We have a delicious destination wedding for you today peeps… And destinations don’t come much more delicious than Lake Ohau in New Zealand!
The spectacular Lake Ohau Lodge is basically in the middle of nowhere – 2 hours north of Queenstown. For a secluded and intimate celebration I can think of nowhere finer as I sit here in gloomy Birmingham!
Just by chance, super talented photographer Helen Cawte was honeymooning in Queenstown and took time out to take this amazing set of images.
Nina and Josh are our newly weds of the day and Nina is here with all the delicious destination detail.
Simple Vintage Taste
I expected finding a dress to be a lot more difficult living in the middle of nowhere. I flew to Auckland for a day to find something with my mum and sister and was lucky enough to find something in the first shop I went into!
My dress was designed by Sera Lilly who is based in Ponsonby. I didnt want a traditional wedding dress and Sera helped me to find something that suited my simple vintage taste.
Something Borrowed
As the lace of my dress was quite detailed I didn’t think I would need to accessorise much. My auntie lent me a set of beautiful pearl bracelets and another auntie some pearl earrings, which were perfect together and looked great with the dress.
Tried And Tested
I had worn my shoes as a bridesmaid to my bridesmaids wedding a year earlier and loved them to bits so decided to have them as my wedding shoes. They had a thick heel and were perfect for wearing all day.
Top Knots
A very talented friend and master of everything creative was kind enough to do my bridesmaids, flower girl, mothers and my own hair and makeup! Everything was very natural apart from my favorite red nails and lips to add some colour! We all had our hair up in top knots thankfully as the wind picked up during the ceremony and our hair just stayed put!
Less Is More
I wanted my hair up off my face so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it all day. My auntie’s pearl bracelets were the only items of jewellery that I wore, apart from my ring obviously. Less is more!
A Floral Mix
My lovely mum and Mother in law and auntie were in change of flowers and with a combinations of stems from Downies Flowers in Christchurch, along with flowers from local gardens they pulled together some beautiful bouquets and flower arrangements. The remaining were put in old jars and placed in the center of the tables.
A Perfect Ending
I thought the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses would be easy but in the end Jess, Lousia, Kate and Phoebe had to be very patient with me constantly changing my mind. Thanks girls! In the end we got the dresses made and they turned out perfectly. The greatest find was Phoebes shoes which were gold sequined ballet flats. So cute.
Online Shopping
The boys wore Topman pants and suspenders and boots from asos. Online shopping is a lifesaver when you live in New Zealand!
A Chance Visit
We were so lucky that Helen Cawte happened to be in New Zealand on her honeymoon when we got married. I don’t think we could have convinced her to fly out from the UK!
Josh and I entered a competition to win a photography package with Jim & Helen and although we didn’t win they still offfered to do our wedding. After an engagement photo shoot I was convinced we had made the right decision. They both made us feel relaxed and the photos were beautiful. Helen even brought chalkboard speech bubbles that were alot of fun!
We Formed A Band
Our friends formed a band for our wedding and picked 5 songs each to play on the night. They were awesome and had everyone dancing all night. They even let the Queefs take to the stage for a Ladyhawke cover.
Sweet Favours
As wedding favors we had jars of honey from josh’s parent’s house in Queenstown.
Expert Help
Josh and I have lived in Queenstown for the majority of our time together. Several of our friends have been married in Queenstown and being a small town it makes it a little harder to do something different. I loved the idea of having everyone together for a few days so we decided onLake Ohau Lodge for our venue.
Located high in the Mackenzie High Country wilderness, two hours north of queenstown, it was perfect for a little getaway! It was worth hiring the lodge just to have the help of Louise Neilson who is the owner. She is busy for a lot of the year with weddings so knows what to expect and how much work needs to be done which I clearly didn’t! I really couldn’t have done it without her.
Danish Pastries
To represent some of my danish heritage we had a Kramsekake made by Copenhagen Bakery. Kramsekake is a traditional Danish cake consisting of several rings, graduating in sized placed on top of each other to make a cone. It was delicious and got eaten very quickly!
Venue – Lake Ohau Lodge
Photographer – Helen Cawte
Dress – Sera Lilly
Shoes – Filippa Scott
Blooms – Downies Flowers
Cake – Copenhagen Bakery
I’m loving the open shirt and braces look that Josh and his groomsmen are rocking. Perfect for this laid back and casual affair. All of these images just ooze with a super chilled vibe…. And then you get a dose of rock concert thrown in toward the end… Just my kind of day.
Adam.
What an absolutely stunning location!! And the dress – wow….so unique and stunning!
My favourite photo has to be the bouquet toss – loving the extra mile the guests are going in lifting a friend up to help her catch it – I hope she did!!! xx
Really gorgeous. It’s sort of my dream wedding, being up in a lodge somewhere wooded
Good Lord…where do I begin?
The location – I die.
