Follow the Sun

Lush gardens and golden horizons were the order of the day for these fun-filled nuptials.

I was hitchhiking to a ski field when I met Olly. He was driving past and kindly picked me up. Four years later, at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, Olly proposed in Japanese by a beautiful river – he doesn’t speak the language, so it was even more special.

We held our ceremony at the Conservatory in Christchurch Botanic Gardens, followed by a reception at Ilex Café. From the first time I visited the café, I fell in love with the angular architecture and light, airy aesthetics. Because the venues were already so beautiful, the only additional touches we made were to hang tea lights and floral baskets above the bridal table. Aromaunga Baxters Flowers created beautiful table arrangements featuring flowers surrounded by waxy leaves and white berries for added texture.

I’m a graphic designer, so I created our stationery suite myself. I used details from our venues as inspiration for the design, letter pressing some of them and screen printing the rest. We also represented ourselves as birds; me as a fantail and Olly as a tui.

I wore a gorgeous Daisy by Katie Yeung gown that featured an embroidered lace bodice, a low V-neck and fine lace straps. It was unbelievably comfortable – I felt like I could dance up a storm in it. My dream shoes – blue Manolo Blahnik heels – finished my look perfectly.

For my arrival to the venue, I chose a sleek black 1949 Jaguar Mark V. During our ceremony we did a Mizu Awase no Gi (water ceremony) to honour and respect my Japanese heritage. In this Japanese wedding tradition, both our mothers combined water from their homes to symbolise the unification of our new family and bless our future.

Olly has two lovely children and it was important to me to involve them in our day. We gave them the roles of flower girl and ring bearer and I created a book to read to them during the ceremony, One More Person to Love Us.

I’ll never forget walking into the Conservatory with my brother by my side and seeing my Olly and the kids standing up the front waiting for me. I can’t express how blessed I felt to be there.