A cornflower blue palette, designed with an artist (the bride’s mum!)
One look at Elise and Aaron’s New Zealand wedding and you’ll be left feeling a little bit obsessed with it, just as we were.
From the moment Elise walked down the aisle to that seriously impressive dip kiss on the way back up it, their ceremony was everything they wanted it to be – full of anticipation, emotion, love and all the people who mattered most.
And then there was the fashion. Elise’s incredible gown came with a removable overskirt and sleeves, giving her three completely different looks throughout the day. She went full-on romance and drama for the ceremony, slipped into a sleeker look for cocktails and dinner, then lost the sleeves for the dance floor. Honestly, why have one wedding dress when you can have three?
Blue hydrangeas, blue-clad bridesmaids and those incredible images by Tess Follett brought the whole day together beautifully.
But perhaps our favourite part is the wedding wisdom Elise and Aaron have shared. Their advice? Get really clear on what matters to you, don’t get too caught up in what everyone else is doing, and make a vision board – theirs was created in Freeform and became their go-to place for pulling their ideas together.
A seriously beautiful day, a very loved-up couple and plenty of ideas to steal for your own celebration.
The meeting.
We met on a night out during our first year of university, ten years ago – a nightclub, a chance encounter, and a somewhat hesitant exchange of phone numbers. Aaron followed up the next morning with a compelling “Hey :)”. Romantic, right?
But from our first proper meeting a few days later, it just felt right. Two weeks after that, we were officially together, and we’ve never looked back.
The one.
We fell in love within weeks. There wasn’t a single defining moment where we realised the other was ‘the one’. Looking back, what stands out is how quickly being together started to feel normal, like we’d somehow skipped straight to the comfortable part. There’s always been an ease to our relationship, and that feeling has only grown stronger over the years. Life is simply better together.
The proposal.
Aaron had been trying to keep the engagement a secret, knowing Elise is very good at reading him. He designed and purchased the ring six months before proposing, partly to throw her off the scent.
He planned the proposal at Waihi Beach, home to the family bach and a place that holds so much meaning for his family, during a weekend when both families would be there together. At sunset, we went for a walk along the beach with Elise’s sister, Alana. As we wandered along the shoreline, Aaron got down on one knee and asked Elise to marry him. Full credit to Alana for capturing some incredible photos of the moment.
Both families were in on the surprise and waiting eagerly back at the bach. Walking back together to celebrate with everyone afterwards was surreal.
Planning process.
It’s hard to know where to start when planning a wedding, especially when you’re one of the first in your friendship group to get married. We began by agreeing on our non-negotiables and priorities, and from there the process flowed surprisingly smoothly.
Being clear on what mattered most made all the difference. We wanted the day to feel warm, joyful and full of love – a big celebration with great food, great wine, and all our favourite people. Having that vision made decision-making much easier.
We knew we wanted as many loved ones there as possible, so making the wedding easy to attend was important to us. That quickly narrowed our venue search to Auckland. Once we found the perfect venue and locked in a date, our next priority was our photographer.
We approached the rest of the planning in much the same way: what’s the next most important thing? With every vendor, we looked for people who aligned with our vision of the day: warm, joyful and organised.
Style inspiration.
We wanted the day to feel modern and elegant, without being overly formal, and most importantly, authentically us. We trusted our instincts a lot when it came to what felt right.
The key was keeping everything cohesive as the different elements came together. We used Freeform as a giant vision board, collecting inspiration images for every aspect of the day. As decisions were made, we updated the board so we could see how the colours, styling and details were working together visually. It was such a helpful tool for making sure everything felt cohesive.
Elise’s mum is an artist, so we worked with her on the colour palette, which was a lot of fun and helped create something that felt uniquely ours.
The ceremony.
The ceremony was pure magic. The energy was incredible – you could feel the excitement from our guests right from the start.
Our ceremony was held in the lawn area at The Hunting Lodge. Usually ceremonies are positioned with the hedges behind the couple, but we decided to flip things around and stand beneath the huge trees instead. Not only did they create the most beautiful backdrop, but they also provided much-needed shade for us and our guests.
It was a bit of a gamble because it wasn’t the venue’s usual setup, but their event manager Toni was completely on board, and it paid off beautifully.
The outfits.
Elise found her dress at Fritz & Sarah in Parnell, one of four bridal boutiques she visited with her bridesmaids, mum and mother-in-law. Fritz & Sarah are the ultimate dream team – they make you feel so looked after from the moment you walk through the door. Knowing they make each dress themselves makes the experience even more special.
