True Story

I received a call from an excited couple from Christchurch NZ, whose residents are normally affectionately known as “Snoozers” ' but this couple were far from that, with an excited list of ideas as long as the cloth at my 8 seater kitchen table, I knew I had my work cut out.

They loved the Nelson & Tasman region, after spending their childhood holidays there, which inspired them to create a wedding of fairytale adventure for themselves and their 80 global guests.

I could see from the start that this was going to be a challenge and a challenge is exactly what stimulates my creative juices to go all out and make those dream ideas that look so unachievable on paper become a  real life experience.

Engaged couples learnt that planning an event from hundreds and sometimes thousands of kilometers away is no easy task. Every planning hiccup from a distance is magnified 10 fold, so having their support person on the ground helps when there are fires that need extinguishing.

A year of planning passed and the wedding day arrived, so unbelievably fast but everyone and everything was easily found in the weekends itinerary. There was a calm and excited feeling in the air.

The sun rose to a clear blue sky with the girls nestled in their straw bale cottage, with attendance at their beckon call. The boys hung-out with a beer and a joke, half dressed, with loose bow ties and shirts hanging out.

The vendors were busy at their allotted task across 6 different locations, this was an epic undertaking.

• The bridal party & the part of the team at two separate preparation locations

• The ceremony venue, in a far away beech forest on Takaka Hill / Harwood Hole

• The heli team for the bride & groom’s photoshoot location. - Mt Olympus & Boulder Lakes

• The charter boat team for the bridal party photo shoot location - Fisherman’s Island in the  Abel Tasman National Park 

• The reception - Hobbits Hill Accommodation, which had the most difficult and steep one lane access dirt road I’d ever worked on, where we had to transport a marquee, all the equipment, lighting, spit roast and catering, as well as 80 guests in 2 mini buses.

This was an event that needed a good safety plan being at the height of the dry season with a fire band in place. 

The day went off as smoothly as the cream on the wedding cake, all we could hear were the voices of praise and wonder, laughter and tears of joy and with a sign of relief, (as a wedding planner), I knew we did well, the team worked their socks off, we all had our own vision of the end goal and not one of us regretted taking the task on, sore feet, aching backs and rasped voices we sat back and watched the gaiety play out, until the last people left with filled tummies and a satisfying grin on their faces. It's Incredible that we fitted so much into one day !

#TheDreamMaker