Michelle and Jonny were married on 7 January 2012 at the Pukehiki Church. Michelle is a secondary school Biology and Science teacher at Rongotai College in Wellington, and Jonny makes props for The Hobbit.
When and where we met: Jonny and I both grew up in Dunedin and went to secondary school next door to each other (King's and Queen's). We didn't really get to know each other until I returned from my travels six and a-half years ago. We had a long-distance relationship with me in Wellington for our first year together, then Jonny moved up to Wellington and here we are.
The proposal: Jonny proposed with a ring we had made by a good friend of ours Greg Fromont (www.gregfromont.co.nz/). He worked with us to design my perfect engagement ring. It is a yellow gold classic design with an edge and has tiny daggers on either side of the diamonds. Jonny proposed at our favourite tiny Italian restaurant in Wellington (Piccolo) where the husband and wife chefs are known for their humorous (slightly scary) service. He was halfway down on to one knee when the chef came out and announced to the restaurant "this man wants to marry this woman", then she looked at me and said, "Do you accept?" -- I did, but I don't know if Jonny ever got to say the words!
The venue: We live in Wellington now but we knew we wanted to get married in Dunedin as it has a special place in our hearts and both of our families and many friends still live there. We chose the Pukehiki Church in Highcliff for the ceremony and then the reception took place at the Tautuku Fishing Club rooms.
From the beginning we knew we wanted our wedding to have a fun, relaxed and slightly vintage vibe. I have always loved that little white church and it provided the perfect setting for our ceremony. It was traditional but relaxed at the same time.
We also wanted our wedding to reflect us, so we wanted to be able to decorate the reception venue ourselves. A lot of the venues we looked at were already decorated, or there was minimal scope for personal touches. The fishing club was great: It is a beautiful historic stone building, but it is also quite rustic and the downstairs portion is pretty much a blank slate that you can decorate as you wish. We loved the exposed beams and ample light. Doing it ourselves was definitely hard work (compared to a ready -made venue), but it was so worth it, we made it look amazing, and it totally reflected our personalities. We made strings and strings of bunting, hundreds of doily pompons and stamped heart doilies with the guests' names for the place names. We also wired up hanging lights for the lanterns and a chandelier above the head table. Having the canapés upstairs in the club bar added another facet, with all the fishing paraphernalia and huge mounted fish on the walls.
The dresses: Sera Lilly in Auckland (www.facebook.com/people/Sera-Lilly-Shop) made my dress and the bridesmaids' dresses. She had an amazing range and made mine to fit perfectly. I knew I didn't want anything shiny in the whole wedding. My dress was a beautiful ochre (creamy gold) coloured lace. Comfort was really important to me, I wanted something I could get into easily and move around freely in. As soon as I put mine on I felt like dancing, I was sold!
Sera also designed beautiful dark grey chiffon dresses for the bridesmaids (my sister and best friend).
Photographer: Sinead Jenkins www.sineadjenkins.com
She was absolutely amazing, so unobtrusive and awesome, you forgot she was there working her magic. We knew we didn't want loads of cheesy posed photos, so Sinead's documentary-style photographs were perfect for us. I cannot say enough good things about her, she was great!!
Flowers: Carley Jones in St Clair did an amazing job of my flowers. She listened and understood exactly what I wanted. I had pale pink peonies and other pastel-coloured flours in my bouquet - all muted tones in cream, pink and green, with lamb's ears and stocks. She also put some of the native hebes from Mum's garden (that Dad grew) into the bouquet. He passed away a couple of years ago so it was nice to have a little piece of him with me. I also collected a whole lot of big Agee preserving jars over the course of a year and she filled them with wild-looking flowers in pastel pinks, greens and creams. These went on the table and around the venue.
Caterers: Bede Beaumont did the catering and they were amazing!! We had a simple, stylish buffet. Everyone commented on how good the food was. Tara at Bede Beaumont went over and above her role as a caterer. She was so helpful with all kinds of advice, nothing was a problem and she helped with other aspects of the wedding planning! My friend's mum made the cake (Jonny made the bride and groom cake-toppers out of pegs).
Celebrant: Jill McDonald, she was great! She really made the ceremony personal. It was touching but lighthearted and entertaining at the right moments.
Favourite part of the day: I know everyone probably says this but I truly loved every single moment of the day. It was so much fun! If I had to pick: one special moment it was during the ring-warming ceremony at the church when the rings were passed around the guests for them to bless, our friend Graeme played the guitar and sang, everyone relaxed and started having a chat and there was an incredible amount of love between everyone and lots of laughter. It set the tone for the whole day.
I also loved seeing our vision come to life and watching all of my friends and family having a great time. I loved the speeches and was so glad I did one. I also loved it that the boys played cricket after dinner while the sun went down - perfect. Oh, and the photo booth. And the dancing.
Michelle and Jonny, Wedding, January 2012 from Sinead Jenkins on Vimeo.
