On a joyous and sunny day, Nicola and Wilson vowed to spend the rest of their lives together at the Magnolia Estate in front of their loved ones. The day was full of emotions, fun and laughter.
Nicola mesmerised in her stunningly elegant gown- Rona- by Forget Me Knot, a lightweight crepe gown with a dashing cowl back and flowing train, adding a touch of graceful charm. She paired her gown with a our MRS Pearl Transfer denim jacket for the reception, matching the fun and lively energy of the evening.
Keep scrolling for an insight into their special day!
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
Rona was the first dress I tried on and one of the ones I had initially seen and liked online. Looking in the mirror, I knew that it was more than just the moment of seeing myself in a wedding dress. I knew straight away that it was my dress. We tried on many more but none of them made me feel the way the first one did. I loved the simple neckline and how it flowed out at the bottom with a beautiful train, I turned around to look at the back and that was the decider! The pockets were an added bonus.
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
I had no idea what style I wanted and had sent lots of different examples to my girls. From the moment we walked into Astra Bridal we felt so welcome. Dee felt like an old friend and was just as excited as we were to find something. I showed her a couple of dresses I liked and away she went!
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We originally matched on Tinder but did not meet up after I overindulged in liquid courage… 5 years later Willy slid into my dms on Instagram replying to a story about Good George cider and the rest is history!
Our first summer dating we went to a Donavon Frankenreiter concert and decided that his song ‘Big Wave’ would be our wedding song. 4 years later Willy proposed on holiday while on Great Barrier Island and had it all planned out. He played our song and our friend went and hid to take photos, he opened the box upside down and didn’t even ask! Just blurted out nervously ‘So what do you say?!’ After some champagne he did it again properly and said what he had planned out.
We wanted all our grandparents to be at our wedding so we got planning that next year to have a 2022 wedding and naively thought covid wouldn’t even be an issue by then!
What was your favourite part of the day?
I don’t even know if I can pick a favourite part of the day! There are so many different parts for different reasons. I loved that we did a first look with our bridal party before our ceremony. It was so special and Wilson's face when he turned around- I will remember it forever <3. I’d told him my dress had sleeves to throw him off the scent and one of the first things he said was ‘It doesn’t have sleeves’.
It allowed for us to just have a beautiful perfect moment before the ceremony and to get some stunning lake photos without having to leave our guests (as our wedding was just a huge party with our nearest and dearest).
We are both criers, so a first look took away from the amount of tears shed at the ceremony (but definitely not from the emotion it).
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
We had rain all week and torrential downpours on Friday morning, so set up had to wait until later in the afternoon, but we are so lucky to have awesome whānau and friends, and everybody chipped in. On Saturday we awoke to a beautiful clear sunrise over late Rotoma and it was clear blue skies and sunshine all day!
Both parties got ready at holiday homes along lake Rotoma, the girls enjoyed a champagne breakfast while getting ready and the boys hit golf balls and drunk beer. We had an absolute blast getting ready with Lissy, it was like having another girlfriend there.
In typical bridal fashion, I was quite late to the first look, but I think that was all forgiven! We did some sneaky tequila shots before walking down the aisle - little throwback to our Hamilton student bar 101 days.
Almost cried a contact lens out when my dad popped in to get ready for walking down the aisle as it was his first time seeing me. He never ever cries and he sobbed the whole day! Both my mum and dad walked me down the aisle to an acoustic version of 'Natural' by LAB. It was such a surreal feeling coming out of the garden path and seeing everyone turned our way. The ceremony was perfectly us, Georgia wrote such a beautiful piece that just reflected who we are as a team, there was not a dry eye in the garden especially after my vows to Isabella (Wilson's daughter).
The rest of the afternoon/evening was honestly just a big BBQ party, which is exactly what we wanted! No sit down meal, just big grazing tables and continuous nibbles, and walked around. We got a ton of photos with our friends and family, ate lots of delicious food and drank a wee bit too much. I stopped to take a few moments to just look around me and the place was just filled up with so much love and happiness. We danced and danced and danced. My nephews started up a breakdancing circle, someone requested the Macarena, and all the grandparents got up for a boogie at some point.
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day nobody except for you knows exactly how the details were meant to be. Just breathe and enjoy! The day will fly by, there isn’t any time to worry about those things.
