Wanaka Weddings: Greg & Astrid

What was the inspiration behind your wedding theme?

We knew we weren’t the traditional wedding kind of people. We wanted our wedding to have a relaxed feel and the most important thing to us was having all the people we loved in the same place for one day (and that everyone just had a really good time)! We didn’t have a specific theme, but we wanted the wedding to reflect our personalities - relaxed with a splash of weird. Every detail was very personal, from making most of the decorations ourselves to hand picking a vintage plate for all of our guests, and handmaking all of the tea light candles. We decided to have a pizza truck and an ice cream truck, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love pizza and ice cream?

Why Wanaka?

We decided to get married at my dad’s house in Wanaka. It had been our holiday home for the last twenty-five years, with my dad making it his permanent home last year. I had always dreamed of getting married there and in saying that, it was a very hard decision as we live in Australia and knew a lot of our family and friends would have to travel. It was also a big decision as we knew that this meant our beautiful 12-year-old Poppy dog would not be there.

We are incredibly happy with the decision we made, it was the perfect setting, and now holds even more special memories.

Which was the favourite part of your Wanaka wedding?

Sooo many! Walking down the aisle with both my mum and my dad and seeing Greg at the end waiting for me would have to be a huge highlight; it was a moment I had been dreaming of ever since we started to plan our wedding. I didn't even notice the rain, I was too jazzed to be marrying my best friend.

When we went for photos after the ceremony and it was so good to relax and share a lot of laughs with good friends. As cheesy as it sounds, it was quite honestly the best day of our lives. The thing that stands out most in my mind when I think about our wedding day is just how much fun we had!  So much laughter, and so many amazing people all in one place, what could be better than that?

Any funny stories in the lead up to the wedding?

We tried to practice our first dance sooooo many times. We both found it really hard to be serious and it was usually quite a sporadic thing; we might be cooking dinner, then one of would say "let's practice dancing," and what followed was holding hands while rocking back and forward and standing on each other’s toes. It would eventually end in fits of laughter every time. Turned out it didn’t really matter - on the day we nearly missed our first dance song because we were too busy taking advantage of the ice cream truck!

Any advice for other brides?

I’m sure everyone probably says this, but don’t sweat the small stuff. It truly does not matter on the day! All that matters is that you get to marry the person that means more to you than anyone else.

I would also say invest in a good photographer, you will not regret it! Jodie was amazing, we hit the wedding photographer jackpot. She made us both feel at ease, told some pretty great jokes, oh and took bloody amazing pictures. 

Lastly, I am so, so glad we got a videographer! We ummed and ahhed over this for such a long time, but I have watched our wedding video at least twice a day!

There is nothing I would do differently, I wouldn’t even change the rain. Even when things didn’t go exactly how I thought they would, it all added up to the most incredible day ever.