Vanessa & Mike’s Wedding
Amuri Estate
Images by Sarah Clements Photography
‘Mike was one of my brother’s friends and we met at a Canterbury Crusaders rugby game in Christchurch and hit it off!
‘We took a helicopter ride for my birthday up onto the farm he used to work on and when we got out of the helicopter the pilot took off again, and Mike proposed on the hill, just us two.
‘My wedding dress was not what I had originally thought I would like. I didn’t even look at this dress but my mother-in-law liked it and insisted I try it on! I loved it!
We made some adjustments like adding a detachable skirt and different lining etc. to make it perfect. However, not long after, I fell pregnant with our son so it sat in the wardrobe for over a year!
‘We booked our wedding into Amuri Estate, which our family owns. We had previously lived there for 4 years together and put our heart and soul into the property and business. It holds a special place in our hearts and our story as a couple – plus the added bonus it is absolutely stunning!
‘Our ceremony was kept very simple as Mike is not a talker. We had our dog Luna walk down the aisle along with my little niece as flower girl and our 10-month-old boy was carried down with my mum. We wrote our own vows but had a similar format and beginning then personalised the last few sentences.
‘We had a buffet dinner at our reception with some speeches from the father of the groom, father of the bride, best man, maid of honour and the groom. Then we had cake and some platters for dessert. We then had Black and Gold band play for a couple of hours before DJ Spinal took over and played the last few hours of party time! We had a photobooth and did a bridal toss with an extra bouquet. We also practised a short first dance with some basic and safe dance moves! Then we asked everyone to join us.
‘The best part of the day was probably the speeches from everyone. It was just so nice to hear everyone’s kind words and stories of our journey together and to look back on what brought us to that special day!
And my husband Mike who is normally quiet and not a big public speaker came out with a ripper of a speech like he’d been public speaking for years! He surprised everyone!’
Q&A
Any tips for other couples?
The day goes unbelievably fast so try your best to take it all in and enjoy all the small moments! Taking 10 minutes out just to be with your husband and sit and have a breather is always a great idea. Also don’t sweat the small things on the day if things don’t go exactly as you planned! Guests don’t know what you have planned or what is meant to be happening so they don’t know any different if little things aren’t happening as they were meant to. Just go with it and embrace it!
Any cool stories to tell?
My maid of honour flew all the way from London for our wedding and brought our son’s little suit jacket with her so that he could match Mike as close as possible because we couldn’t find anything in NZ!
Who was your standout vendor?
Everyone was so good, that’s a difficult one! If I had to choose, probably our celebrant as he is one of my very good friends and it was just so nice having someone we knew up there with us. He also added in so many little details that we didn’t know about but loved! It was just a perfect reflection of us and our journey!
