Old school LOVE

Jessica Sheffield and Nathan Speir married at King’s College Chapel in Auckland on Friday, April 10, 2015

e first met 16 years ago, when I was 12 and Nathan was 14. He was a friend of my friend’s older brother and we spent many summers at Whangamata, where my schoolgirl crush quickly developed! After a brief high school romance we went our separate ways at university and then reconnected in 2010 and have been together ever since. A traditional proposal Nathan had planned an autumn road trip for us around the upper North Island. We finished at Shipwreck Bay in Ahipara, one of his favourite surfing spots, and while I was busy enjoying the sunset he got down on one knee, proposing with my great grandmother’s ring! A traditionalist, he’d asked for my Dad’s blessing the night before we left. In the family We got married at King’s College Chapel, which has strong connections for us as Nathan, my father and brother are all old boys and my parents were married there too. Our wedding style I adore autumn colours and had always wanted a wedding dress with long sheer lace sleeves, so an April ceremony made all of that possible. Soft cream and pale pink accented with pops of burgundy and deep red set the tone for our ‘old-world’ celebration. Nathan has a passion for music, so we displayed vintage records, made petal cones from vintage music sheets and read song lyrics instead of poems during the service. Dream dress Bridal designer Anna Schimmel helped me bring my ideal gown to life. Using the sleeves as the starting point, she created a fitted dress with a deep V-neck, a French Chantilly lace overlay and beading at the waist. A Spanish mantilla, which my great grandfather imported from Spain in 1922, finished the look. The next day We flew out the day after the wedding for a five-week trip around the States, which included a road trip through the South in a red Ford Mustang convertible. It was just incredible and certainly highly recommended!