December 2024

Some love stories start with sparks… this one began with a faint.

From that unforgettable moment at Uni in the lunch line to a heartfelt, culture-rich wedding by the beach, Tom and Anne-Sophie’s day was a big reflection of their story, their heritage, and their deep love for family. Starting with their special ceremony at St Patricks then moving onto a big celebration at The Bungalow, this was more than a day, it was an experience. A lot of consideration went into personal touches, a stunning floral installation as the centrepiece, and plenty of room to celebrate, their wedding was unforgettable and incredibly personal - the way it should be.

Here's a closer look at how they brought their vision to life (with a little help from “Maisie” their cavoodle and a "wedding board meeting" or two).

Were there any important details that were special to you as a couple, you wanted to incorporate in some way?

We wanted to honour both cultures. We had a piper who piped our guests into the ceremony to honour Tom's Scottish heritage and we had Mauritian food for our cocktail hour as well as a surprise traditional "Sega" dance for our guests to honour Mauritius as my birthplace. Our families are deeply important to us so we wanted to ensure that they were included in meaningful ways throughout the day which included having all of our siblings in our wedding party, having our grandfathers witness our marriage certificate, having our mums read prayers during the ceremony, and of course our dads saying speeches. It also meant a lot to us that so many people had travelled far and wide to celebrate with us so we wrote each of our guests a special note in their place cards.

Tell us a bit about yourselves and how you met?

We met in our first year hall while we were studying at the University of Otago when we were 18. I actually fainted on Tom in the lunch line in the cafeteria so I guess he knew me before I knew him because I was understandably mortified when I came to and didn't want to make eye contact with anyone. Fast forward a few months and Tom asked me out one evening and the rest is history. He only told me about the fainting episode about a year into our relationship... Talk about falling for a guy!

What was your vision for the day and how did you choose your style?

Our priority was to have a big celebration with all our loved ones. When it came to styling we were a little indecisive and changed our minds down the track from our original beach-inspired colour-scheme. We knew that we wanted to keep things quite minimal in terms of the decorations but working with Rebecca we were really keen one big floral hanging installation to give the dining room a focal point. In order to settle on a colour scheme, we thought about colours within our home which resonated with us and we landed on chocolate browns, greens, creams and deep reds. We knew that we wanted to incorporate some fruits to our tables capes as a fun element to our decorations.

How did you find and select The Bungalow over other locations? What were you looking for in a venue?

Our starting point was that we really wanted somewhere that would be big enough that we didn't feel restricted for space. Secondly, we wanted somewhere that was open, airy and ideally by the beach. The Bungalow proved to tick all those boxes especially having met Sandy and Greg whose warmth and helpfulness really put us at ease. Looking back, we are so grateful for the help that they gave us throughout the wedding process and ensuring that our day went as smoothly as possible.

How did you go about choosing the vendors you booked?

We started by figuring out the order in vendors tend to book out to decide who we needed to book first. This started off with our venue, our photographer/videographer, caterer and florist which we knew would book out first. From there, we booked our remaining vendors based on when their books opened. Something that was extremely important to us was that we felt at ease with all of our vendors as we would be spending a significant amount of time with them both in the lead-up and on the day. All of our vendors showcased their work on social media which we found extremely helpful when trying to figure our if our styles aligned.

The planning process: How did you find it?

I found it all extremely daunting as I wasn't sure when to start but Tom was amazing with getting a budget spreadsheet started in the first instance which really helped to give us some direction. We knew from the get-go that we wanted to have at least two years to plan to give our family and friends who were overseas plenty of notice. From there we looked at the rough apportionment of how much to allocate to which parts of the wedding and worked out how much we could save in that time and worked backwards from that point. In hindsight while this worked for us, I also think that you just need to start and not worry too much about the "plan".

When it came to our guest list, it was a relatively easy decision as to who to invite. We were very clear on who we wanted and this aligned with how many people we were aiming for. We knew that as a rough rule, about 80% of people invited would attend and our numbers ended being fairly close to this.

When it came to decision-making, we worked really well together in that we leaned on each other's strength to delegate tasks. If we needed to make a joint-decision about anything, we were always on the same page. A lot of people had warned us about how common communication breakdowns happen during the planning process. However, we looked at it as a big team project and made sure to keep in mind why we were doing this. We frequently held "Board Meetings" to discuss the wedding where I was the Chair (obviously), Tom was the Treasurer and Maisie (our 2-year-old cavoodle) helped us to meet quorum. In keeping things fun and light, giving ourselves plenty of time to plan and with the help of our amazing vendors, we made the best of the planning together.

Looking back on your day, is there anything you would do differently?

Our wedding day itself went really smoothly. However, we ended up doing a lot of DIYs the week (and night) leading up to the wedding so make sure to give yourselves far more time than you think you'll need because things tend to take a lot longer than anticipated.

In the lead-up I was really anxious about ensuring that everyone would have a good time but I think it's also important to make sure that you stay true to yourself. I'd recommend prioritising things that matter to you and resonate with you instead of trying to follow the trends. Once we really honed in on this, it eliminated a lot of outside noise.

There's a lot of advice out there and if you were to listen to everyone and everything, you would never be finished with the planning. I think I would be a bit more selective as to who to take advice from (limiting it only to our vendors for the most part) and giving ourselves a strict cut-off with the planning itself.

Was there one key moment in your day that you will never forget?

There are so many so it would be difficult to choose! Seeing each other for the first time down the aisle was a very special moment for both of us. Having our grandfathers who are so dear to us be the witnesses to our certificates is something that we will always hold very close to our hearts. During dinner we also took a moment to take our families and friends all in one room which is a once in a lifetime thing, it was really special for us to be intentional about taking a mental picture of that.

What’s some advice you would give to couples, reading this, planning their day?

It's so easy to get caught up in the stress that is planning a wedding but it's so important to not lose sight of why you're doing this.

It was really important to us to be able to take in the whole day so when we were planning our wedding timeline, we allowed for lots of buffer time and we ended up running perfectly on schedule throughout the day. We also made sure to allow plenty of one-on-one time so that we could spend some quality time together on the day.

Stick together thoughout the day because it is so easy to be separated. After all, this is a celebration of you as a couple so make sure to celebrate together.

Don't sweat the small stuff. The weather was forecasted to be thunder and hail on the day which was something that was completely out of our control so we were surprisingly very chill about. However other than a few small showers in the morning and a little wind during the ceremony, the weather turned out absolutely fine! We had so much fun on our day and danced until the very last minute. It was just the best party ever!

Culture-Rich Wedding at The Bungalow, Taranaki

Were there any important details that were special to you as a couple, you wanted to incorporate in some way?

Tell us a bit about yourselves and how you met?

What was your vision for the day and how did you choose your style?

How did you find and select The Bungalow over other locations? What were you looking for in a venue?

How did you go about choosing the vendors you booked?

The planning process: How did you find it?

Looking back on your day, is there anything you would do differently?

Was there one key moment in your day that you will never forget?

What’s some advice you would give to couples, reading this, planning their day?

Dream Vendors

Culture-Rich Wedding at The Bungalow, Taranaki

Were there any important details that were special to you as a couple, you wanted to incorporate in some way?

Tell us a bit about yourselves and how you met?

What was your vision for the day and how did you choose your style?

How did you find and select The Bungalow over other locations? What were you looking for in a venue?

How did you go about choosing the vendors you booked?

The planning process: How did you find it?

Looking back on your day, is there anything you would do differently?

Was there one key moment in your day that you will never forget?

What’s some advice you would give to couples, reading this, planning their day?

Dream Vendors

Festival-Inspired Garden Wedding at Hikurangi Gardens