met my future husband on the Saturday. Let’s just say that Saturday was not in my plan. We met on a regular Saturday night in the Hawkes Bay at one of the bars in Ahuriri. A pretty low key night with few beers, some education on the difference between rugby union and league and an overall great time. The next day he invited me to his parents for dinner. The normal me would over-analyse the situation and probably not go. I was not looking to step right into a relationship having just arrived in the country. But maybe I was over-analysing. And yes according to Marc I was; he thought it would be nice for me to have a home cooked meal being so far away and not knowing many people. I went to dinner, met some wonderful people and so it began. Marc and I were basically inseparable from that day.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROPOSAL: We took a trip home to Nova Scotia, Canada for what would be my first winter/Christmas home in five years and his first winter Christmas experience. Because it’s such a long trip home and we knew the holidays would be busy with friends and family, we made a five-day stopover in Montreal to have some time to ourselves and hang out in one of my favourite Canadian cities. On our second last day in Montreal we decided to take a walk through Parc du Mont Royal. It was a snowy day and Marc kept trying to stop and have us ‘take in the view’, which I didn’t understand because you couldn’t see much of the city given the low cloud that day. On our way down a set of stairs overlooking the woods, Marc pulled me in for a hug and we paused to watch the snow falling and settling on the trees – a truly picturesque winter moment. It was then he fiddled a metal box out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. It was a surreal moment and after a quick check (really?), I said yes. We followed it up with some fantastic Quebec beer and a feed of poutine to celebrate.

TELL US ABOUT FINDING YOUR WEDDING DRESS: Dress shopping for me was a somewhat frustrating experience that involved random attempts over many months at trying on a variety of dresses but nothing that seemed me. Then one day I went with a friend of mine to a little shop here in Napier (Gowns on Gloucester) where she had got her dress. The second dress of the day was ‘the dress’. It was simple but elegant. Caroline showed me ways we could make it my own and add some additional detail to the waist and lace straps. To be sure I sent some photos home to my parents of a mix of dresses I had tried, wanting to see if they picked out the same one. They did and so the decision was made.

ANY BUDGET/DIY ELEMENTS? There wasn’t a whole lot we needed to do for the day since the venue had such great style and we kept any additions to a minimum. We didn’t want to spend lots on extras, which was why the venue was so important, but to throw in a bit of a personal touch we did choose unique napkins for each course, each had a particular meaning to us from the colours, the patterns and even the crab design. My Mom also sent over from Canada a mix of goodies that we used to make a box of favours for our guests. The favours included Canadian maple syrup, maple candy and saltwater taffy, all arranged on top of a Nova Scotian tartan. It was a nice nod to my homeland.

DESCRIBE YOUR WEDDING FLOWERS: I wanted our flowers to be atypical of a fall wedding and include a variety of heights, textures, and muted tones. Marc was insistent there be the occasional pop of colour (specifically billy buttons) which we found out was a bit of work to find for the day but Kim delivered. I also love succulents and the use of wooden rounds for the table settings. The end result was perfect. Kim also incorporated my late Grandmother’s rosary into my bouquet, which was really special and important to me.

FAVOURITE DETAIL OF THE DAY: This is such a hard choice as there are a few. One would be walking down the aisle to the song that my Dad composed and recorded for me, which couldn’t have been more perfect. Another was the food, Gary and Dietske delivered, with a few Dutch treats thrown in for Marc’s side of the family, everyone was blown away.

What advise would you give out to a couple planning their wedding? Decide what’s really important to you both and focus on that. That’s not to say it’s not hard. We started with ideas for a large wedding, then considered two weddings in two countries, and then were about to elope but finally found a perfect venue that suited our dream of a small wedding for immediate family and a few close friends. That process took a while, but once the dream was set we planned our wedding in six weeks. While sometimes it felt a bit crazy, the short amount of time also helped us to focus on what we wanted to be able to look back on and say that was amazing.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT: Our nieces giving Erin their flowers as she walked down the aisle. Erin had left her bouquet behind in the room with all the excitement of her dad walking her out the door. It wasn’t planned at all, which is why it was such a great moment.

Another was the joy on our parents’ faces throughout the whole day from watching us walking down the aisle together, to saying our vows, to Skyping my Mom after the ceremony. They had been so supportive to us during the whole process and it was nice to be able to include them all in some way.