On a beautiful spring day, Rhiannon and Daniel said "I Do" in front of their nearest and dearest at Stoneridge Estate in Queenstown. Photos of the day show the happy couple being utterly enamoured with each other and bubbling with joy. The classic venue perfectly complimented Rhiannon's stunning gown.
Rhiannon wowed in Lorraine Lane Marie by Rebecca Ingram, a dreamy A-line with an organza lined bodice adorned with beads and sequins over a swirling lace motif. The sparkle tulle skirt is so dreamy and the glitter adds just the right amount of shimmer. She completed her look with a celestial crown and a starry veil.
We hope you enjoy seeing their photos and reading about their wedding day just as much as we did! Congratulations to them both x
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
My gown is Lorraine Lane Marie by Rebecca Ingram. The waistline was so flattering and I liked the flow of the skirt layers as they fell around me, making me feel like a fairy queen. The bodice was gorgeous with intricate lace and bead patterns, plus it was also V-neckline, providing a very nice bustline for me. It's an A-line dress and with a hoop skirt it’s really poofy. There was an option for a glittery layer, which sold it for me.
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
I had a very specific idea of what I wanted my dress to look like. I wanted it to be a very poofy ballroom dress with intricate lace patterns (maybe with beads and glitter) and with a V-neck that was very flattering and showed off my waist. A lot of people in my life were expecting me to wear black (I normally wear black in my day-to-day life) but I actually wanted to wear white for this one special day in my life as a point of difference. I actually had my eye on an online dress from an overseas shop, but was nervous about ordering without trying it on, so thought to check locally first. I also wanted the fun experience of going to a bridal dress salon, so the first (and only) place I went to was Astra Bridal. I’d been there before with my sister for her wedding and liked the atmosphere and range of dresses they had.
My stylist, Kryslin, from Astra Bridal was amazing, working with me and staying longer than my fittings were meant to be to find the right one and allow me time in it. I had two fittings- the first where I tried 8 or so dresses and then the second where I was choosing between two dresses. She was patient with me trying on different accessories alongside the dress to see how the whole picture would come together. I had multiple starry veils and capes (plus a crown and artificial bouquet) that I wanted to make sure would fit the dress. I had my bridesmaids (sisters) with me to help and it was a very fun exciting experience. It was also super handy to have a rush option for the dress to be made in 3 months because I didn’t have long to find and get my dress. It was a professional and friendly service, even offering advice for tailoring and transportation etc.
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
I met my future husband on the dating app Hinge in late January 2022. Daniel was immediately impressed with my profile featuring me in gothic outfits with my PC build and D&D games, so he messaged me first saying “How can you possibly exist?!” and we proceeded to have long and thoughtful conversations. I thought him very clever being a Rubik’s cube and chess master, and Daniel thought me very sophisticated for being well-read and into high-end audio gear.
On Wednesday 2nd February (2/2/22) we had our first date at The Library Bar where we talked for 5 hours, bouncing off each other effortlessly about everything and anything. We had immediate effervescent chemistry, and had very similar hobbies, values, and goals. We then went for a walk along the waterfront where we shared our first kiss and spotted some ‘glow fish’ (just some light reflections on the water) which became a running joke in our relationship, so much so that we now have glow-in-the-dark fish on our bedroom ceiling.
In June 2022, Daniel moved in with me (and my cat Emmelie who he proceeded to also fall in love with and become #CatDad) and we share a wonderfully loving and geeky lifestyle where we play board and video games with craft beer and bougie whisky, go for long walks catching digital Pokémon, test out different hot sauces, read together with our cat sprawled across our legs, have mini nerf gun battles, and laugh over Daniel’s dad jokes.
We light each other up, inspiring each other to grow, and can’t help but grin like dorks at each other all the time. We, in our early thirties, were over the moon and stars to have finally found each other and concluded we didn’t need to waste any time, so took the next step by getting married. Daniel proposed to me in early 2023 by making me a special Sunday brunch (before we went to the nerd convention Armageddon expo) and hid the ring in the garlic bread (which was a running couple joke between us) before waxing lyrical about how he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.
What was your favourite part of the day?
A lot but, funnily enough, the end. That sounds weird, please let me explain. One of the best pieces of advice we were given was to step-back from all the action to pause and watch. We were able to do a couple seconds of this during the reception before being interrupted again. So at the end of the night after all our guests mass exited together on the coach bus, my husband and I sat down at our head table as the bar staff began to pack-up. That was when the beauty and the wonder of it all set in for me. I was able to look around the room properly and soak it all up. The chandelier and candelabra dim flickering mood lighting, the scattered photobooth strips, the red roses intertwined around things, our celestial place-cards etc. The bar staff offered us a drink and we had a nice quiet drink whilst lovingly reflecting upon the day. We did the thing and all our hard work planning it paid off.
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
Our wedding was on Saturday 21st October 2023 (which was Labour Weekend) and it was a destination wedding in Queenstown (we’re Wellington-based) so we sold it as a romantic long-weekend getaway for our guests. The theme for the wedding was celestial fairytale with dark purple as the main colour with accents of gold, black, and red. We wanted to only invite the most important people in our life so had a smallish wedding of 45 people. I was worried about the weather because, apparently, it’s very wet and cold in October (I warned all our guests to dress warm with coats etc) but it turned out beautifully sunny and very hot the entire weekend – people were a bit overdressed haha.
We held both the ceremony and reception as Stoneridge Estate which is a romantic gothic (almost castle-like) vineyard. We also stayed at Stoneridge Estate for our accommodation, in their cottage, where we got ready in the morning. The ladies got ready in the upstairs area (bedroom and bathroom) whilst the men got ready downstairs in the lounge/living area. We had food/coffee delivered, listened to fun music, and had photos taken. Daniel and I had a first look in their grand staircase whilst our bridal party setup and decorated the venue. The ceremony was beautiful, we both laughed and cried as the celebrant told our story and we exchanged vows. We had a handfasting section (I have Celtic heritage so wanted to include this) and then exited to ‘Never Going to Give You Up’ by Rick Astley – Rick Rolling everyone which caused much laughter. We had family, group, and bridal party photos in the gardens before moving to the reception.
The reception was wonderful. We had a unique touch mirror photobooth, which was a hit and collection of guestbook and advice cards to fill in. We even had deep and meaningful conversation-starter cards scattered on the tables. We had a three-course plated meal (mostly vegetarian options as I’m vegetarian) and a generous bar tab with a large collection alcohol to choose from. There were a lot of speeches and they were all super sweet, everyone commented that they were the best speeches they’d heard – we clearly loved each other and were loved by everyone there. We played the Mr & Mrs ‘shoe game’ then had our first dance to the song ‘Never Look Away’ by Vienna Teng. We made our own dance playlist, which everyone rocked out to.
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
Focus on enjoying the day, absorbing the present moment and going with the flow, because it will go fast and things will go wrong. I intensely planned every detail of the day because I wanted it to be perfect but when it came to the day itself, I just let go of everything and whatever will be will be. Thankfully nothing really went wrong (coach bus showed up at the wrong location but we fixed it, microphone occasionally cutting out during ceremony, and some decorations were put up wrong but that’s okay in the bigger picture) other than coming down with a cold so I just needed to look after myself.
