Today’s wedding is a little bit AMAZING! (In fact, I’m slightly obsessed!). A beautiful blend of bohemian and rustic with classic elements, Adam + Ellen hired and prettied a small hall as their wedding reception (love the idea of replacing hall memorabilia with beautiful written words!) and it cost them a $100 hire fee per day, BOOM! (town halls are where it’s at for saving mulah!). Oh, and it features on of my fave wedding dresses of all time, the much coveted Frankie dress from Made With Love Bridal. A big thank you to the gorgeous couple and Kirsty Peta Stone Photography for sharing this fab love story with us!
Who Adam John Wilburn + Ellen Grace Wilburn
Where Whangateau Hall (ceremony + reception). Getting ready house in Matakana.
Guests 100
Our love story began…
Over 11 years ago at a mutual friend’s party when we were both spring chickens. It was the first time I met most of the friends we now share today. Adam plucked up some dutch courage and offered me a gourmet meal of 2-minute noodles which I politely refused and we skirted around each other as great friends for a few years until I finally gave in to Adams persistent nature. We have now been together 11 years and the rest is pretty much history. In those 11 years, we have traveled to 22 countries, fallen in love with the world, managed a long-distance relationship and bought and sold our first home.
I said yes…
On my birthday, making it hard to forget. Adam took me away to Whangamata for the weekend where his family have a holiday home. He suggested we go for a picnic lunch at the beach. In a tongue and cheek manner I slightly teased him for this romantic gesture as it wasn’t his usual way. Needless to say, this probably made him even more nervous. After being at the beach for a while he rolled over on the picnic blanket, box in hand and simply said “I have another birthday surprise for you, will you marry me?”. It was perfect, relaxed, low key, in our favorite spot with no one around.
Our wedding style inspiration…
Was a mixture of sorts, we drew inspiration initially from the color palette of the wedding invitations I designed and we went from there. We had touches of bohemian, classic, and rustic aspects all tied in to one.
We saved by…
Hiring the hall for both the ceremony and reception. At $100 a day you can’t really go wrong. We also included a lot of DIY elements. The invitation suite, banner backdrop, signage and painted wall boxes were all done by myself. My wedding shoes were a $40 sale bargain and we set the entire day up ourselves meaning no need for a stylist. All the furniture including the ceremony screen and boho chair were all borrowed from my Mums company so this saved us big time and my sister and law and bridesmaid who runs Sage and Ivy was a big help with the flowers also. We also had friends lend us the festoon lights which made such a big impact when dressing the hall and bought wholesale alcohol which we could bring to the venue.
We splurged on…
The food, we had quite a number of guests so this can push the price up but you don’t want guests going hungry and I love to cook so food was very important to us.
These AMAZING jacket patches were designed by the bride Ellen Robertson Design!
Our advice to engaged couples is…
Do it for you and no one else. It is your day and you need to ensure you enjoy every moment of it. The idea of marriage is being a team, for us it is sharing food with the other human, sitting in the car for 10 minutes contemplating which café to go to, being the ultimate team at concerts together, seeing the world, putting on your old track pants and watching a Sunday film. It’s all about appreciating life’s little beauties as well as the big accomplishments as they all shape you as a couple.
CREDITS
Photographer Kirsty Peta Stone PhotographyPlanner/Stylist
The bride, Ellen Robertson Design
Flowers Buds & Bows – Family Friend (Hall & Ceremony Arrangements) and Sage & Ivy (Brass Vases)
Venue Whangateau Hall ($100 a day!)
Catering Pits KitchenMacramé Hanging Two Foxes Styling & Prop Hire
Furniture Hire Mayon Importing (My Mums company, we were very lucky to be able to borrow the ceremony screen, bohemian chair and other decoration details for the day.
Stationery + Signage
All by the bride Ellen Robertson Design
Makeup Makeup by MeagsHair Robyn Munro of Inspired Hair
Celebrant Family friend Keri Edley
Brides Dress Made With Love Bridal (Frankie Dress)Brides Earrings Picked up in Jaipur India
Brides Hair Clips Mignonne HandmadeBrides Veil Floral JewelleryBrides Shoes Rubi Shoes
Couples Custom Jacket Patches Ellen Robertson Design
Bridesmaid Dresses Kookai + Maurie & Eve + Zara
Bridal/Bridesmaid Robes Sage & Ivy
Grooms Suit, Shoes + Tie BarkersGroomsmen Pants + Ties ASOSBrides Custom Engagement Ring Culet DiamondsBrides Custom Wedding Band Jewellery By GraeGrooms Ring Walker & HallTransport Warkworth Party HireMusic Audio Club
P+L SUPERSTARS FEATURED IN THIS WEDDING
TWO FOXES STYLING & PROP HIRE
