Real Weddings

Heather and Kevin
Waihōanga River Lodge and Retreat

Photography by Bonnie Photographics

“It’s a modern love story with modern beginnings: Tinder. Kevin and I fell in love, and the rest is pretty much history, haha. Our song is “You Are My Sunshine,” because Kevin started calling me ‘sunshine’ as a pet name. He said that it’s because he feels happy around me even when it’s raining - the song just kinda fits perfectly, doesn’t it? The proposal was lovely. It was during the morning one weekend. We were sitting at the dining table and enjoying hot coffee whilst browsing the news and looking for houses to buy (which, at the time, seemed like my perpetual goal). Then, quite suddenly, Kevin approached me and got down on one knee. It didn’t click at first. I thought he was looking for something on the floor, but the look on his face said something else was going on. The pure excitement and joy of that moment have washed away his exact words - but the answer was definitely yes! Our wedding was set against the amazing backdrop of Waihōanga River Lodge and Retreat. Our guests had a ton of accommodation options, from lodging to camping, and we hired a cute caravan bar and food truck to give our wedding extra style. There was face-painting, a candy bar (which we had the best time shopping for), and tons of outdoor and indoor games. It was like a big party with everyone that we love most in the world. Neither of us likes being the centre of attention, but we both love being around our family and friends, so a lot of the usual traditional parts of a wedding got dropped. There was no cake cutting, first dance or speeches. It made things interesting to plan as all those traditional elements of a wedding usually help to frame the day - but we ended up with something we (and, hopefully, our guests) loved.”

Thanks to all the contributing vendors:

Venue: Waihōanga River Lodge and Retreat
Caravan Bar: Sadie Swoon
Food Truck: Beat Kitchen
Photography: Bonnie Photographics
Entertainment: Daizy Design
Hair: Salon Savoy Tawa
Makeup: Makeup by Vickie
Celebrant: Karen Simpson-Warren
Marquee: Stretch Tents Wellington
Hire: Handmaid
Dress: Astra Bridal