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Kristie and Oliver

A special treat for our close neighbours today! An Australian and New Zealander marrying! Today’s wedding took place in Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

Oliver (NZ) and Kristie (Australia) met in London 12 years ago.  Kristie tells the story of how they met a world away. “We were ‘flat mates’ and dated for 9 months but decided things weren’t quite working out, so I headed back to Australia while Oliver stayed in the UK and life went on. 6 years later, Oliver sent an email out of the blue to say he was coming to Melbourne for a visit. I didn’t decline the chance to catch up with an old boyfriend but I had moved on – well so I thought! We caught up and the flame wasn’t out, in fact nothing short of alive! Not long after this we decided to rekindle the love from 1998. Oliver returned to the UK for a couple of years and finally made a permanent move to Melbourne in 2006.”

Photos today are by Emma Hughes.

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Using invitations from Poppies For Grace, Kristie complemented the bird design with her own creations. She says “We knew we wanted a wedding with an old world charm to it, but we also wanted it to be natural, creative, unique and personal. I wanted to be hands on as much as possible, not just to keep costs down because often it wasn’t the cheaper option, but because I wanted our guests to take something home that was made with love and made by us. It’s too easy to surf the net and click on X number of gift items that arrive in the post 3 days later. To me, that was far too impersonal and never an option.

We put together a Wedding Guide booklet for each guest that went with the invitation and it included information about our wedding weekend on Waiheke. We had 40+ guests coming from overseas, so felt it was important to give them as much information as possible (most coming to NZ for the first time).”

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Kristie wore a gown from Gwendolynne Burkin, jewels from Stephanie Browne and hairpiece from BeSomethingNew on Etsy. Her bridesmaids wore orange gowns from Filly’s Stable. The lush bouquets were design by Vicky Morcroft  of Waiheke Island Florist. Oliver wore a suit from Antons.

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Kristie and Oliver married at Goldwater Estate underneath one of the beautiful trees. Kristie made fans for the guests to carry (from this template) “I made fans for our guests to use on the bus on their way to and during the ceremony (which were a hit as it was a muggy day) and handed out little goodie bags for the kids. I made small little paper cones that held hydrangea petals for guests to throw over us at the end of the ceremony.”

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Kristie walked down the aisle with her mum and dad to Pachelbel’s Canon played by Milly Rout String Quartet.

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Kristie says “Oliver and I wrote our own vows so the ceremony was very special for me – in fact we both couldn’t hold back our tears of joy which the photographer captured beautifully!  I was still crying 10 minutes after the ceremony!

It was also very special that my two sisters traveled from overseas and my best friend Trace (after recently recovering from breast cancer) joined us as my bridesmaids. Oliver also had his two brothers and best man join us from London, which was fantastic too. Having such close friends and family make the effort to be there for our special day meant the world to us.”

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Check back this afternoon for Kristie and Oliver’s lovely details!

Photos by Emma Hughes.