The dress actually took Elise by surprise. It wasn’t one of the front-runners going into the appointment, but there was something about the fabric and soft draping that captured her heart. She found herself comparing every other dress back to it and woke up the next morning knowing with complete certainty it was the one.
One of her favourite features was that both the overskirt and sleeves were removable, making it feel like three dresses in one. She loved having the drama and romance of the full skirt for the ceremony, removing it for cocktail hour and dinner, and then taking off the sleeves for dancing later in the evening.
Aaron wore a tuxedo from Rembrandt. He wanted something that felt unmistakably like a wedding suit – something he could put on and instantly know it was the day. With help from the team, he narrowed down the options until he found the right one. It truly hit him putting it on the morning of the wedding: this was his wedding day.
Favourite moment.
For both of us, it was the ceremony.
We didn’t do a first look, so there was so much anticipation leading up to that moment. For Elise, walking down the aisle, seeing Aaron waiting at the front in his tuxedo, and looking around at all her favourite people smiling back at her is a memory she’ll carry forever. The ceremony space looked even more beautiful than she had imagined, especially the freestanding floral towers, which were breathtaking.
For Aaron, it was seeing Elise for the first time. The anticipation was the hardest part, but the moment he saw her, everything else disappeared. Seeing how incredible she looked was worth the wait.
Our celebrant, Nate Dunn, struck the perfect balance between humour and sincerity. There was so much laughter, but also so many meaningful moments. Our friend Jared read Dust by Harry Baker, and Aaron’s cousin Abby wrote and read a reflection on marriage that was so thoughtful and heartfelt, it’s hard to put into words.
And of course, being announced as husband and wife (and nailing the dip back up the aisle!) was pretty hard to beat.
Meaning of marriage.
For us, marriage doesn’t really signal the ‘beginning’ of our lives together, but it’s more about a commitment to continuing to choose each other through whatever life brings. It’s one of those things where nothing changes, but everything changes. There’s a deeper sense of permanence and partnership. Family is so important to us, and this is the start of us creating our own family.
Wedding soundtrack.
Last song before ceremony: Let’s Get Married – Bleachers
Aisle – Bridesmaids: Bloom – The Paper Kites
Aisle – Bride: Simply the Best (From “Schitts Creek”) – Noah Reid
Signing: Forever Ever After – Palace
Recession: Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer
Reception entrance: Sweet Disposition – Temper Trap
First dance: Love You For a Long Time – Maggie Rogers
Sax performance by groomsman, Thomas: Catching Feelings – Drax Project
Funny stories (or near disasters).
The wedding ran virtually flawlessly, although there were a couple of hiccups that morning. The bridal party vehicle got a flat tyre on its way to collect everyone, and Aaron’s sister’s car developed a misfire on the drive to the venue. Thankfully, everyone arrived safely and on time, and the rest of the day couldn’t have gone more smoothly.
Planning surprises.
How difficult bridesmaid dresses turned out to be. We’ve since heard the same thing from other brides. It was surprisingly tricky finding dresses in New Zealand that are well made, flattering, reasonably priced, and suited to our colour palette.
We ended up choosing dresses from Significant Other and couldn’t have been happier. The shade of blue was beautiful, and the girls felt great which was incredibly important to us.
Words of wisdom.
Trust your gut.
There’s so much well-intentioned advice, opinions, and a constant stream of picture-perfect weddings once your social media algorithm discovers you’re engaged. It’s easy to start second-guessing decisions you were originally excited about.
The idea of a wedding being completely “timeless” is interesting, because every wedding will inevitably reflect the time in which it happened in some way – and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The key is making sure that the trends you do choose to follow genuinely resonate with you, rather than feeling like something you ‘should’ do.
The best thing we did was learn to politely thank the unsolicited advice-givers, let it wash over us, and stay true to what felt right for us. Hold trends and opinions lightly, trust your gut, and you’ll end up with a day that feels uniquely yours.
Even if you’re getting married locally, we would absolutely recommend booking group accommodation for your bridal party the night before, if it’s within budget.
We had the bridal party staying together in a beautiful house near our venue, while we stayed separately nearby and used the two locations for getting ready on the morning of the wedding. It worked brilliantly, giving us some quiet time as a soon-to-be-married couple while still being close to everyone.
