Real Weddings

Synthea and Nathan

Photography by Ralph Bella Photography

"You could probably say it was not love at first sight. We were two kids starting high school: Nathan didn’t really pay much attention to girls while I was too busy focusing on academics. Yet over the years, we started to notice each other. He liked how different I was, and I always thought he was a cool guy, but we were too shy to tell each other how we felt. That all changed when he asked me to the ball, serenading me with the song ‘Lemonade’. Not long after, he courted me for a few months before making it official on my 18th birthday. After dating for a few years, studying together at university and starting our first jobs, Nathan started planning the most romantic proposal. We started the day recollecting our journey at our favourite spots, with our final location being the Sky Tower, the location of our first kiss. When the elevator doors opened, I stepped onto a rose petal path that led me around the Sky Deck, decorated with fairy lights and all the cards we sent each other throughout our relationship. The path ended in a rose petal heart where he got down on one knee to ask if I would marry him, and I said YES! Our special day ended up being the best day of our lives, but it wasn’t easy getting there. We had originally planned for a May wedding but had to postpone if we wanted to enjoy our day with all our family and friends. This turned out better than we planned; our new date was on our 5th anniversary. We were able to build our first house and move into it straight after the wedding, and we moved into Level 1 on the week of our wedding so all our guests could make it! It still felt unreal on the morning of the wedding, but as soon as we got married, all our hard work and patience turned into immense joy and gratitude for our day finally coming together. Our highlights would have to be seeing each other down the aisle, a fun photo shoot and the Samoan Siva I danced for Nathan, surrounded by his family. Though our long-awaited day came to an end, we are grateful for the journey and are excited to finally live life together as best friends, as a married couple, as one."

Thanks to all the contributing vendors:

Photography: Ralph Bella Photography
Venues: St James Presbyterian Church, Five Knots
Videography: Dear White Productions
Dress: Kellylin Couture
Hair & makeup: Meenal Reedy Artistry
Cake: Rachel Faleatua
Florals & styling: Love Is In The Detail NZ