So I have decided that my first ever post is going to be about a pretty awesome day I had earlier this year – our wedding! Also, we are about to head off on our honeymoon, to Europe and Mexico for 6 weeks, so I wanted to get a little post in before we left.
(e+e shoppers – don’t worry! I have a lovely girl named Chantal in the office while I am away so all orders will still be shipped out)
Anyway, back to the wedding. We got married on the beach on Waiheke Island, New Zealand in January, on the only sunny day in a month. Phew!
It was a super casual affair, which was perfect for us. From the beach we all wandered down the road to a friend’s barn, where we had picnic rugs and games like petanque (or bocce for the Aussies reading) spread out on the lawn. There was a big marquee set up with pretty doily-covered tables and a hay strewn dance floor with a great local band playing.
Once there, we all just danced, ate and laughed the day and night away. Well until noise control arrived anyway!
Our wedding ceremony was held under a big pohutukawa tree on the beach
Mat was in charge of making an aisle with little jars of flowers and also hanging the fabric ‘chandelier’
On arrival at the reception the guests all got one of our signature cocktails – a feijoa cooler – and also a nibble bag
The nibble bags contained crunchy spiced nuts that I had made and were sealed with green stripey bakers twine
There were also green stripey straws to sip through
One of my bridesmaids wrote the day’s menu on a beautiful borrowed vintage mirror
The pretty wild flowers were picked by my mum, sister and sister-in-law
All the jars and vases were collected by my mum and bridesmaids from various charity shops around NZ
My wonderful bridesmaids did all the decorating too – from filling vases to raking hay. They were awesome!
Mat and I listening to the speeches with all the lads
We used a giant community puzzle instead of a guest book. Everyone really enjoyed writing on the puzzle pieces and we now have it framed and hanging on our bedroom wall
We didn’t have an official photographer for the day – my brother was in charge of the photos – but we also had lots of disposable cameras and a photo booth so we could get fun shots of our guests. We had a vintage tin for collecting the used cameras
My dad drilled holes into a piece of firewood to make a coloured pencil stand for the kids
He and I also made the wooden signs which directed guests to different parts of the venue
We used local businesses for all our food – a woodfired pizza truck, a paella van, a gelato cart and of course the amazing chocolate buttermilk cake which was made by one of my bridesmaids
My dad took a chainsaw to the golf course the day before the wedding and cut up a tree stump to make the cake stand
My mum went on numerous trips to spotlight before she whipped up the cushion covers, which my mother-in-law then stuffed with inners
As there was limited running water at the barn we used eco wooden cutlery and plates for all the food
Everyone having a boogie on the open-air dance floor
