Soft & Pretty Wedding Day In Dunedin

If you’re in the mood for a wedding with pretty pastels and sweet, modern elements, then Tash & Shane’s Soft & Pretty Wedding Day In Dunedin, captured by Hannah from Frankly Faye, is just for you! The couple chose to hold both their ceremony and reception at Corstorphine House and, honestly, their day is what whimsical wedding dreams are made of! Tash tells us about meeting Shane and becoming engaged, and about their breathtaking wedding.

Seven years ago, we met through a mutual friend in the Octagon (Dunedin) on a Saturday night. A few weeks before Valentine’s Day, Shane hinted he was going to get me something so naturally I got up at the crack of dawn and decorated his car with flower petals and glitter (he loved it obviously!) The rest is history.

Shane’s original proposal didn’t go to plan, so he took me on a picnic at the beach with our dog, Murphy. I was pregnant with Willa at the time and he got down on one knee and told me he wanted to spend his life with me. It was perfect.

Shane’s suit, from Hallenstein Brothers, was oat linen with a white shirt underneath. We tried without a tie and he looked so handsome and it was perfect!

I wore the “Stevie” gown by Made With Love Bridal – I purchased it from Bride & Winter in Dunedin and as soon as I tried it on, I fell in love with it. Had my mum and my bridesmaids with me. We had so much fun!

The whole day was amazing. Waking up with my sister at Hotel St Clair at sunrise as we were so excited and wandered down to Starfish, a local cafe, and met my parents there for breakfast. It was a beautiful warm morning.

Our beautiful wee girl Willa was our flower girl, along with our two gorgeous nephews Layton and Xavier as page boys. Our nearest and dearest for our groomsmen and bridesmaids.

I walked down the aisle to “I Get To Love You” by Ruelle. My mum and dad walked me down the aisle which was really special. We got personal messages put on handkerchiefs for our parents, which they loved.

Our ceremony was fun, romantic and intimate – it was everything we wanted and more. A close family friend read a beautiful reading called “Love” by Roy Croft. Cloudie – Ryan Shanks – did the most beautiful acoustics during the ceremony and in between.

Saying our personal vows to each other which we hadn’t heard before the day made it even more special. The set-up and styling for the ceremony and reception were done by Shane and me, and some of our nearest and dearest. The ceremony arch was made by Shane’s stepdad.

Our photographer Hannah from Frankly Faye was amazing – she becomes one of your friends during the planning stages and nothing is too much trouble! My photos were everything and more, and she made us the most beautiful keepsake album of our day that we’ll keep forever. All of them the images from our day are wonderful, I can’t pinpoint one favourite as they are all so special to me for different reasons.

I love orchids so, of course, I had to have a pink orchid in my bouquet. Charlotte from Rock n Rosie nailed the brief and exceeded my expectations. Soft with some pops of colour – we kept everything else fairly neutral and simple.

We got married in January 2021 in the garden at Corstorphine House in Dunedin and then had our reception in their glass conservatory which was perfect.

The theme and idea for our wedding was to have an outdoor, garden wedding, minimalist with some fun elements. We had live acoustics during the ceremony and afterwards we enjoyed lawn games, food from the beautiful grazing table by His & Hers catering, with Oxford St Caravan Bar serving Aperol Spritz’s, a selection of beer and Central Otago wines as well as espresso martinis after dessert! We used the glass conservatory at the same venue which meant our guests didn’t need to leave in between. We had photos on site so there was no stress of timeframes. It was fun, relaxed and perfect!

Our cake baker, Sweet Belle Kitchen, used pressed wildflowers on our cake and we kept it simple with no topper.

Our first dance was “Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur. The band, Merkin, played it live which was amazing and all our favourites got up and joined us shortly after!

All our vendors were incredible! Getting ready with my bridesmaids and Willa, marrying my person and then having so much fun with our family and friends was magical. We didn’t want It to end!