Antonia & Sean
Antonia and Sean celebrated their wedding on a picturesque Matariki weekend at a vineyard restaurant on Waiheke Island. As well as so many cool personal details like a welcome newspaper, custom groomsmen socks and fun games at the reception, they included some unique twists on tradition, such as doing their speeches at dinner the night before, involving their dog Ava throughout the wedding day, offering a photo opportunity for guests to start the ceremony, two bridal looks, and performing a flash mob dance! Antonia shares their story…
Photos by Jonathan Suckling Photography
Our wedding day was on our 5th anniversary, which happened to fall on Matariki Weekend. I spent much of my childhood at my grandparents’ home on Waiheke and introduced Sean to the island paradise early on in our relationship. Casita Miro was the obvious choice for us as our venue. It was the first place we dined at on Waiheke together, and with the Spanish influence, Sean was right at home, as he had previously lived in Spain. The food and wine are always incredible (especially their specialty Madame Rouge), and using their garden produce is a beautiful touch. The intimate, colourful venue, complete with hanging jamon, festoons and an outdoor bar area overlooking the ocean, all added to the “us” vibe we wished to achieve.
Having so many special friends involved in the day made it feel incredibly personal. Libby served as our celebrant, my best friend and bridesman Clayton made our cake, and Claire, who was originally going to be a bridesmaid but stepped down due to having a newborn, acted as our MC. Daniel, the father of our godchildren, made a heartfelt toast to us, and my friends participated in the flash mob for Sean with me.
We held a “night before dinner” at Fenice, a cosy Italian restaurant in the heart of the village. A majority of our guests were able to join us, where we were treated to local culinary excellence, and we hosted our wedding speeches in between courses. We decided on this option, as speeches can often be anxiety-provoking, and we wanted our bridal party and family to fully relax the night of the wedding.
I made a “Wedding Bible”, and it was so helpful to have everyone on the same page about timelines. We distributed it to the bridal party, vendors and our parents, and it helped keep everyone on time, and there was no confusion about any logistics.
We hired three neighbouring houses within walking distance to our favourite Waiheke beach, Onetangi, for the bridal party and partners. Sean spent the morning playing on the beach with Ava, our fur baby, and then got ready with his groomsmen and close friends at the main house.
I got ready at the Vineyard Cottage, which was up the hill from Casita Miro. My Mum, three bridesmaids and a bridesman were all there to help keep the nerves at bay. We sipped mimosas and enjoyed fresh, local pastries while having our hair and makeup attended to.
We were inspired by the NZ Post personalised stamps so we used a photo taken at our engagement shoot and had 200 stamps made for the save the date fridge magnet, and invitation postage. We printed a photo and put it inside the envelope triangle. We had a wax seal with our initials as the final classic touch to our envelope.
I chose to have the train from my dress removed by the team at Alter Me. This was to allow for a fun and hassle-free occasion, where I didn’t have to think about Ava stepping on my dress. It was for this reason that I also opted to wear a Harriet Falvey birdcage veil for a clean and simple look. As I’m fairly fuss-free, having shoes that reflected my personality was important, and my sparkly Kate Spade Keds (which started out white) were the best decision for partying all night long.
We decided to do a “first look” and have our bridal party photos captured before the ceremony, as we knew we wouldn’t want to leave right after saying “I do”. This was a wonderful decision in our eyes, as spending time with our 56 guests was important to us.
As Sean is a P-3 Orion fan/freak, I surprised him by purchasing socks with the aeroplane on them for him and his groomsmen
Our guests were collected from the ferry by the team at Heke Bus – a local institution. They were treated to live commentary and a tiki tour of the island before being dropped at Casita Miro. Sean and his groomsmen welcomed each guest, and they were given a “newspaper” with our love story and a preview of the events to come. As it was a cool winter's day, we served non-alcoholic blackberry hot toddies and mulled wine to guests upon arrival to warm them up.
