Waipuna Estate Wedding Photos | Anna and Jonny
Waipuna Estate Wedding Photos; Usually, I would start a blog with the girls getting ready, but this wasn’t the case with this wedding.
For us and especially for the Anna and Jonny the wedding started the day prior. We always make an effort to go to the wedding rehearsal so that we have an idea of what to expect on the day of the wedding.
So like usual, we went to the rehearsal at the original venue The Gondola. While there we were told there was a 90% chance that there was going to be high wind and that The Gondola would be closed, meaning the wedding wasn’t going to be able to be held there. The couple did know when they booked the Gondola, there was always a slim chance that the wedding may have to be moved to an alternative venue due to weather.
So this started the hunt for a new wedding venue with less than 24 hours until the wedding. Continental staff stepped up and came up with a few options for Anna and Jonny to look at and consider.
Waipuna Estate Wedding Photos | Anna & Jonny Video
I think we all knew that when we stepped into Waipuna Estate at 4.30pm the day before the wedding that this was going to be the new wedding venue.
Sarah from Waipuna Estate had made it all sound so simple, and nothing was a problem, and the venue itself was stunning, so I think when we all walked out of there at 6 pm we knew we’d made a good choice, well Anna and Jonny had!
These two truly showed how strong a couple they are, watching them go through this with less than 24hours to go to their wedding and remain calm throughout the entire day was tremendously impressive to watch; I’m not sure if I were in their shoes I would’ve remained that calm.
Bride Getting Ready
After the dramas of the day before it was nice to show up to the girls early in the morning and see that everything was going so smoothly and running right on time.
The girls got ready at the Heritage Hotel when we arrived the hair was in full swing with the first bridesmaid about half way through. It was a pretty relaxing morning, chilling out watching hair be done, listening to some good tunes and having a few too many laughs.
The one joke that springs to mind is about Bras, and the girls we all extremely impressed that I was wearing one, I won myself a few extra points for just that. (sorry for the inside joke) The girls went off-site to Body and Soul to have their makeup done where Oz went with them. I was remarkably impressed by how quick they worked, for two bridesmaids and the bride they were only there for one hour, and the makeup stayed looking perfect all day long.
From there it was back to The Heritage Hotel to get dressed. This next bit was by far one of my favorite parts of the day. We had been warned from day one of meeting Anna and Jonny that her Dad was a cryer and wanted to be a part of the photos. So we made sure this was going to happen.
I led Paul (the bride’s dad) in with his eyes closed to the room for him to be able to see Anna for the first time dressed as a Bride. That first instance when he was allowed to open his eyes you could see how proud he was to be her Dad and how much he adored her. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room (it’s even bringing tears to my eyes writing about it now too) Once we all gathered ourselves we headed for the beautiful staircase inside the hotel for some more photos then off to the venue we went.
Groom Getting Ready
Jonny had had a pretty relaxed morning. He spent the morning with his boys just relaxing at Rogers place and waiting for me to turn up for photos.
I’d said the night before not to be dressed when I turned up (I really have to watch my wording sometimes!) this turned into another joke of the day, so when I walked into the place the first thing Jonny said to me was, you’ll see we didn’t get dressed but weren’t naked!
The boys were pretty cruisy getting ready, they had pocket squares to fold, and the cute thing was the company they got the pocket squares from also sent a wee fold out instruction panel of how to fold them, this was quite entertaining. With the boys dressed and photographed I left them to get to Waipuna Estate, and I headed back to the girls.
The Ceremony
It was a bit further to the new venue, but because they had already had to allow time in their schedule for them to get up the gondola, so this extra time was now used to get to the new venue, and it worked out perfectly. When we all arrived at Waipuna Estate, it was drizzly outside, so we shuffled the girls inside out of view of the guests.
The ceremony was held on the deck, outside but under shelter so everyone was protected from the elements. The ceremony itself was short and sweet, just what Anna and Jonny wanted and the Celebrant Julie Lassen made sure that was the case. The bride and groom had put a lot of thought into choosing a date for the wedding, the 1st of September was not only the date of their first date but also the date they got engaged and now their wedding date! Makes remembering a wee bit easier, but it also makes it pretty darn special.
Bridal Party Photos
With the weather being quite miserable outside we tried our best to keep most of the photos inside the house (of which there were some beautiful spots we were able to use). We spent most of our time in the master suite, with a couple of trips outside into the cold.
Anna and Jonny had told us they were pretty brave and up for anything when it came to the photos. We had found a spot with some rocks at the top of the hill which is less than 1km up the road from the wedding venue. So we all loaded into the cars (it was only light drizzle at the venue) and took a ride up the hill.
When we got out of the cars to walk up the hill, it wasn’t too bad, but once we got to the top of the hill (only about a minute walk), it was completely a different story. The wind was howling, and the rain was coming down good! Mother nature claimed two of our umbrellas which are now right offs.
We made it as quick as we could at the top, there wasn’t that much we could do up there with that weather, so we trekked back down and used the gravel road for some shots as well, before taking them back to the house to warm back up!
The Reception
Sarah and her team at Waipuna Estate had done an incredible job with the venue. When we turned up at 4.30pm the day before, then entire reception area was set up like a house, with a large dining room table with chairs and a massive lounge suite, and less than 24 hours later it was set up as a stunning wedding reception room with no lounge suite in site!
I know I say it about most weddings, that by the end of the night we feel like family, but this one felt different, and I think some of that came from spending the day before the wedding with the couple as well. Because of this (and the build up Anna had given us), I was looking forward to speeches, especially Pauls. And it delivered beyond belief! The funny stories and the emotional ones. Just like the morning, it was so easy to see how proud he was and how much he loves his little Anna!
Anna and Jonny had a choreographed dance; they were pretty nervous about this, I’m not sure why as they absolutely smashed it! The entire family was hanging out for this part as they were chomping at the bit to get on the dance floor, which is not surprising, as Brendan from Boogie Beats was playing killer music all night. All the classics that make everyone want to dance!
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