Steph and Julian tied the knot in front of friends, family and the beautiful beach view at Wai-Iti Beach. Their day was filled with lots of joy, happiness and love.
Steph wowed in Marley by Jenny Yoo, an elegant crepe fit and flare with a soft chiffon knot detail that floats dreamily down. The open back and thin spaghetti straps give a hint of elegant sexiness. The way this gown fits the body and flows out is utterly romantic.
Keep scrolling to see beautiful images, how Steph found her dream dress, and get some insight into their day!
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
The dress was beautiful. It was simple, which was a must for me, but also was different with the chiffon tie at the back.
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
Astra Bridal Wellington - the dream team!!!! Astra Bridal was my first shop on our road trip to Wellington for the dress hunt. Kryslin helped find the dress. She was so personable and just understood my vibe straight away, which was super helpful to help calm my nerves and to find 'the one'. When we left the shop, we cancelled all other places that I was booked into for fittings that weekend.
I also had to do a subsequent trip down after picking the dress … we found out I was pregnant and would be 35 weeks pregnant at the wedding. The Astra Team were phenomenal, helping me change the size of the dress and miraculously I could still wear the same style I had originally chosen - I obviously just needed a few alterations!!
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We were mutual friends through high school. Our group continued to catch up in summer uni holidays when everyone was back home. Julian slowly started to message me individually instead of just on the group chat and the rest is history! The proposal was very special, at our absolute favourite place, Lake Tarawera. I have been on family holidays there annually since I was two years old, so it holds a very special place in my heart. Julian proposed lakeside on our five year anniversary after an epic day of mountain biking in the redwoods and he managed to keep it a surprise!
What was your favourite part of the day?
The
ceremony. Wai-Iti is such a beautiful and natural setting. We were surrounded by
everyone we love. Within the ceremony, walking down the aisle and exchanging
our vowels were special. Walking down, dad had to keep telling me to slow down. I was just so excited to finally be in the moment, about to marry Julian. We
wrote our own vows and there was a definite theme to them, which seemed to
flow into a lot of the speeches and our MCs’ banter.
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
We were very lucky to score a beautiful Taranaki day after what felt like quite a wet summer. The westerly picked up after the ceremony, but this made for some cool photos when the wind caught and picked up the chiffon tie on the dress. Our venue was unique. We had the majority of our guests staying onsite which made for our dream weekend. I got ready off site, five minutes up the road at an Airbnb. We were nestled into farmland overlooking the Tasman Sea, which made for a very relaxed fun morning with my bridesmaids and family.
Our ceremony was perfect and exactly what we hoped for, not too long, not too short and no unnecessary frills.
The reception was in a clear marquee. Two of our good mates MC’d which made for a lot of laughs. We were very humbled by the speeches and we will treasure the videos of them forever. We didn’t have a head table, we had three long tables and we sat amongst our family and friends for the night, which kept it social.
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
From
the beginning, pick what is most important for you and your partner. For us, we
wanted good food and good music, so the dance floor was pumping all night. This
helped to not sweat the small nitty gritty bits and bobs, and remember the day
is about you and your partner, so stick to your guys' vision - it’s easy to start
to feel overwhelmed by endless suggestions and opinions.
