I love the feel of today’s wedding, it has a moody feeling with the rich tones of the New Zealand landscape, but a soulful feel to it too. The rustic touches, the heartfelt moments.

The wedding reception was held at Jon’s mother’s home. Zilla says  “Margaret Campbell, Jonathan’s mother is a powerhouse and very generously agreed to hosting the wedding at her 7.5 acre property. We had expected her to mow the lawns and mop the floor of the living room but what she undertook was 5 months of hard labour. There isn’t anything Margaret can’t do”

Zilla says “The entire wedding was DIY however most was DIY ring ins. Both Jonathan’s sisters are artists and worked to create the rustic loved look we were after but incapable of DIY ourselves.

Kate lives on K Road and must know everyone in Auckland as she pulled together the most incredible team. She some how managed to sweet talk Renee Coutler who owns Coco’s Cantina to cater the wedding. The food was exceptionally delicious. Hot smoked whole salmon and beef with the best ever horseradish cream I have ever had the pleasure of eating.” Guests also enjoyed a cake from City Cake Company.

Zilla says “Everyone pitched in, but the day could not have run as perfectly as it did without Rachel Turner who performed her role as wedding coordinator with generous gusto!”.

Zilla says of their first dance “Oh dear, this would have to go down in history. We took some lessons from Sally Clarke who is an exceptional choreographer and we had such fun learning the routine.

danced to Angus and Julia Stone’s song “Just a Boy”. Mother of the bride Helen Turner, attempted to steal the brides thunder god love her by cutting in for a dance with ‘oooh my new son in law’. Needless to say said bride was none impressed however Sally taught us well and the dance continued and I didn’t stalk off to my trailer in a huff. Although i did contemplate this for one nanosecond.”

Guests were keep on the dance floor all night says Zilla ” Music was by the brilliant Henry and Amber who also own and run a great bar on K Road called D.O.C”

I could sum up today’s wedding by telling you that the guests partied on all night, or that they lived happily ever after. But Zilla ended her written story so perfectly, I’m going to leave it all to her.

“To sum up the wedding I would have to say that it was a true reflection of our personalities and i think that was the most important thing for us to achieve. We had a ball and and are great advocates for marriage. AND using Jonas Peterson as your wedding photographer. He will capture everything you could have dreamed of and then so many other beautiful and surprising moments that will melt your hearts.”

Congratulations Zlla and Jon on your marriage and thankyou for sharing your words with us today! May you have a lifetime full of laughter together. Thankyou also to Jonas Peterson for sharing this wedding with us today!

Photos by Jonas Peterson.

Zilla and Jon

I was so excited to receive this wedding! I’ve been wanting more New Zealand weddings on Polka Dot Bride for a long time (if you have one to submit, please visit our submissions page) and then this gorgeous celebration landed in my inbox by none other than Jonas Peterson.

ZIlla and Jon met Through Zilla’s friend Glen Cooney who moved into a house with Jonathan. Glen was the best man at the wedding and flew all the way from London.  Jonathan first said I love you to Zilla on a park bench outside the hepatitis centre on Crown Street in Surry Hills.

The wedding took place out on the West Coast of Auckland at Bethells Beach (the same beach where award winning movie The Piano was shot) at the family home where Jonathan grew up. Zilla says ” It is a truly magestic place and we couldn’t have imagined getting married anywhere else.”

There is a lot to love about the land of the long white cloud.

Zilla and Jon’s wedding day was filled with work from family & friends. Their stationery was designed by Zilla’s dear friend Phoebe Glasfurd (who also sent the link of Jonas Peterson to Zilla) and her fiance Aren Walker who own Vancouver design company Glasfurd & Walker.

Zilla wore a gown by Collette Dinnigan and shoes from Kate Spade. The bridesmaids wore gowns by Wayne Cooper.

Zilla’s sister Zoe and brother- in-law Masaru are Pearl Technicians. All the pearls featured were generously on loan from them

The groom wore a suit from Calibre.

The ceremony was held at Jon’s childhood church. Zilla says “Jonathan attended the little Anglican church at St Mark’s in Swanson while he was growing up so it seemed fitting. Plus it was a white weatherboard structure with rosebushes running down one side of it so I didn’t need anymore convincing.”

Zilla walked down the aisle to “Canon in D Major” performed by the Berliner Philharmonic. They walked out to Florence and the Machine’s “You’ve Got the Love”. The flowers were arranged by Jon’s Nanna’s floral Art Club, headed by Lois Gerrad.