I opted to walk up the aisle to our chosen song, Over the Rainbow, played on ukulele by the talented David Haslett. To avoid the awkward, sneaky cellphone picture ceremony, after I joined Sean at the end of the aisle, we paused for a minute and, together, faced our guests. It was at this time that everyone was invited to take any photos they wished, under the guidance of our celebrant, my friend Libby D. It also gave us the chance to catch our breath, say hi to each other and look out to see all of our friends and family. Additionally, we opted to seat our bridal party for the ceremony, and Sean faced his family/friends, while I faced mine, allowing all the emotions to flow. Ava was our ring bearer, and we had a small leather pouch made to clip onto her collar, keeping the precious goods safe.
Having Ava present was such a highlight. She added charm and an element of mischievousness, saying hello to everyone, and basically being the star of the show.
Espresso martinis were served after the ceremony, accompanied by free-flowing bubbles and beer. The delicious canapes were devoured by all.
We did sneak away for 20 minutes at sunset with just our photographer Jonathan and videographer Jared for an intimate moment on Onetangi Beach, while our guests were invited to take their seats for the reception. It was during this time that I took out my hair and donned a pearl headband for my “second look”, as carefully pre-planned with my hair stylist Danni.
The sip and solve was a nice way for guests to chat with each other to find out the answers
We had playing cards as our guest book, as we play cards any time we go away/in the evenings. And, the lollies we chose for the guests to nibble on/take home were a selection of our parents’ fav sweet treats
When we returned from our photo session on the beach, we wanted to bring the energy and party vibes, so Sean and I decided to run into the venue and circumnavigate the room, while high fiving our guests. We were then seated at a sweetheart table, which allowed us to look out at the two long buffet-style tables brimming with our nearest and dearest in front of us
Our cake was made with love by my bridesman Clayton, and it was a stunner. Rhubarb, white chocolate and raspberry for the bottom tier and lemon with lemon curd for the top tier. Sean requested Clayton’s specialty macarons, which were the perfect final aesthetic touch.
As we weren’t having formal speeches, Sean and I provided some light entertainment by playing the shoe game. It was a big hit with our guests, along with the shots of Madame Rouge served throughout. After a decadent multi-course meal, a quick speech by us to thank our vendors, friends and families, the dance floor opened. As Sean did not want to do a first dance, I took it upon myself to secretly arrange a group of friends to complete a “flash mob” style dance for him instead. Sean, being in the Air Force and an aviation fanatic, we decided on a Top Gun theme – his favourite movie. Together, my talented friends composed the dance moves, and we edited a soundtrack of all the Top Gun songs. Needless to say, Sean was VERY surprised and perhaps had second thoughts about not doing a first dance! The dance floor was then lit with glow sticks, and we didn’t stop until the last song. At the end of the night, Sean and I hugged and farewelled each and every one of our guests at the door, before they boarded the bus for drop-off to their accommodation or the ferry.
Sean and I then walked up the hill to the Vineyard cottage. Ending the night in the spa under the Matariki stars and the Milky Way was a perfect end to a perfect day.
As a final touch, we joined any remaining guests at a local café for breakfast the next day before helping shuttle them to the ferry to mark the end of our long weekend of celebrations.
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VENDORS
Photographer: Jonathan Suckling Photography
Venue: Casita Miro
Bride's attire: Alter Me Alterations / Hera Couture dress secondhand / Harriet Falvey birdcage veil / Kate Spade Keds shoes / The Perfect Match headband / Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey fragrance
Groom's attire: Dorset Suits / Personal accessories from the RNZAF P3 Orion memorabilia collection / Redbubble socks / Paco Rabanne Invictus fragrance
Bridesmaids: BLAK Bridesmaids / Getting ready robes Bride Tribe
Groomsmen's attire: Dorset Suits and ties custom made with fabric from BLAK by Frank Casey
Makeup & Hair: Rosie & Danni The Peach Club
Venue Coordinator: Liza Casita Miro
Celebrant: Libby D Love and Liberty
Entertainment: David Haslett acoustic guitar & DJ
Cake: Clayton Barnett Clayton Bakes
Video: Jared Perspectives
Esperanza / Novita Diamonds / Michael Hill / Polished by Court NZ / Wild Poppies / The Rustic Lane / Neon Signs NZ / Zazzle / Redbubble / Etsy / Temu / Fullers / Sealink / Heke Bus / Coast and Country / Stay Waiheke / Be My Guest Waiheke / Fenice Restaurant / Bisou Cafe / Charley Farleys Cafe
