Lucy and Connor celebrated their love by saying “I do” in front of friends and family at The Stables in Matakana. The beautiful photos from the day capture the couple immersed in every moment, filled with love, joy, and laughter.
Lucy shone in Marvine by Sottero & Midgley, a stunning V-neck, beaded, and pearl A-line gown featuring delicate vine and leaf lace motifs that cascade into a dreamy tulle skirt. She completed her look with our Hendrix veil, a cathedral length glitter veil that perfectly complemented the shimmer of her magnificent gown.
We hope you enjoy scrolling through their unforgettable day and reading Lucy’s experience with us at Astra Bridal, as well as her journey to finding the perfect wedding dress.
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
I always dreamed of wearing an A-line or ballgown dress that looked glamorous, had lots of sparkle, and had a plunging neckline. When I first saw Marvine by Sottero & Midgley, I was drawn to the beaded pearl details and the sparkle she had! She was glamorous as well as timeless and elegant.
When I tried her on, I instantly felt connected to the dress, my bridal party were speechless! Whilst the dress wasn’t my size, the way Ilyese held the dress on me made it look so flattering. One of the details that stood out was the beading, which looked like vines. One of my favourite activities to do with my husband is travelling to vineyards and trying new wines, so the vine details made it feel more personal to me.
I’ve also always been someone who loves glitz and glam, and we paired my dress with the Hendrix cathedral length veil. When I put Marvine back on at the end of the appointment, I had my bridal crying moment as it just felt so perfect!
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
When I started the search for bridal stores, I saw that Astra host their Sip and See events at the beginning of every month. I attended the event with my mum, and I was so excited to see the range of dresses in store, but I was absolutely blown away by the kindness and helpfulness of the staff. When I mentioned that my appointment was booked for a later date, they pointed me towards Ilyese, who was booked to be my consultant on the day of my appointment. She took the time to discuss what I was looking for in a dress, and I showed her the ones that made me excited (I had done my research online too).
To find my dress, I had two stores booked on the same day. At the first store, I hadn’t had the best experience, so I felt a bit defeated, but I had been really looking forward to going back to Astra and trying on the dresses I had seen at the Sip and See event. I showed Ilyese the dress I liked from the other store but wasn’t completely sold on, and then we started collecting the dresses I wanted to try. Ilyese gave me control over choosing what I wanted to try on and also picked a couple of wild cards for me. She built my confidence back up, made the experience so personal, and we had so much fun! Even my bridal party were raving afterwards about how amazing the experience at Astra Bridal was as well as Ilyese!
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We both met at work and gradually our friendship bloomed over time. When the pandemic started in 2020 we extended our bubbles to each other and went for walks and watched Marvel movies together. Over a few months I realised that I really enjoyed spending time with Connor and he felt like my safe place. Nothing felt forced and naturally our relationship flourished, and by that I mean he made the first move and the rest is history!
As for our engagement story, in October 2023 we went on a trip with close friends down to Queenstown. Connor and I had already been in discussions about getting engaged and I knew that my ring was being made (by his best friend and that same friend and his wife is who we were going away with). Our hope was that Connor would be given the ring on the trip and I was hoping for the proposal during the trip away. But as it didn’t happen when we were wine touring together, by the last day I didn’t think a proposal would happen.
Then that day we went for a walk to Bob’s Cove, a beautiful lookout over Lake Wakatipu. Connor had been acting suspicious, and after taking a few pictures of him and his best friend, I approached him and he got up on one knee (as he was sat down at the end of the jetty) and he asked me to “get hitched and shit”, after saying some really cute things of course :)
What was your favourite part of the day?
It’s so hard to pick what the best part of our day was, as it was all so brilliant and perfect! The most memorable part would be walking down the aisle to Connor. I was getting quite emotional walking down the aisle, and Connor just gave me a cheeky little wave at the altar, which pulled me out of feeling overwhelmed and into pure happiness and joy. My favourite parts were the ceremony and the dance floor – love to have a little boogie!
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
Just before our wedding day there was a big storm, but the morning of our wedding I watched the sun rise with my dad and then started to get ready. The weather ended up being perfect, clear sky, sun, a gentle breeze, and the perfect temperature for us, particularly in May! My makeup artist, Sam, arrived super early to get started, closely followed by my hairdressers, Deb and Liz (who have been my hairdressers since I was 13!). It was such a relaxing morning, chatting, listening to music, eating food, soaking up the sun, and sipping mimosas with my immediate family and bridal party. A few of my vendors said it was the most chill “getting ready” morning they had been a part of, and I would definitely say it was because of all the pre-planning and clear communication with all parties involved. When Rhea and Fabian (photographer and videographer) arrived, they got to work, and I feel like this part flew by, getting dressed, taking pictures, first looks with my bridal party and parents.
When we arrived at the venue, I was excited to finally be marrying my best friend, and I was overwhelmed with emotions when it was time for my dad to walk me down the aisle. The ceremony was emotional for me but absolutely perfect, a good mixture of laughing and crying! The whole atmosphere of the wedding was wonderful, our friends and family were so supportive, and they all had such a wonderful time! We disappeared with our bridal party during cocktail hour for photos, and it was so much fun! Rhea and Fabian made this part of the day so enjoyable; most of us hadn’t had professional photoshoots before, but their guidance and support were impeccable, and our photos turned out perfectly! Our venue made sure we had our own canapé basket to snack on and ensured we were kept hydrated. Dinner was divine and so delicious! We placed our speeches between entrée and mains, which was such a good gap filler and made the night run smoothly. I made our desserts, cupcakes in four flavours for all of our guests, which went down without a hitch! Our first dance was so much fun; we had dance lessons in preparation for it, and I am so glad that we did! Then we partied the night away with family and friends, drinking good wine and taking lots of photobooth pictures!
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
I got a lot of my help from my friends who were already married and online, so I would suggest asking around for advice and do your research into vendors! It can feel overwhelming at times planning a wedding, so I very much leaned on my husband for support and tried to make the big decisions on deciding on vendors together. I also hunted for second-hand decorations to save money. Lastly, things don’t always go to plan, so don’t stress on the things that are out of your control – your day will feel more magical rolling with whatever happens rather than focusing on things you cannot change!
