Together for four years after meeting through church events and basketball, Charlotte and Matt called upon their family to help bring their day in Christchurch, New Zealand, to life – Charlotte’s mum made her gorg gown, and Matt’s grandpa married them! It’s little wonder then they had this great advice to share: “Don’t feel like you have to do everything on your own, delegation is your best friend. The day will go by in a blur so don’t sweat the small things.” Sirena Photography took some incredible snaps on both digital and film – scroll down to see and to hear from the newlyweds…
THE INSPO “We wanted to have a rustic, natural vibe to the wedding. We were thinking of lots of vines and wood, greens and browns. We knew we wanted dried flowers for the day, as this completed the rustic feel. We used A LOT of dried eucalyptus, that was locally sourced near us, as well as a fair amount of hessian in different places.”
DIY DEETS “The flowers we chose for the day were all dried. My family and family friends dried a lot of beautiful flowers for us. We also got flowers from Riverstone Castle in Oamaru. The flowers were used for table decorations, signage, door decorations and of course the bouquets. My mum helped to create the vision we had for these, as well as helping me create the bouquets and Matt’s boutonniere. The last thing we used the flowers for was a huge flower and twig hoop that hung above the top table.”
THE DRESS “My dress was designed and made by my mum. I knew I always wanted my dress to be made by her since I was a little girl. We went fabric hunting and got very lucky on the first try. Some of the fabric was also sourced online from Auckland. The dress took about six months to make, and was absolutely perfect on the day. The veil I wore was my mum’s from her wedding. We didn’t change anything about it and I wore it the same way she did.”
LITTLE LOL “I have done Irish dancing my whole life and it holds a very special place in my heart. I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the day in some sort of way, so my sisters and I decided on doing a flash mob. The flash mob followed our first dance and was started by my sisters. Everyone loved it and a lot of people joined in. Although there were a lot of experienced Irish dancers on the floor it was Matt’s groomsmens’ energetic and endearing attempts that really stole the show.”
STANDOUT VENDOR “Our amazing wedding photographer. We found Sirena Photography online, after searching through many different photographers. I have a degree in photography and I specialise in film, therefore it was unexpectedly hard for me to find someone that fit the style I had in mind. I really wanted a photographer that shot digital and film. When we found Sirena’s photographs, we were instantly drawn to her work. We saw that she specialised in both digital and film, and her photographs gave off a soft and whimsical vibe. We felt this was a perfect fit for us.”
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CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Sirena Photography Florist & Stationery Charlotte (bride) Ceremony & Reception Venue Christ’s College Celebrant Jim Robb (Matt’s grandpa) Rings Family heirloom The BRIDE Bridal gown designer Phillippa Rodley (Charlotte’s Mum) Shoes Mi Piaci Accessories Lovisa Bridesmaid Dresses Colleen Rodley (Charlotte’s Grandma) THE GROOM Suit, Shirt & Groomsmen Suits Hallenstein Brothers Shoes Barkers Grooming The Blind Barber