Recently we cashed in our Qantas Frequent Flyer miles and headed to Queenstown, New Zealand for the Wild Hearts Wedding Fair. Being first timers in this beautiful part of the world, we were blown away at every turn in the road by the beautiful scenery, as well as the sheer amount of talent on display at this fun-filled fair.
We stayed at a cosy little cottage called Jewel on Speargrass and my-oh-my what a jewel it was, surrounded by Queenstown’s signature mountain ranges, this three bedroom home is right next door to Thurlby Stables & Domain – a popular wedding venue (so it’s perfect for the bridal party to stay and get ready at) and was just a short drive from the Winehouse in Gibbston Valley – home to 2017’s Wild Hearts Wedding Fair.
We made so many new friends at this fair! The gorgeous Jen from Wanaka’s Studio 24 Floral Styling set up our gorgeous stall (check out the pics below!) where we had issue 16 and issue 17 available for local South Island brides-to-be. We were almost glad when we sold out of magazines in the first 45 minutes because it meant we had time to walk around and meet some of the area’s most talented wedding vendors.
We caught up with HM fave cinematographer Nathan Kaso (check out this awesome film of his), palled around with the lovely Nic from Light and Type (taker of the majority of these gorgeous photos) and finally met lovely photographer Dawn Thomson – who we seriously can not rave about highly enough.
We made new friends, too, in Carla from Silk and Honey and Chris and Sarah from Gather and Gold Tipi’s. Yep you heard that right – Queenstown now has it’s very own nordic tipi hire company and we’re certain you’re going to love them as much as we do!
We braved the five-degree temperatures for the fashion parade and soaked up gorgeous gowns from one of our fave new bridal labels L’eto (whose new collection you can check out here) as well as Rue De Seine (whose 2018 Moonlight Magic collection is out now)! We were also loving Leave Her Wilder – New Zealand’s latest answer to laid-back bridesmaids dresses you can actually wear again – check out the beautiful long sleeved rust coloured gown below, it was one of our faves!
All in all, we had such a bloody good time we only headed home for less than a week before jumping on a plane again…this time North Island bound for the Wild Hearts Auckland fair – stay tuned for that blog post in the coming weeks.
CREDITS Event Wild Hearts Wedding Fair // Photos Light and Type with additional photos by Charlotte Kiri Photography and Leanna Hill.