Real Weddings

Article by

Sophie

Posted on

21/02/2022

Posted in

Real Weddings

After a romantic proposal in Europe, Liv and Ash kept it local when they tied the knot at Auckland’s beautiful Hedges Estate. “We saw a few venues but fell in love with the woodland area of Hedges Estate,” Liv tells us. “It also reminded us of a few places we have travelled to in Europe, they have a great lawn, perfect for garden games and an orangerie perfect for the reception. We also wanted a venue with space and that would speak for itself, no decoration required.”

Their wish was the venue’s command and with a fair few bloomin’ great florals courtesy of the foliage queens at Leaf & Honey, a stunner of a Rue de Seine dress for the beautiful bride, plus sweet little dog Odie in tow, Liv and Ash totally nailed their dream day – and we have the epic pics to prove it, thanks to the talents of James at Chasewild.

THE THEME “I carefully selected a lot of the aesthetic for the day. We wanted to have a garden party where the theme was just to reflect me and Ash. He loves cars and I love flowers… there were a lot of flowers. One of our main goals was for everyone to have just fun so we had games and live music and, of course, dancing.”

FAVE DETAILS “The flowers were amazing, I knew I wanted this to be a big focus but they really took my breath away and Naomi at Leaf & Honey was a dream to work with. One of my favourite arrangements was the flower girl basket, it was just so sweet. Also the archway was absolutely stunning and, of course, the car exploding with flowers. I loved the table settings as well, Naomi sourced fold foliage, which worked so well with the cutlery and menus. Amanda, our planner, of Amanda Norwood Design made our place cards from sheets of gold, a real labour of love that all came together perfectly. They were quite sharp though and we were worried someone would hurt themselves.”

THE DRESS “As soon as I saw my Rue de Seine dress I fell in love with the fabric – it’s a cream velvet with devore flowers, it’s just so beautiful and lush to wear. After I found it I kept an eye out but nothing compared.”

RESOURCES “We went to a few fairs and looked to magazines and websites like Hello May! I had the most amazing vendors, the team was magic and made the day more than I could have imagined.”

MEMORABLE MOMENTS “One of my favourite memories was our first dance. I don’t like being the centre of attention and really didn’t want a first dance, but knew we needed to open the dance floor! We decided to include our dog, Odie, with the song You Oughta Be In Love from Footrot Flats, which is a really special memory as she passed away a couple of months later.”

CUTE CUSTOM “We asked a friend to take photos using Ash’s pop’s old film camera. This was really special as he used to travel a lot taking photos and selling them to National Geographic. Ash’s grandparents travelled to more than 80 countries, a goal we hope to reach as well.”

LITTLE LOL “We had Odie the dog and a couple of kids kept occupied in another room during the reception – they all broke free during the speeches and came tearing through the orangerie!”

WORD OF ADVICE “Just do you, don’t overthink it too much or try to please everyone. Find vendors that inspire you and are invested in your day, and if it doesn’t make your heart sing, it may not be right.”

WE’RE GLAD WE… “did the big wedding thing. I originally wanted to elope or have a small wedding but this was much more than I could have ever dreamed of. People just want to share in the love and have a great party.”

STANDOUT VENDORS “So many amazing vendors! Naomi from Leaf & Honey and Amanda Norwood Design are a fantastic team, Amy from Good Food Kitchen does a superb job, Frankie’s Caravan Bar was a real treat, Royal Laboratorie has the best pieces to hire, and I can’t sing the praises of James at Chasewild enough for capturing the day so magically. I’m still obsessed with the photos.”