JESS & TIM - SUNRISE HIKE PROPOSAL

Our proposal was instigated under the facade of a 'sunrise hike' up our favourite mountain that we climb each year when we all on family holiday in Whangarei. Tim & I ended up walking ahead of his sister and husband to wait for them at the lookout spot and start to get the coffee ready that we planned to have whilst watching the sunrise. We sat on the rock and my task was to grind up the coffee whilst he got the cups and water ready. I opened up the bag of coffee beans and the ring was sitting on top. I looked up and Tim was on his knee proposing, and I just started crying. Once I said yes, my best friends from home jumped out of the bushes, as well as his sister, her husband and his brother! Such a surprise to make the moment even more special! We popped some bubbly, and although we didn't get to see the sunrise because we were up in fog, it was still so special.

Our wedding was in Wellington on the 6th Feb 2021. We had our ceremony at St Christopher's Church in Seatoun and then travelled all around the South Coast for our photos, as this is such a special place for us, and where we have spent a lot of time adventuring; finding hikes etc. We held our reception at Prefab Hall in the city - which was spacious, elegant, warm, and simplistic! A perfect space to have family and friends dancing the night away.

Our theme from the very start was always natural/rustic, warm and comfortable/inviting. We wanted to organise a lot of the decorations ourselves (dried flowers, copper piping signs etc.) and really just wanted our guests to feel happy to turn up, relax and have a great time. Our theme for the reception very much was cocktail style. We hired a lot of comfy furniture and set up little 'chill' areas for guests to relax in throughout the night. These were scattered around the dance floor, so that there was a big open space for us to dance with our guests later in the evening. We had a polaroid photo book & a big "I'll drink to that" neon sign where people could get some cool photos. Oh, and a signature J & T (Jamaican Rum & Tonic) cocktail! We wanted the style of our day to be a mix of rustic, sophisticated and 'natural'.

Expectations and Reality

I hoped our big day would run as smoothly as possible - that's what motivated us (mainly Jess) to be so organised throughout the whole process. We hoped and expected our day to be fun, filled with love, and for our guests to walk away raving about every aspect from it, but also remember the small things. We think we ended up quite surprised really by how smoothly things did run, and how we weren't bothered by any problems that may have arised.

From One Bride To Another

This is a tip that was passed onto me the week of the wedding and I found it to be very relevant! No matter how crazy busy the week & day before is, by 5/6pm the night before the wedding, you need to relax, stop stressing and stop thinking about any small things that may not have been done. It's now your time to relax and go into your wedding day not thinking about anything more but enjoying time with your girls, your family, and the process of getting ready! Oh, and pick a person to delegate as the 'go-to' person for any problems that may pop up on the day!

Best Moment

It would have to be the Zoom call that had 10-15 people on it during the ceremony. We had a big TV screen set up at the end of the isle so that we could see their faces as we were standing up there. It was so special to see all of our overseas family and friends and to have them apart of our day, just from afar. 

Photography: Andrea Stephens Photography 
Hair & Makeup: The Makeup Artist - Zoe Fannin
Wedding Dress: Daisy Brides by Katie Yeung / Paperswan Bride
Groom & Groomsmen Suits: Barkers
Flowers: Flowers Manuela