Real Weddings

Darlene and Tiaan

Photography by Woollie Weddings

"We met through some mutual friends during our time studying at the University of Otago. At the time, he was flatting with a really good friend of mine, so we naturally ended up spending a lot of time together. It grew pretty easily from there. He was still back home during my elective placement in Auckland, but he flew up on a whim and spontaneously proposed to me. You can guess what my response was! As we planned the big day, I wanted a garden wedding with tons of fairy lights. There weren't many garden venues that could cater for more than 300 people and, being Samoan, that was essential to my loved ones and me. When we found Allely Estate, it was simply perfect. They had such a beautiful garden with a white marquee. I worked together with my florist/event designer to have just as many flowers in the marquee, heaps of fairy lights, and my dream garden wedding sprang to life. If there's something extra special to us, it was the song I walked down the aisle to. We were looking for a piece that fits both of us. As we listened to the typical wedding aisle songs, it felt a bit too cheesy for us. Eventually, we both agreed I should walk down to a Christian song. We came across a mash-up of '10,000 Reasons' and 'What a beautiful name' covered by Caleb and Kelsey, and we knew this was it. We're both devout Christians, so it meant a lot to start the day in worship. The song begins with: "The sun comes up – it's a new day dawning," which was a gorgeous representation of what it felt like at that moment getting married. A new day, a new life, meaning the world to the both of us."

Thanks to all the contributing vendors:

Venue: Allely Estate
Photography: Woollie Weddings
Cake: Sweet Bites