Nicola and Dave

This sweet New Zealand wedding held at Napier is such a delight- from the brides ea length ruffly dress to the fresh punches of yellow and beautiful bouquet. It’s laid back new Zealand at it’s finest!

Of how they met, Nicola says “Dave and I met online when I first moved to London.  I was staying with my uncle and was finding it difficult to meet people my own age. Dave offered to show me around central London (even though he knew very little about the area). It was the first time either of us had ever met someone online (and the last!)”.

Photographs today are by Meredith Lord Photography. Meredith’s clean and elegant style was so complimentary to the nature of Nicola and David’s wedding.

Nicola has her tea length ruffly dress made by a local dressmaker. She recalls “I took a gamble having it made and choosing not to go for a full length dress, but I was so happy I did.” Nicole paired it with shoes from Mischief Shoes, Wellington and a beautiful green, yellow and white bouquet styled by Madisons, Napier.

Nicola’s bridesmaids wore gowns from Portmans. Nicola walked down the aisle to ‘Heartbeats’ by Jose Gonzalez.

Nicola and David held their wedding ceremony at Centennial Gardens, Napier .

Nicola and David were married by Amy Edwards. Nicola remarks ” I loved the amazing women we chose to help us with our day. Our celebrant was bubbly and fun and was so easy to be around, she made everyone so comfortable; our florist knew exactly what I meant when I said I wanted rustic, but not too rustic; our photographer who understood straight away that we wanted whimsical and different; and our musician who played the most beautiful jazz songs all night!”

David wore a grey suit from Rosevear Brothers.

Of their photographer, Nicola says “I came across Meredith by chance when I was admiring pictures of Napier online. I then looked her up and realised she was a wedding photographer, and I was lucky enough that she was still free on our wedding date. Meredith was so helpful when I was trying to find a wedding venue and was so flexible about what we wanted.  We were adamant that we didn’t want a photo shoot that took a couple of hours and instead wanted her to capture us enjoying our wedding.  She worked so quickly so we didn’t spend too long away from our guests and still produced amazing photos!”

Nicola and David held their reception at the Hawkes Bay Club as a last minute choice. Nicola explains “My original venue fell through three months before the wedding and we were frantically searching for an alternative, when our caterer called to say the Hawkes Bay Club was free. We were so desperate to get a venue sorted we booked it without even seeing inside.  When we finally saw it (six weeks before the wedding) we were so relieved that it was a lovely old house with lots of character. We had our heart set on having dinner in the front garden, but the weather meant we had to have it inside.”

The wedding was catered by Design Cuisine. Nicola recalls “I loved the food. We had a three course meal, followed by cakes and sweets made by friends and family. The cake table was one of my favourite things and no one could believe that none of it was bought from a bakery.”

For handmade details, Nicola says “We hand stamped all the name cards and printed all of the invitations and menus at home. We also printed the table seating plans and used old photos of our parents to add a personal touch. I also stamped labels for everything and used brown twine to tie them. I bought little bottles, filled them with insect repellent and stamped tags for them.David and I were in Sydney in January and we came across fortune scratchie cards in little brown envelopes. They matched our theme and were a great conversation starter for the tables. They also doubled as name cards and were clipped to the menus with little wooden pegs.”

The first dance was a little spontaneous and absolutely perfect. Nicola recalls “Our first dance was to ‘My Funny Valentine’. Our musician’s equipment was set up in the dining room and we wanted our first dance in the front room. After a little convincing, they were kind enough to sing our song acoustic, and our saxophone player found a piano to play along! It couldn’t have been more beautiful, and it was the first time throughout the day that I was brought to tears. ”

Congratulations Nicola and David! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Meredith Lord Photography for sharing today’s wedding!