One of our favourite memories from the entire wedding weekend was actually the night before – a relaxed BBQ with our bridal party and family at the house. It set the perfect tone for the day ahead and is a memory we’ll always treasure.
Elise and Aaron’s Vendors
Ceremony & reception: The Hunting Lodge Winery, Waimauku, Auckland. Only 35 minutes from Auckland’s CBD, The Hunting Lodge was the perfect venue for us. Known for their brilliant food and wine, they immediately ticked some of our biggest boxes. Having a strong wet-weather option was really important to us as we wanted to minimise stress wherever possible in the lead-up to the day, and we loved the covered tiled area beside the reception space as a backup to the lawn (luckily we didn’t need it!). Their event manager, Toni, was full of wise words and helpful suggestions. She even recommended both our celebrant and DJ. We also loved the drinks caravan, ‘Jerry’, which added so much character and a lovely vintage touch to the reception.
Celebrant & MC: Nate Dunn. Nate was next level – our friends and family are still talking about how great he was. Incredibly organised, funny and calm, he was such a valuable part of the planning process. We had coffees and drinks with him throughout the lead-up, and he was always generous with advice and stories. He was also our MC, which meant we could completely switch off and be present on the day knowing he had everything under control. One thing we really appreciated was that there were no surprises – we knew exactly how the ceremony and reception would flow, how people would be introduced, and even the jokes he planned to make. Working with Nate was a game changer.
Photography: Tess Follett. Where do we start with Tess!? Elise had followed her on Instagram for years, but because she’s Melbourne-based, working with her didn’t seem like an actual possibility. We reached out anyway and immediately adored her. We loved her energy and knew that having her as such a big part of the day would be worth it. And it absolutely was. Tess is simply phenomenal. Not only is she incredibly talented, she’s also a joy to be around. The positivity and warmth she brings is contagious, and her confident and clear direction makes it impossible not to relax in front of the camera. She was so organised throughout the process, giving us complete peace of mind. Everyone loved her, and we’ll treasure her photos forever. The way she captured our loved ones and told the story of the day is something we’ll never stop being grateful for. We’re so thankful she made the trip across the ditch for us.
Videography: Flair Films NZ. Josh is a genuinely wonderful person. He was kind, thoughtful and incredibly helpful throughout the planning process. On the day, he brought such a calm energy and worked seamlessly with Tess despite it being the first time they’d worked together. We’re over the moon with the videos he created. The highlights video captures the feeling of the day so beautifully, and having our ceremony, speeches and first dance to look back on means the world to us.
Florist: Wildy Madly Deeply. We fell in love with Debby and Abby’s work after seeing florals they’d created at a previous wedding at The Hunting Lodge. They were fantastic throughout the planning process, helping us make the most of our budget while bringing our vision to life. Elise had her heart set on hydrangeas, but was still blown away by how beautiful they were on the day (have you seen that blue?!). We didn’t quite know what to expect from the freestanding floral towers they created for the ceremony, but it was breathtaking and brought our colour palette to life in a way we never could have imagined. They were the perfect example of why trusting your vendors is so important. They also supplied our table lamps and table numbers.
Hair: Boutique Bride. Amelia is such a talent. Calm, collected and incredibly skilled, she has a way of turning uncertain requests into something even better than you imagined. She was so patient during Elise’s hair trial, helping blend the best elements of several different styles before creating the perfect low bun on the day.
Make-up: Kate Solley. Kate is a legend in the New Zealand makeup industry, and for good reason. She’s incredibly talented, but also so warm and kind that she immediately puts you at ease. Her makeup lasted beautifully through tears, laughter and everything in between, and her advice in the lead-up was invaluable.
The dress & veil: Fritz & Sarah. Fritz & Sarah are such gifted designers and were an absolute dream to work with. Knowing the dress and veil was designed and made by them made the experience even more special.
Shoes: Elise’s shoes were from Bared Footwear. Aaron wore his RM William’s boots.
Rings: Aaron designed Elise’s engagement ring through Holland & Co Jewellery. Both wedding bands were made by Brownson Jewelers, family friends of Elise’s.
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Significant Other.
Stationery / Signage: Paper Darling.
Entertainment: Jarom from MIX IT DJs. Jarom was fantastic. He really understood the brief and used the inspiration playlists Elise put together to create the perfect soundtrack for the day. We also decided to have him there for the ceremony music, which was one of the best decisions we made. Music was incredibly important to us, and having him there meant the ceremony was seamless.
