Holly and Ben

Our Love Story

We met at Otago Uni in 2013 during our first year of study, we had lots of mutual friends and after one too many chance meetings at the Cook with our friends trying to set us up, we were dating. Things kept getting more serious when we started flatting together in Christchurch, and a few years later we bought a house. Since then, we have been travelling through America as well as exploring parts of the South Island together. When we’re home time is spent hanging out with our friends and family, and often out for dinner catching up with our mates. We are keen on anything to do with sport too. Ben plays rugby for Banks Peninsula and I am always on the sideline supporting throughout winter.

Ben told me he was taking me away on a trip he had planned for Valentine's Day, and I had planned the last one so I didn't suspect anything. We drove up to Maruia Springs where Ben had planned for us to do a hike, which ended up being a walk under the stars down by the river. I was very confused when I turned around and saw Ben on one knee in the dark. When he started talking, I figured out what was happening and cried my way through saying yes. We had to keep it a secret for a few days as we wanted to share it with our family first, and once we got them all together and broke the news it was a relief to have it out in the open.

Our Wedding Planning

Sharing our day with friends and family and having fun was most important to us when thinking about celebrating our marriage. NZ was going in and out of Lockdown as we got closer to the wedding day and we weren't sure if we were able to go ahead or not. We decided that if we couldn't have the people we wanted from NZ then we would postpone. Luckily, we came out of lockdown a few weeks before the wedding and it was all go from there! We had lots of laughs during the ceremony and reception which helped settle the nerves.

For us, Ben is the big picture guy, while I am in charge of the details. I am a very organised person and love to plan, so I was very excited about this process. We were fortunate enough to be offered to have our wedding at Ben's family property near Leeston. Having the venue locked in so early in the process was definitely a bonus as from there we knew what other vendors we would need to book in. Lucy from Christchurch Weddings was an amazing soundboard for ideas and provided some excellent advice and different options to think about.

Our Wedding Day

We had a BBQ dinner the night before at the Airbnb we had in Prebbleton, with both sets of parents and our wedding party. The girls stayed the night here, while the boys headed back out to Ben's family homestead where we were getting married. We spent the morning drinking champagne while getting hair and makeup done. The boys had a big cooked breakfast before heading out to have a couple of beers and hit some golf balls out the back of the farm. It was a busy morning with vendors turning up, and we had half of our guests camping on the farm so the guys were kept busy greeting them.

My dad came to pick us up in his 1955 Chevy Bel Air to take us to the ceremony. We were lucky that a sun shower held off just in time for us to arrive for the ceremony. We asked our very close family friend, Julie Black, to be our celebrant and despite it being her first wedding, she set the tone perfectly and we had plenty of laughs throughout!

After the ceremony, we had drinks and canapes, while capturing photos with family and friends. Then the wedding party jumped on the tractor and trailer and we got photos down the back of the farm. Once we had had a couple of drinks and taken some photos, we headed back up to join the rest of our guests for the reception.

Our reception holds some of our fondest memories of the day. Everyone who made speeches had all of our guests and us in fits of laughter, there was such a cool atmosphere throughout the whole night. The food was incredible, drinks were flowing and our band had everyone on the dance floor.

Quite honestly, everything went to plan, except for the fire pit and wood box being lit a bit earlier than anticipated (still to work out the culprit), everything went to plan. Thanks, Lucy!

Our Special Moments

For Ben | Holly walking down the aisle with her dad was my highlight, not knowing what her dress looked like and the anticipation of the whole day seemed to culminate at that moment when everyone was trying to be the first to see her.

For Holly | Seeing Ben surrounded by all our friends and family was really special. We wrote our own vows and kept them secret from each other until the day. Sharing these with each other was a huge highlight for me.

Our Advice

The day goes by so quickly, make sure to take time throughout to soak it all up. Getting 10 minutes with just the two of you during the night is really special as there is so much going on and it can become a blur. During planning, don't sweat the small stuff. Focus on what is important to you as a couple and how you want your day to play out.

How did you use Christchurch Weddings to help plan your day and what was your experience?

We didn't plan on having a wedding planner and through a stroke of luck, we got to meet Lucy. She was fantastic and we would 100% recommend her to anyone planning a wedding. She had great knowledge of all the little things that would be easy to miss and she was very organised.

On the day she was invaluable, taking our marquee with just tables and chairs and making it ready for the reception which looked amazing. She took all the pressure off us and meant that our parents didn't need to worry about anything on the day. We would highly recommend Lucy and can't thank her enough for all she did!

Our stand out vendors

Our photographer, Sophie Isabella was great, we aren't usually in front of the camera and she made us feel really comfortable with lots of laughs. The photos that we got back were outstanding and she captured the day so well.

Moveable Feasts did all of our catering and were excellent. The bar service and food were seamless and all of the staff were so friendly. They were really flexible in planning the catering and we could do as much or as little as we wanted, they made it so easy!

Brooke from Eden Florist did the most incredible job and the florals turned out even better than we could have imagined. After meeting with Brooke we were very confident in her abilities to pull off the vision for our day

Working with Alice from Hayes Bridal on my dress was an absolute dream. Designing and having fittings over lockdowns, while being in different cities, wasn't easy but Alice was extremely accommodating and made the process really enjoyable.

Our Dream Team

Venue | Private Property, Family Farm

Planning + Styling Concept | Lucy, Christchurch Weddings

Photographer | Sophie Isabella

Catering | Moveable Feasts

Cake Station | Cakes By Anna

Marquee | Johnson & Couzins Hire

Lighting, Audio + Visual | Insight Audio Visual

Luxury Loos | Outback Bathrooms

Hire | Truly Yours, Party Warehouse

Florals | Eden Florist

Stationery + Signage | Just My Type