Check back this afternoon, I have more beautiful images to show you!

Photos by Jonas Peterson.

So much beeauty in today’s wedding! The lush greenery, the touch of sparkles!

An unexpected twist led to some of Katy’s favourite photoss of the day “During the photos, which were held around the convent site, we stumbled across an open door at the base of the convent and snuck inside for some more photos.  It was so nice and cool in there, that we all relaxed and the result was some of the most beautiful photos of the day”

Katy says “After our photos we were so hot we sat down at the Convent cafe, dresses, suits, flowers and all to get a cold drink.  Little girls kept running up to us and staring, and a few people came and wished us well – it was lovely.”

Instead of a typical ballroom reception, Katy and Ryan hired out a Melbourne restaurant- The Italian. Katy says “We wanted to let the beautiful and natural surrounds be our details for the day, so we tried not to overthink the small stuff, and let the environment speak for itself.  The tree was the standout detail for us, everything else was just decoration, so we went with simple white chairs and a red carpet.  The same for The Italian, it is of itself a beautiful space, so we kept our own influence to a bare minimum, simple , fresh, white roses for the tables, with candlelit lanterns in between (provided by The Italian).”

The three tier cake was created by The French Lettuce and topped with a cake topper from Pink Frosting. Katy has a background in graphic design and created all of the stationery herself.

Katy says one of her special moments was “The incredible, incredible speeches from Ryan and my sister, they had everyone in tears, they were beautiful and touching.” she also appreciated the help of her sister “The incredibly support I received from my sister and her fiancé – they dropped everything to help us in that week and I was blown away.”

The couple did away with many traditional elements including the first dance. (though Katy admits that may have been due to the fact is was 37 degrees (98.6 F) on their wedding day! Katy says “At the end of the night, the only people left were us, and my friend who’d introduced us all those years ago, and his partner – it was the most perfect and special way to end the evening!”

Thankyou Katy and Ryan for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us today! Congratulations on your marriage! Thankyou also to Adrian of Adrian Tuazon Photography for sharing the photographs with us!

Photos by Adrian Tuazon Photography.

Katy and Ryan

A superbly beautiful Melbourne wedding this week! The wedding of Katy and Ryan. Today’s wedding is so delightful it makes me feel a little sad that we’re heading into Autumn in Australia!

Katy and Ryan left out many traditional “wedding” elements in their wedding , but Katy says that made it one of the most special aspects of the day “Leaving out certain traditional elements because they weren’t our style – and having all our guests tell us it was the most personal wedding they’d ever been to as a result.  It’s a bit frightening walking away from the ‘big’ traditional things (like a white dress!) but we wouldn’t be true to ourselves otherwise.”

Katy tells the story of how the couple met “One of my best friends told me that I had to meet his friend one day, as he was apparently the male version of me!  He (my friend) brought Ryan along to a poetry reading at Blue Velvet in Collingwood and once introduced, it was like the whole world just disappeared – we spent the rest of the night talking to each other like no one else was there.  We have not  stopped talking since!”

Photos today are by Adrian Tuazon Photography.

Katy and Ryan married an a beautiful oak tree (also known as The Heritage Oak) at the Abbotsford Convent. Katy says “Ryan and I have spent many many hours at The Abbotsford Convent, from the first day when it was open to the public, to our wedding day.  We walked my dog under the Heritage Oak, we went religiously to the Slow Food market – it seemed only natural to get married in our favourite place in the world!”

Katy wore a sparkly tea length gown from BCBG Max Azria, and shoes from Christian Louboutin. Her hair was styled by Andrew Yang and her make-up by Kate Fletcher.

Katy walked down the aisle hand in hand with her mother. One of her favourite moments of the day also happened then “Everyone burst into applause when they saw me at the end of the aisle – I wasn’t expecting that! I walked down the aisle to the sound of a gasp and then the applause of our guests!”

The attendants wore gowns from Cooper St and the couple were married by Jason McCheyne.

Katy carried a bouquet of creamy coloured roses by Seeds of Wisdom. Katy says “It was important to us too that the colour palette wasn’t heavy – it was a hot hot summers day, so we went with paler, summery colours that reflected both the environment, and our personalities!”

Ryan wore a grey suit from Pal Zileri and paired it with a white Farage shirt, striped Hugo Boss tie and Lloyd shoes.

Check back this afternoon for more gorgeous photos from Katy and Ryan’s wedding!

Photos by Adrian Tuazon Photography.