Relaxed Winehouse Wedding – Dayna & Nathan
Relaxed, fun & Kiwi-style!
Dayna & Nathan’s relaxed Winehouse Wedding could not have been any more perfect or any more perfect for them. It was “relaxed, fun and kiwi-style” – which was just what Dayna and Nathan wanted from their big day. The weather was amazing, Dayna & Nathan were surrounded by friends and family who adored them and the team at Winehouse and all the other wedding pros involved worked their butts off and made the day smooth and stress-free. Dayna commented more than once that she couldn’t believe how smooth and stress-free the whole day had been. And I reckon that’s the way your wedding day should be – relaxed, natural and fun! Here’s how it went down…
The build-up…
Even though Dayna & Nathan live in Queenstown, they decided to stay a couple of nights and get ready at the very cool Sherwood Queenstown and I think this really paid off. It allowed them to escape their day to day routine. It also meant they could spend more time with friends and family who were in Queenstown for the wedding. Hair and makeup was taken care of beautifully by the girls at Beauty On Demand. (Beauty On Demand is based in Auckland. However, they have wedding hair stylists and makeup artists working for them in Queenstown and around the country. In fact Rosin and her offsider are actually based in Auckland. They flew down to Queenstown for D&N’s wedding as the local girl was not available on their date).
First Look & Bridal Party Photos
D&N and I had decided well before the wedding to do a First Look and some Bridal Party and Bride & Groom photos before the ceremony to take some of the stress out of the day. D&N had a lot of family and group photos they wanted and they only had a fairly small amount of time between ceremony and reception to get them. So doing the First Look and some bridal party photos done before the ceremony made total sense. We did the First Look on a Frankton beach jetty with views of The Remarkables. The look on his face when he turned round and saw his Dayna in that dress for the first time was…well, look at the photos, you’ll get the idea! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more heartfelt and emotional First Look in my 17 years as a wedding photographer. This Is Love.
Bridal Party Photos at Sherwood BEFORE the Ceremony
After that we whipped back to the Sherwood and got some lovely and very relaxed photos of the Bridal Party and D&N on the Sherwood’s front lawn with the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu as a stunning backdrop.
Shortly after this Nathan and the boys travelled out to the Winehouse but the girls still had nearly an hour at this point to freshen up and relax before the ceremony. Sometimes having time on your hands like this before the ceremony can make you more nervous. Not Dayna though! Dayna and the girls were pretty relaxed and really enjoyed having this downtime on an otherwise super busy wedding day.
Before we knew it, we were at Winehouse, Gemma and John from Calico Entertainment were setting the mood beautifully with their acoustic loveliness and Dayna was walking down that aisle…
One Relaxed Winehouse Wedding Ceremony…
There are so many beautiful details and moments from D&N’s Wedding day, I’m going to let the photos do most of the talking. But a few of my favourite bits were…
Hunting Details
- Nathan is a passionate hunter. He and Dayna wanted to include some element of this into the wedding details. So Nathan had his old blue Swanndri hunting jacket into a suit vest.
- Bespoke Weddings and Events (who did all the awesome flowers, button holes and bouquets) also included some mini antlers in Nathan’s button-hole and all of the groomsmen’s button-holes were wrapped with blue threads from Nathan’s Swanndri. And the wedding arch also featured a full-size pair of antlers.
There’s gold in them thar hills….
- Dayna’s Engagement ring was made in the shape of the Remarkables. Juerg at Orbit Gold Jewellers made her wedding ring. He crafted if from a re-purposed family ring given to Nathan by Dayna’s aunties. (He hid it under the seat of his Ute for 3 months because “it was the only place Dayna wouldn’t find it”).
Their eyes met across a crowded Auckland commuter train…
- One of the coolest moments of the Wedding Day for me (and no doubt many other guests who didn’t know it already) was hearing the story of how Dayna & Nathan met. They met on a train in Auckland when Dayna was just 16. Nathan couldn’t help staring at this beautiful girl. Finally, he borrowed a pen off the conductor, walked up to Dayna and said “Hi I’m Nate” and gave her his number. All the note said was Nathan with a smiley face and his number. Although I think Nathan regretted this very romantic back-story during the wedding reception. Dave the best man (amongst others) totally roasted Nathan in his speech for “approaching under-age girls on trains”!
Hen & Stag
- Nathan still had permanent marker on him from the stag doo. Dayna had given the boys a stern warning about “nothing on his face!” and I reckon it’s just as well she did. I’m just glad he was wearing long sleeves on the day as the permanent marker was still plain as day on his upper arms even 2 days after his Stag Doo.
- Dayna didn’t have any permanent marks but she did have some hilarious stories from her Hen’s Night thanks to Strip Of Meat Premier Male Entertainment.
This Is Love
- But the most awesome and romantic detail of all from Dayna & Nathan’s Relaxed Winehouse Wedding was, without a doubt, how clearly these two loved each other still even after already being together for 10 years before their wedding day. This is Love. Keep doing what you’re doing you two, cause whatever you’re doing – it’s working!
Thanks for letting me be a part of your Totally Awesome & .Very Relaxed Winehouse Wedding. It was awesome and a true privilege to be a part of your story.
VENUE & VENDORS
Accommodation: Sherwood Queenstown
Band: Calico Entertainment
Catering: Mannmade Catering
Celebrant: Philippa Thomas
Dress designer: Astral Bridal (Auckland)
Dress fitting/modifications: Nemo Bridal
Florist: Bespoke Weddings & Events
Jewellers: Orbit Gold Jewellery
Hen’s Night Entertainment: Strip Of Meat
Makeup & Hair: Beauty On Demand
Photographer: Yours truly Fallon Photography
Venue: Winehouse
More Real Queenstown Weddings To Inspire You
EPIC Queenstown Snowboard Wedding!! At Coronet Peak…on snowboards…in a snow storm!!
Nick & Nina’s Unconventional Thurlby Domain Elopement
Louise + Tom’s Breathtakingly Beautiful Queenstown Winter Wedding
This Blog Post was written by yours truly – Patrick Fallon, Queenstown Wedding Photographer & Author of The Queenstown Wedding Blog.
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