Elegant Wellington Wedding By Kate MacPherson

Hey there!! So my week didn't quite get off to the start I'd hoped. Yesterday was just one of those days where one thing after the other went wrong. Puppy Charlie has been off colour all weekend (actually making her far easier to deal with though since she's lost a bit of the crazy!!) so the morning was spent at the Vet's with her, which wasn't the nicest experience for our poor pup... or me :-( Once we got back home sick pup became naughty pup as she chewed through the electrical plug for our heater... thankfully it wasn't on at the time! I then (on the instruction of my not so DIY savvy hubs) wound electrical tape around it and plugged it back in and the TV, lights, HRV etc all blew. So now we have no heater... and it's freakin' cold!! There were a few other things that 'went wrong' but I won't go into them... nothing drastic, just one of those days with lots of annoying things! So I'm starting the week off afresh today! And what better to start it off with than a gorgeous wedding by uber talent Kate MacPherson and complemented with the loveliest of films from Bubblerock Studios. The bride shares some details with us... (oh and can I just point out how incredible those two shots of her with her grandmother are... so touching!)

"Matthias and I met each other through friends in a bar.  I was the drunk girl dancing my heart out with my girlfriends and he started dancing with us and then we started dancing together. We kissed, I left with my friends and then a few months later he found me on Facebook.  About 5 months later we started dating and 4 years later ended up getting married!
Looking back some of my favourite memories of the day were my 97 year old grandmother and Matthias' 86 year old grandfather being beautifully honoured as the VIP's at the ceremony, the best man flying in from the Ukraine the day before the wedding (no, not stressful at all......!!), my fathers abominable speech,  friends flying in from all over the world, having my two best friends in the world with me the whole way through the process, seeing Matthias cry for the first time, Matthias parents (recently divorced) dancing together at the wedding, seeing NZ based friends I haven't seen for years...oh, the list of memories goes on and on. 

Photographer | Kate MacPherson, Videographer | Bubblerock Studios, Dress | Amanda Wakeley, Matthias' suit | Tailor Made London, Bride's Shoes | Badgley Mischka, Bridesmaids dress | Claire Palmer, Wedding venue | Parents garden, Reception venue | Ruth Pretty's Springfield, Flowers | Juliette Florist, Graphics/design | Charlotte Oliver

Moments...

Photo by Bubblerock

Olive Grove Wedding by Bubblerock Studio

Your really couldn't ask for a more photogenic duo than Aimee & Will... I mean really, how gorgeous are they? You may recognise them from their engagement shoot here, or this fun little shoot they helped us out with and I can attest to the fact that they are both absolutely lovely to go along with their movie star looks! Steph from Bubblerock Studios shot their gorgeous wedding out at the Simunovich Olive Estate earlier this year. The very sweet Aimee shares some details of their day with us...

The theme for our wedding was Urban Elegance. To us that meant minimalist and modern but with touches of luxury. To complement this we chose a colour palette of mostly white with accents of silver and black. The bridesmaids wore short black strapless dresses and carried green/white bouquets of lisianthus, rose and hydrangea. The groom and groomsmen wore black suits and had buttonholes to match the bride and bridesmaids. I wore a dress that was painstakingly put together by a friend who turned two dresses into one, spending hours hand stitching on lace and beads to make the perfect dress.

As soon as we visited our venue the Simunovich Olive Estate, a beautiful Olive Grove in the Bombays just south of Auckland, we fell in love, it had such an amazing vibe, just a good feeling, and we booked the purpose built Bracu Pavilion sight unseen as it was being constructed at the time. It couldn't have been more perfect, it fit the brief of the theme, the colour scheme and required very little decoration.

Our ceremony took place on the helicopter pad at Bracu, we set up a Gazebo from Raj Tent Club to frame the ceremony site, added a black carpet aisle and iron chairs. Guests could pick up handmade ceremony service sheets that doubled as fans to keep them cool, bubble blowers and tissues. Following this the guests went back to the courtyard in front the pavilion for canapes and champagne and were entertained by a 3 piece jazz band that included Will's father. For the evenings festivities they then entered the Pavilion that was dressed in mostly white with accents of silver in the mercury vases and chair covers all set up by Danielle Esterman and her team from Absolute Perfection. White fluffy hydrangea stems and candles dotted all the tables. Our cake continued the theme, pure white with a handmade bow made of icing that extended down from the top tier, the focal point being the large brooch that was placed in the middle of the bow.

For our photography we couldn't go past the talented Bubblerock Studios Team, I met Stephanie Killip on Twitter over a year earlier as brides to be. I hired her to do an engagement shoot for us and once I received those pictures back I was sold on the spot that this was the perfect team to capture our special day. Stephanie not only became our photographer but as a great friend saved the day with helping me to complete the wedding invitations when my previous designer backed out and even gifted us a lovely video that we used as our "Save the Dates".

The girls and I hired a wonderful house on a beautiful golf course at Maxwells Golf in Rama Rama, and after the wedding the maids partners and the groomsmen and their partners joined us to stay for the long weekend. The day after the wedding we had a casual picnic at the house where guests could drop in and out all afternoon and spend some extra time with us. The afternoon involved a lot of eating, drinking and we all relaxed and had a bit of chipping or putting practice or played petanque on the lawn.

We were truly blessed on the day, with everything running to plan. We had a beautiful day that was slightly overcast but the sun came out just as the ceremony started and shined directly on us. The night was an absolute blast we had a full dance floor and many guests staying until the very end. We could not have asked for more.

Photography | Steph Killip & Katja Struder, Bubblerock Studios, Wedding Planning | Absolute Perfection, Floral Design | The Blossom Room, Wedding Venue | The Bracu Pavilion at the Simunovich Olive Estate, Tent Rentals: Raj Tent Club NZ, Videography | I Do Video, Officiant | Sarah Maclennan (), Cake: Marziann (http://www.marziann.co.nz/), Hair and Makeup: Stefany Penney, DJ: DJ Andy Wilson (http://www.andywilsondj.co.nz/), Dress | weddinggownwholesale.com and turned into one dress by friend Bonny Cunha, Wedding Invitations | Design by Hayley Culverwell and Stephanie Killip, Bridesmaids Dresses | Pagani, Groomsmen's Suits | Exclusive Suit Hire, Bridesmaid's Jewellery handmade by brides Mum Liz Bridgman.