Oh my heart melts at the images of Olivia & Alex’s pup walking down the aisle with the sign around his neck saying “Dad, here comes Mum“! So sweet… I wish we’d had Charlie to do that at our wedding!! Although knowing her as we do, that would spell a comical disaster! This gorgeous eclectic retro styled wedding was caught beautifully by the very lovely Jody Lidstone of I do Photography. There is so much to love about this… the stunning Northland location for one – it’s quintessential New Zealand to me. Reminds me of childhood holidays. There’s a tonne of inspiration here for the DIY bride as well… just scroll down to read the details.
Tell us about your proposal: Three days after receiving a fishing rod, designed for catching Kingfish, for my birthday, I received a phone call, asking me to meet Alex at the Whangarei Airport. I had thought since the fishing rod had not completely lived up to my expectations that our first solo flight together, would be my actual birthday present, since Alex had just completed his private pilot license a few weeks before. When I arrived at the airport, we hoped into a 4-seater plane and took off, flying all over Whangarei Harbour, and out over Whangarei Heads, which is where we live and spend a lot of our spare time. It was an absolutely stunning evening, with a clear calm sky and beautiful sunset. After completing a flight out over the water and up the coast we began to fly over a length of beach where we often fish and surf. The plane started to drop in altitude, and Alex asked me to look out of the window. At this point in time, I am thinking, there must be another present on the beach for me, and he asked me to look for letters. Earlier that day Alex had driven down to our friends farm, and made letters out of shrubs on the beach, however, he had not moved them far enough away from the their original location, and therefore they were not as easy to see as he had hoped. Needless to say I struggled to identify the letters, meanwhile, people on the ground must have been thinking that our plane was having issues as we flew up and down the beach getting closer and closer to the ground. I then noticed the letters and thought that they had spelt ‘NY’, immediately jumping to the conclusion that he was taking my to New York, however he quickly corrected me, and said that the letters spelt out MML, standing for Marry Me Liv. He then reached behind his chair and pulled out a box, with a ring he had had made for me in Whangarei, and asked me to marry him.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I had seen a lace top, in a fashion quarterly magazine, two years before we were engaged, when I went online to see where I could find it, I realised that it came from A La Robe, a wedding boutique, and decided not to get it. Needless to say when I started looking I booked an appointment to meet with Elizabeth, and see if she still had any of the lace that I had seen two years ago. I loved the flexibility of her dresses, and the light material, and most importantly the lace. I loved that you were able to mix and match pieces together, and try on a variety of looks.
What was the inspiration for your wedding? There was a variety of reasons for having a retro vintage feeling to our wedding. We were using my grandfathers 1970/80 tweed woolen suits for the groomsman, our location was on the water, but had a restored 1910 cottage on it, the location was casual but absolutely stunning and private, which helped create an intimate setting, and we ultimately just liked the idea of being able to do it all ourselves (with the help of our amazing friends and family) and therefore felt that keeping it retro/vintage would allow us to be able to locate all the items that we needed, at the same time as keeping within our budget.
Any DIY/Budget elements? The DIY elements of our wedding were; the bridesmaid dresses, the boys suits, the handmade flowers, the tea towels (guests gifts) which I screen printed, the Crown Lynn plates, the boys boxer shorts, some of our guest bought salads, cakes, and nibbles, and looked after the spit roast, homemade ginger beer and beer, hay bales for aisle seating, bunting for the tent, my sister made our invitations, our wedding cake was made by Alex’s mum and cousin, the flowers on the tables, having students from the school that I teach at work as waiters, using Alex’s brothers 1960 Red Falcon as our wedding car, Aunty Sal as our Celebrant. Having a friend take polaroid pictures of all our guests, and putting them in a photo album that people wrote next to later in the night.
Describe your wedding flowers: Instead of having a normal bouquet of flowers, the bridesmaids and myself wore flowers on our wrists, made up of various roses, and berries. On each table, we had brightly colour marigolds, in glass jars with hessian around it. And the boys wore a single rose with matching berries.
Favourite detail of the day: My favourite detail of the day would have been the handmade tea towels wrapped with twine, and then finished with a handmade flower. They turned out to be just as I had planned, and people used their flowers to decorate their outfits, either by wearing them as a necklace or headband. My other favourite detail of the day was seeing our dog (Manu) walk down the aisle, unassisted, with a cute red sign Alex had made for him, saying “Dad, here comes mum”. Safe to say that it bought on a few tears.
What advise would you give out to a couple planning their wedding? Keep to your plan, and have a clear idea of what you want your day to be. And let other people help you, as it is a fantastic way to spend time with friends and family, and work towards something that is positive and special.
Most memorable moment? Watching our Aunties, Uncles and Parents head bang to the acoustic version of “killing in the name of”, a truly unexpected and bizarre sight.
Photographer | I do Photography, Videographer | Henry McLeod, Cake | Piri Robinson, Florist | The Flower Shed
Stationery | Bride’s sister, Venue | Parua Bay, Dress Designer | A La Robe, Shoes | Gabor in Paris
Hair & Make-up | The Villa, Bridesmaids Dresses | Bride’s mother, Grooms Attire | My Grandfathers suit
Hallensteins, shoes from Caterpillar, Band | Kurfew, Marquee, Tables, and Chairs | North Hire