Rachel and Matt have a wonderful attitude to life and although I have known them for a relatively short time, I know if they lived in or near Queenstown we would be firm friends.

Today I received this magic image of their day as well as these very special words of thanks:

We received the video last week and have watched it several times, it still makes us both cry every time we watch it (tears of happiness of course!!)  We had such a wonderful day and it will remain in our memories forever, we couldn't have asked for better surroundings or for a better service, you made it so personal to us and explained the way we feel about each other so well.

We are so thankful to Phillipa for how relaxed she made us feel from rehearsals through till the ceremony. She made it easy for us and has fantastic ideas as to what to do during the ceremony. The comments we received by the guests about how original the ceremony was, attests to her creativity. We went with one of her ceremony options and opted to have a wine ceremony which Phillipa suggested after this which was fantastic, very apt to the location and something none of the guests had ever seen before!  

Hopefully neither of us will ever have to use her again, but would if we had to!! J

Penny and Kelvin married on the rooftop of the Heritage Hotel, here in Queenstown, although they live in Timaru.

Alexis, Penny's 6.5 year old daughter played an important role in the ceremony: she walked into the ceremony holding onto her mothers hand and as part of the intention piece of the ceremony, Alexis was asked if she supported her mother and Kelvin in their marriage - naturally she said yes; however it was a significant and meaningful part of the ceremony.

 

The two beautiful girls after the ceremony on the rooftop!

Valentine's Day is always popular for wedding ceremonies and Kyleen and Houman chose the garden of Stoneridge Estate to celebrate their wedding day in front of 40 of their closest family and friends. After their beautiful ceremony, they celebrated Houman's culture in a traditonal manner and I was very fortunate to be a witness to this event - a wonderful experience that I shall never forget.

Thank you Kyleen and Houman - all the best

Jocopo is Italian and now lives in Australia, where he met Emily, his wife. So that each ceremony is unique I send a list of questions to the couple and I thought I would share with you the response I received to the question - "What makes your relationship special?

I see our love and our life as a pair of boats sailing the oceans together. We leave port as a team. The boats alone are nothing compared to the immense oceans, but together they are stronger and carry each other’s needs. During their journey they might encounter a storm and grow further apart, but they will always come back together because they know that they were made to sail together and it’s only together that they can travel across the world.

Beautiful words!
Bon voyage Jacopo and Emily.

Approximately 40 of Ben and Joannes closest family and friends celebrated their wedding day in the gorgeous chapel of Stoneridge Estate. Recently I received this lovely thank you email and this fabulous photo!

I would like to offer my sincere thanks for your effort and advice leading up to and on our wedding day. Your experience recommending options for our wedding vows, blessings and verses contributed enormously to a memorable day for us. All of our guests commented on how beautiful and professional the service was. We would be delighted to recommend your service to others.

Thanks again,

Joanne and Ben Moorfoot

Although Glenn and Leanne live in Australia they chose to celebrate their wedding above Queenstown at Skyline Restaurant with approximately 50 family and friends as their guests. During the ceremony they passed their rings among the guests with the following words

...I ask that everyone who is here today to hold them for a moment, warm them with your love, and then pass them on to the next person. I ask that all present voice a silent wish or prayer for this couple, for their marriage and their future together. 

 When these rings come back to ...they will contain, in their precious metal, that which is more precious, that which is more priceless: your love and hope and pledge of support for this union.

After the rings were returned Glenn and Leanne exchanged their rings with more beautiful words and then celebrated the unity candle.

A truly special ceremony.

 

Today I was priviledged to officiate at Charlie and Ria's renewal of vows ceremony at Millbrook Resort, which was looking spectacular in it's autumn colours. The very special words in their ceremony and the beautiful words they shared as vows were unbelievably romantic and I think this is a cermony that I will never forget.

Renewal of vows are always extra special to me, I suppose it is because that the couple, although having been married previously, want to celebrate their love again... gets me everytime!!

I know that Charlie and Ria share something very special and i hope to meet them again soon.

Only last week, Drea and Marty returned from their honeymoon to Venice, Rome ... anyway, I have already received this wonderful thank you message and photos from them. I am looking forward to looking at their photos of their trip over a cuppa or ...

Hey Phillipa,

Just a note to say a big thanks for our big day! We really appreciated your skill in bringing the whole ceremony together. You were easy to talk to, gave us great ideas and were so open to making the ceremony exactly what we wanted. You were relaxed but professional and on the day itself you were our rock during the ceremony - choreographing our movements with humour, understanding and kindness. I will never forget you coming into our room on minutes before the ceremony was due to start and asking if I wanted to get married outdoors - I thought you were joking ... wind, driving rain...snow! However, the weather gods smiled upon us and we were able to have the wedding of our dreams, snow capped mountains as the backdrop with bright blue sky to give an added sparkle! We also appreciated your collecting the words that our friends had spoken, added to the copy of the ceremony and our vows - the most wonderful keepsake. I will miss our get-togethers, hopefully we can share a coffee (or something stronger) in times to come.

Also, a big thanks too for recommending Trond - he did the most amazing job with our wedding rings.

Carroll and Glen went to a great deal of trouble to ensure that every little detail was thought about for their wedding day - even Carrolls aisle was black lace lined with autumn coloured leaves. As you can see, Glen wore his family tarten kilt and Carrolls dress was stunning. On the signing table were silver block letters spelling the word WAWU - which had a unique meaning to Glen and Carroll, and Carroll explained the meaning to their very special guests. After the ceremony, the guests were invited to decorate the letters and the couple will always have 'their special word' in their home, which was decorated with love by themselves and their guests.

A lovely, special ceremony!