Jordy & Ben

Fluffy jackets on brides and brass metal vases, candlelight, tuxes and crisp apple strudels. The wedding of Jordy & Ben may not have a crisp apple strudel, but it is filled with my favourite things!

With  Acorn Photography behind the camera, the pair chose a New Zealand winter for their wedding, the season, with its beauty, reminding the couple of the day they became engaged.

“Ben proposed while we were down in Queenstown visiting my family in August 2016” tells Jordy. “It was an amazing sunny blue sky winter’s day. He had organised a Helicopter flight where we went up into the mountains where he proposed standing in the snow looking out over the lake and surrounding mountains. This moment was the start of our idea to have a winter wedding as it was so picturesque the day we got engaged.”

The bride found her Pronovias gown at Brides on Thorndon, telling “The dress was figure-hugging, Low back, high neck with amazing lace throughout. It also had a long train. I had tried on many different styles as I was unsure of what I wanted, initially thinking I would have sleeves since our wedding was going to be in winter in Queenstown. I found an amazing fur coat to wear instead of having a dress with sleeves!

The dress I chose, in the end, I loved all the different aspects of it. From the front, it was a classic look, but from behind you had the low back with lace and of course because we chose to be married in a church and the fact I had an actual aisle to walk down I liked the idea of having a long train! ”

A bagpiper played Highland Cathedral as Jordy and her father walked down the aisle. She remembers “People said it made the hairs stand up on their neck and got the happy tears going! My dad walked me down the aisle – his baby (he has four daughters and I was the last to marry).

The ceremony was held at St Patricks Catholic Church Arrowtown, tells Jordy. “We chose St Patricks Catholic Church, Arrowtown. This little Catholic church was the perfect size with every seat filled with family and friends it had a special cosy feeling.”

“Being in a church there had to be a formal aspect to it however we wanted the ceremony to be personal so chose readings that had meaning to us and flew down a priest we have a close relationship with from Wellington who helped us relax and enjoy getting married!

It was important to us to have as many family and friends involved with the ceremony as possible.”

Of her favourite ladies, Jordy explains “Our wedding party was made up of four of my good friends. We all went to boarding school together and are like sisters, This group is made up of 13 of us so it was difficult to pick just 4 bridesmaids as 13 would have been a bit much! 12 years of close friendship and counting. Because we don’t all live in the same city anymore when we get the chance to catch up it’s absolutely amazing and involved lots of talking and laughter.”

Of their photographer, Jordy gushes “Right from responding to our initial query within minutes to providing completed photos within two weeks Erin from Acorn Photography provided amazing service. Nothing was ever a problem and she provided awesome suggestions for the location of photos.

We had an engagement shoot before the wedding which helped us both get familiar with her and her style. It meant we were both relaxed and comfortable on the Wedding day and resulted in great photos.”

Jordy and Ben chose One Fine Day Wedding Planner  to help ensure their day ran smoothly,

The blank canvas of Arrowtown Hall set the scene for the cosy reception. Jordy noting “My dad is a bit of a handyman (unlike Ben) and brought some of my  ideas to life such as the floral chandeliers and spending many hours sanding and polishing old wooden doors that looked amazing dividing the hall in two”

Artisan Catering created a sit-down feast for the occasion “Artisan Catering ran a slick professional operation. We had so many compliments on the food and service provided” tells Jordy.

Of their first dance, Jordy tells “We Chose Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere”  We decided to have dancing lessons which Ben was very apprehensive about initially! But we really enjoyed the lessons and felt much more confident with our dance.”

Acorn Photography and Cinema not only captured the photographs of the day, they also captured this beautiful movie of the celebrations. A last minute addition the bride lists as one of her must do pieces of advice for future couples.

A big congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you for sharing such a beautiful story with us! Thank you to Acorn Photography for sharing today’s photography and film!