The super high over-sized hair buns – perfection.
The gowns? I want the white one. AND the blue one.
Posing on a tyre swing? and by some petrol pumps?! I would blow those images up HUGE and hang them above my fireplace.
Braces, blue hydrangea, kissing by a lake……and did I just see a cocktail called a cocaine rush?!
I want to go to a W-day in New Zealand.
Charlotte xxx
Erm, hello people…wakey wakey! Cannot believe that nobody has commented on the bridesmaids in wedges!!!!!!!
I am uber jealous that they can carry of an ankle strapped wedge…
I am now sending this to one of my besties who was telling me that she couldn’t possibly wear super high, gold disco wedges to my wedding…erm, if bridesmaids can wear them, you TOTALLY can as a guest!
I am also enjoying the men in braces. Sexy. Are there any Ryan Gosling photos with braces that we could make a feature of? Please.
Thank you so much for featuring this Charlotte and Adam! A totally gorgeous wedding with a real sense of fun and a kiwi laid back vibe. The evening party was just mental – so much fun!
Huge thanks to Jim Pollard Goes Click (www.jimpollardgoesclick.com) for shooting this with me!
Helen xxx
SO in love with this – that lakeside setting is incredible!!! Amaze. x
Ahh New Zealand, my favourite place in the world! And where we should be going on honeymoon, providing the man can get the time off work -please cross your fingers!!
Loving the brides top knot, wish I could pull off this look for W-day! And the red lips! Gorgeous!
@Pamela – it’s not suspenders, but topless is good, right? http://m.pinterest.com/pin/107030928614034101/
@Pamela – can’t believe I didn’t mention the wedge…
@Lauren A – Did you mean braces?
@Helen Cawte – Pleasure, such a beautifully captured day.
Charlotte xxx
Absolutely beautiful!
@Charlotte – haha, I’ve turned all American!! Braces sounds a bit toothy, but suspenders sounds a bit leggy. We need a new word!
Ah New Zealand – would so love to go there! And that location is amazing (but that word doesn’t really do it justice!).
Everything about this is super stylish (agree with Pamela on the BM wedges!)
And kudos to Nina for being able (and willing!) to climb in to a tyre swing in full on wedding attire!
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Captured so beautifully as well!! Love the bride and maids dresses, the wedges look immense and the dog with the neckchief made my morning! One thing – the girl who looks like she is shedding a tear towards the end seriously looks like Lindsay Lohan!!!
the cake/pastry looks awesome, never seen a kramsekake before, the shot throwing the bouquet is brilliant. the lake is stunnning too, great work Helen
Awesome Helen! Lovely write up. It was a pleasure working with you as always. Shame your talents are wasted up there in the UK – come back and play with me!
Check out more pics from this awesome wedding;
http://www.helencawtephotographyblog.com/2012/03/beautiful-blondes-red-hot-lipstick-and-incredible-views-nina-josh-are-married-xxx/
http://www.jimpollardgoesclick.com/2012/03/16/josh-and-ninas-lake-ohau-wedding/
@Charlotte – I’m was still kind of not speaking to you because of the ‘Pretty Naughty’ thing…you’re now verging on being off the Christmas card list for not noticing an uber wedge.
@Lauren A – oooooo can I open topless photo in the office? Also, Ryan Gosling is suspenders, braces, blooming anything, ooooo flipping cares. Maybe we could make a collective Youtube plea to him to attend our weddings (like that soldier did to Mila Kunis) but then I imagine there would be bride wars over whose wedding he goes to.
@Jessie – I noticed the Lohan lady!
@Pamela, open it in the office and rejoice in all that is holy!
what a gorgeous location!
The groom & his men look fab in those braces, & how does them wearing flip flops look so right?!
@Pamela, also spotted the wedges – they look fabulous. I love a good ol’ fashioned wedge I do!
oh and the bouquet shot – fantastic
xx
What a stunning and unique destination. Photography is amazing – I am loving the black & white shots – especially the one of the bride rocking out with a guitar!
The location, I die too!
Gorgeous bride, gorgeous surrounding, it looks like a dream.
This just seems so effortlessly cool!
The brides dress is just lush, and they bridesmaids are delightful to. But it’s the styling that makes it look effortless, those buns: ‘oh these little things, they just popped onto my head’ with the ‘their so stunning that only a tiny bit of make-up is fine’ paired with ‘my lips might just actually be this red without make-up’ as if they’ve just got up that glamorous!
Plus scenery to die for!
So a ruddy good wedding all round I’d say!
oh wowzers. having spent a little bit of time in NZ, i can only begin to imagine what it must have been like to get married there. it is such an awe inspiring place and everything about this wedding seems so unique. love it! xx
Awesome! What a stunning wedding, dreamlike being in a cabin by the woods. Perfect
Aotearoa you beautiful country!
Love this wedding, efortless beauty, me likey! x
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