HAWKES BAY BRIDES
Jess & Laney
From their first getaway to their engagement, Jess and Laney look to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand for their most special moments — and their wedding day was no exception. The brides were married in an intimate ceremony on the country’s coast during a celebration replete with bespoke, special details, pleated heels notwithstanding. Read along for Jess’s story behind her perfect weekend now.
Photography by Natalie McNally
"We have always loved Hawkes Bay and although neither of us are from there, we have always spent a lot of time there as a couple. We have so many special memories in Hawkes Bay — including both our first trip away together and our engagement."
"We got married at St George's Restaurant which is a beautiful private spot in the countryside. We loved it's character, rural location and intimate feel — you could see the beautiful food growing in the gardens surrounding the property that were then served fresh on your plate. We had our ceremony in the vine patio, canapes and cocktails in the courtyard, dinner on the mezzanine, and cake and dancing downstairs. We loved our wedding day and have plans to go back to St Georges and Hawkes Bay for our 1 year anniversary. We wanted our day to feel intimate and to represent us, which is why there was a lot of focus on family, food and the smaller details."
"I chose the Dahlia heel in pearl because I loved that the colour, texture and bow all added an elegant and classic feel. I also wanted to be able to walk anywhere within the venue and dance all night without having to take my heels off so the mid-heel was a perfect option for me."
"We knew that we wanted a wedding that was timeless, elegant, classic and understated. We fell in love with our wedding dresses that Alice at Hayes Bridal designed and the little custom details that we could add. We spoke to her about a handbag and the idea of a cake bow that was the same material as our dresses. These details are now some of our favourites."
"Laney and I really wanted our wedding to reflect us and our journey. We made a conscious decision to gather ideas and details together each week on our ‘Wedding Wednesday's’ — dedicated time together spent staying on top of all the exciting and essential tasks involved with planning a wedding. We were also very lucky to have the help of a great team at Flock Events and Kat from St Georges to put our vision together."
"We knew that we wanted a wedding that was timeless, elegant, classic and understated."
"There were so many special moments throughout the entire day but I personally loved the start of our wedding day. We got up at sunrise and went to the beach where we talked about the day ahead and shared some of our private vows. It was such a stunning sunrise and we were so excited that our day had finally arrived. After that we went back to our beautiful accommodation and had breakfast, coffee and played music before our parents and vendors arrived. I truly think that you should start your wedding day with your favourite person enjoying the little moments. It absolutely set the tone for the rest of our wedding day!"
"One of the most unexpected but special things about our wedding was that we got to have time with each of our guests. We had a smaller guest list of about 70 people which meant that we could have special and meaningful moments with everyone."
"We knew that there was always one thing that wasn't going to go to plan on our wedding day and ours was our wedding car. We had hired an amazing Jaguar E-Type for Laney to drive us to our ceremony. On the way we decided to take it up Te Mata Peak for photos but in 32-degree Hawkes Bay weather, the jaguar overheated! We looked at each other and knew that this was 'our thing' for the day — it was almost a relief that it wasn't something more major! I was determined to get us to the ceremony on time so I asked if some mountain bikers could give us a lift in their ute to the venue. We arrived at our ceremony on time and this is now one of our favourite memories from the day!"
