Beka and Jeremy’s Wedding
The Church of the Good Shepherd
Images by Robin + Andie
‘Jeremy and I met in our first year of a Bachelor in Creative Media Production at Massey University. Our shared love of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World meant we ended up in the same group for a scene recreation from said movie, followed by a second original short film project which we filmed at my tiny flat in Newtown. A friendship, then relationship, blossomed from there.
‘Jeremy surprised me one night with a hotel stay in Christchurch city, under the guise that we’d be able to go to our favourite restaurant and both indulge in cocktails, as typically one of us would need to be the sober driver due to living 40 minutes south of the city. I played hockey on Saturdays, and suspected nothing as we checked into the hotel following my game, got cleaned and dressed up to go out for dinner. I began to have suspicions when Jeremy seemed uncharacteristically bothered about a particularly rowdy group at a nearby table, which I later found out deterred him from popping the question at the restaurant; and when I spotted a distinctive bulge in his pocket while walking behind him up the hotel stairs to our room. The giveaway was when he became increasingly nervous, started pacing, and then eventually asked if he could ask me something.
‘It was the perfect proposal in the end, which suited us both so perfectly – intimate and cosy in our own little world, and I could barely contain myself long enough to let him get the question out, before of course answering, “YES!”
‘We got married at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo. Being an Anglican church, we opted to stick to the Anglican prayer book to select our vows. With neither of us enjoying the spotlight, we kept things as short as humanly possible.
‘The reception was also very “us” – relaxed and fairly short and sweet, with quiet background music (no dancing), and a projector with Mario Kart set up. My dad acted briefly as MC, and the best man Mitchell, Jeremy and I gave speeches. Jeremy and I cut the cake, and then everyone relaxed and talked with one another, or played Mario Kart. The kids were kept entertained with Mario Kart too, as well as activity sheets, oversized tennis racquets and a giant soccer ball they could play with in the fenced-in tennis courts outside.
‘Meanwhile, Jeremy and I were able to easily do the rounds and spend a good amount of time catching up with our friends and family.
‘The most memorable moment from the day is very difficult to choose, but it would probably be me unabashedly crying the entire way down the aisle as soon as my dad took my elbow to escort me into the church.’
