BEN & SANDRO
The rustic winter wedding of BENJAMIN FISHER and SANDRO GUARDUCCI was a unity of cultures epitomising hygge.
Sandro and I were introduced by our mutual friend, Zoe, soon after I moved to Auckland. Our future ‘grooms’ gal’ was correct in thinking we might hit it off! Five years on, we were in Rome after a trip to visit Sandro’s parents in Florence. We had drinks on the rooftop of our hotel watching over the city and the ancient Pantheon as the sun set. Dinner was followed by a walk along the Tiber river to a bridge. It was then that I fumbled through a speech, in an attempt at being romantic, and proposed with the stunning Vatican City lit up in the background.
We married at Mudbrick Restaurant and Vineyard on Waiheke Island less than a year later. We had beautiful memories of fun evenings with friends and family on Waiheke and at Mudbrick already, so we simply had to add one more great memory. Winter is not your typical wedding season, which meant the island was much quieter, so our friends and family who wished to stay there for a couple of nights could find affordable accomodation easily. The conservatory in the Lodge was perfect for our ceremony and we even had the option of moving everything outside at short notice if the weather allowed. On the day, it was warm with clear skies, but we loved the conservatory so much that we kept the ceremony inside with the French doors open.
Mudbrick feels to us like a combination of Tuscany and New Zealand, and thus was the perfect location to bring together our two backgrounds. There was also an Italian influence on our stationery with olive branches and dark olive colours. Our suits and our ‘grooms’ gals’ dresses were in darker tones that complemented the season.
SANDRO: Mudbrick is so naturally stunning that we felt it didn’t need much ‘dressing up’ in the way of flowers or décor. The bouquets for our ‘grooms’ gals’ and our boutonnieres used succulents, keeping
with the rustic feel of the venue. They looked stunning and can even be planted after the ceremony and kept as a memento for years to come!
Ben and I went through the whole suit-making process together with Murray Crane of Crane Brothers, who was fantastic and very patient. We chose two different shades of navy and went to every fitting session together, which was a great experience. We added a personal touch to our wedding rings with ‘to have’ engraved on Ben’s and ‘to hold’ on mine. We didn’t want to impose a dress on the ladies, so they were free to choose a style to their liking.
Mudbrick’s Archive Bar and Bistro hosted our fun rehearsal dinner the night before, as well as our healthy family breakfast on the day. We didn’t care for the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony, so spent the night together at the venue. Getting ready with my husband-to-be and our ladies was very special, and the addition of champagne meant that the preparation phase of our wedding was a party in its own right!
Our wedding was on a Monday, which is unusual, but we wanted to give our friends and family an excuse for a long weekend. The ceremony was a fun, humorous and light-hearted celebration of us as a couple. As we exchanged rings, I spoke my commitment in English, while Ben’s was in Italian. The joining of cultures continued through to the speeches, with the English-speaking guests entertained by my father-in-law’s effort to add a touch of Italian language to his speech, and my brother translating for my mother, much to the amusement of my father. It was so touching to see two very different families coming together from two different sides of the world to become one big family.
Our guests had been welcomed with drinks, which continued after the ceremony with the addition of delicious canapés. Sweetcorn and
truffle arancini, sautéed prawn ceviche, seafood fritters and teriyaki angus eye fillet kept them occupied while our photos were taken. Our reception was at Mudbrick Restaurant, a sit-down meal accompanied by a wide variety of the vineyard’s wines. The entire menu was a work of art with favourites being the twice-cooked pork entrée with umami broth, carrots, daikon and sesame, the slow- cooked wagyu brisket main with smoky tamarind ketchup, kumara and peanut podi, and the vegan Jerusalem artichoke and truffle ravioli.
BEN: Petit-fours were our dessert option, so we wanted something a little different for the ‘cake’. We had a statement cheese stack, which we paired with port wine by the open fire. Sandro would probably say that the highlight was the food! However, it is a rare joy to be surrounded by your closest friends and family all in one place and we will always treasure the memories we made with those who celebrated with us. It wasn’t a party evening, but rather a night with good food and good company like we wanted.
We spent five weeks in Italy for our honeymoon, catching up with friends and family and spending time together as newlyweds. The Calidario Terme Etrusche in Tuscany was a special getaway spot for us. It’s built on an old Etruscan spring and offers many spa treatments. We spent our time sunbathing and enjoying the local food and wine by the pool. Venice was another highlight. We couldn’t recommend the Hotel Ai Reali di Venezia highly enough – it couldn’t get more Venetian. We loved walking around the romantic floating city, exploring and getting lost in the intricate network of narrow walkways and bridges before enjoying an ‘ombra’ (glass of wine) at one of the many ‘bacari’ (local tapas bar). A week in a Hilton Resort villa in Bali on the way home was the perfect pampering end to our trip.