Every time I see a New Zealand wedding, I consider moving. Every single time. I suspect it has something to do with the breathtaking backdrops, the seriously stylish couples and the crazy cool accents. (Sure, I can’t hear them, but I know they are there.) It’s a combo that makes me oh-so-happy and this intimate Waiheke Island affair by Kate Robinson Photography is ranking high among my faves. A beautiful bride and groom, their dedication to each other and a celebration of love with their closest family and friends. Does it get any better? See so much more right here.
From the Bride… Our wedding was inspired by love. Our love for each other as well as our love for our beautiful friends and family, a love for beautiful beaches, landscapes, good food and great times! Our love of all these things inspired every decision we made. Our first step was finding a location. I grew up on Waiheke and lived there for over 16 years. It is such a beautiful place and was an amazing place to grow up –truly the idyllic childhood. James and I have spent lots of time there together and we still have friends living there so it seemed like the perfect choice. Originally we wanted to get married on the beach but after we found Chardy Ridge it made sense to us to have everything all in the one place – the ceremony, the dinner and the party! We did however decide to have our wedding photos before the ceremony on the beach! We decided to do this as we didn’t want to leave our guests for a few hours while we went off and had them after the ceremony. This was one of the best decisions we made and I would highly recommend it to everyone. We felt like we got to have two ‘first looks’ and it meant that the majority of the photos were done by the time we got to the ceremony. One of the locations was Onetangi Beach under the tree that many family picnics were had underneath many years ago and my mums ashes were also scattered on this beach so it was extra special in that respect.
In terms of the theme for the day – I made a mood board of all the things I was drawn to and loved in bridal magazines and a theme emerged of black & white, glass vessels, white flowers and lots of light – whether it was the landscape or lots of candles or the lights at night or floating lanterns. All of which we incorporated! My grandfather who is 91 was able to be at our wedding which was very special. We had friends and family fly in from all around the world – from London, Japan, Spain & Australia as well as from all over New Zealand. For a bit of fun the place names were on little envelopes that had a ‘Fortune Scratchie’ inside predicting their ‘fortune’. We also gave all the guests a ‘Midnight Snack’ bag at the end of the night for those late night munchies! There was a mini bacon and egg pie and a slice of lemon yoghurt cake as well as a berrocca to give them back their b-b-bounce for the next day! There is nowhere open on Waiheke after 9pm so we thought it would go down a treat! A friend of ours baked all these for us too which was extra special and meant they were filled with love too.
Our wedding sign was made by my brother and me. Him and his girlfriends found the wood washed up on the beach; he made the sign up and I painted it. The napkin rings were DIY. The lovely girls at Cocoa Berry designed a stamp to tie in with our dandelion themed invites which we then used on the envelopes of the invites as well as the place names and lollie bags. We continued this on the thank you cards afterwards as well. The table numbers were adhesive blackboard stickers that I cut into circles and stuck onto little bottles that were found at a recycle shop on Waiheke, also continuing the lace from the napkin rings onto these as well. We had a confetti cannon which my brother let off after the ceremony which was fun! We sourced this online. We truly felt like we had the most magical day surrounded by all those that we love. It was a day infused with love, laughter, friendship and joy. Truly the best day of our lives and we are so grateful to everyone that helped make it the amazing day that it was. We will treasure it always.
Wedding Photography: Kate Robinson Photography / Wedding Venue: Chardy Ridge in Omiha, Waiheke Island, New Zealand / Wedding Design: Heidi Altmann Interior Design / Floral Design: Waiheke Flower Company / Officiant: Sandra Biskind / Wedding Catering: Island Indulgence / Wedding Cake: SweetCakes / Stationery: Cocoa Berry / Wedding Dress, Hair Slide + Bracelet: Corina Snow Bridal Couture / Bride’s Shoes: Wild Pair / Bride’s Clutch: Gift from Bride’s Friend / Hair: Tessa Coote of ghd / Makeup Artist: Tatum Dunster + Serenity Anderson (MAC Cosmetics Freelance Artists)