Kumeu Valley Estate wedding from Jo Wickham...

I have an absolutely gorgeous wedding from Jo Wickham for you today. Kate & Jeetan got married out at Kumeu Valley Estate which looks like a fabulous venue with lots of divine rustic touches. Kate collected vintage tea cups and saucers by spreading the word throughout her family, and before she knew it there were arriving from all corners of the world. Kate shares some thoughts on the day with us... including a fun proposal!!

We got engaged on safari in South Africa. I'm completely obsessed with big cats!! Jeets confessed after the proposal that he knew he couldn't do it until we'd spotted one of the big cats! He ended up proposing the night we saw two male lions eating a dead hippo - not everyone's cup of tea but I was in heaven! We celebrated with a glass of bubbles under the stars around a camp fire built just for us - it was magical!

For our wedding I wanted autumnal elegance and vintage quirk - it all kind of fell into place after finding the perfect rawness of timber and pitched ceilings, unkempt gardens and aged cobbled flooring at Kumeu Valley Estate. All the bits and pieces I'd been collecting were perfect on the surroundings.

 

 

 

We collected milk bottles, lavender, teacups, doilies... you name it, the ladies of the family were searching high and low for the perfect pieces. All the handwriting was tedious and gradually got more and more like my everyday gibberish - but I love the personal element that comes with the blood, sweat and tears. All the ladies also painstakingly hand sewed the paper bags filled with boiled sweets shut, we sat around the dining room table with a bottle of wine in the middle and laughed and told fantastic stories! It was such a nice way to spend time together reminiscing and building up excitement for the coming days.