12 proposals 1 wedding
A True Story with Sin & Lok
I was sitting in my sun drenched office, overlooking Motueka high street where I was based at the time, when a knock on the door broke my silence, Come in’ I said happily, as a very shy Asian couple peered their heads around the door and asked for help. With limited English, they explained that they needed help to get married. As I listened to their story with complete fascination, I agreed to be their celebrant and would do all I could to help them through the process.
So, here is the story from our bride point of view.
I would like to tell everyone that Motueka is a really good place for travelling or even having a wedding! Nice beach, nice people! Why I would like to share our story is because we met a really nice lady called Terri Everett, The Dream Maker who helped us to make our wedding come true! My partner and I were travelling, enjoying all the scenery of New Zealand together.
12 times my partner kept proposing, all around NZ.
I was on a working holiday in New Zealand for six months, after that time my boyfriend of 7 years joined me to travel from Hong Kong. Every time we went to some beautiful place or at some special moment, he proposed to me, every time I said YES! Simple but sweet, we like the simple way. No rings, no flowers, but just full of LOVE. We love NZ so much, why not get married in NZ too?
PROPOSAL LOCATIONS:
This is where he proposed
1 Rotorua Skyline Luge cable car (the whole line of cable car only have us cos its almost the closing time )
2 Love Queenstown beside of Lake Wakatipu when we watched the sunset
3 Queenstown, summit of Queenstown Hill
4 Queenstown, during the new year countdown and firework
5 Queenstown, Kawarau Bridge Relocation right after we did the bungee jump together
6 Lake Marian Mildford Sound on the cruise
7 Queenstown, right after we landed after the sky dive
8 Lake Tekapo Tavern under the starry night
9 Lake Tekapo summit of Mt John
10 Christchurch City Council he sings a love song in the voice message, which he also sang at our wedding ceremony.
11 Motueka Link Park, he sings that love song face to face again
12 Abel Tasman National Park, Torrent Bay, the final time before we decide the make it official
Hello Motueka!
We didn't know about Motueka until my friend told me she is staying there. So we joined her, got a job at Talley’s Group Ltd to earn some money for more travelling, as we were backpackers. We soon understood why so many people travel to Motueka, not only the door to the amazing Abel Tasman National Park, but also the historical Save the Janie Seddon.
Sins advice on how to get married in NZ?
If you want to get married in NZ, you have to complete the “Notice of Intended Marriage application form” we had to hand it to the Registrar of Marriage by person at that time, wait at least three working days to get the marriage licence back, it can be done online now. Once you get the marriage licence, you can choose to get married at a registry office, which takes place in normal office hours, or, you can get married by an approved marriage celebrant who can do the wedding at the time and location of your choice, within 3 months of receiving your license. it could not be easier!
How we found the registry office?
One day I was thinking, we will stay in this town for a while, let's do the marriage here! So I did some searching and found that Motueka does have a registry office, but where was it? It was so strange I can not find the address at all! So we went to the Tasman District council office in Motueka for some information, but even they didn't know Motueka had a registry office and suggested we go all the way to Nelson, the bigger city an hour from Motueka, what a shame! We had no transport.
Sure we would not give up, the next stop we tried was the Motueka I-Site, luckily the staff knows someone who might help us and pointed us in the right direction only a street away.
Hello Mrs Dream Maker!
The staff at the I-Site gave us the name and a phone number, said she is a wedding planner. A wedding planner? Actually we just planned to do the simple way which is get married in the registry office as we don’t need a fancy wedding and can’t afford it.
“Maybe she can tell us where the registry office is”, I asked her when I gave her a call. “Yes, I can help you, please come to my office.”, said The Dream Maker, I am here right now.
She can even be our celebrant!
When we arrived at the office, we met the lovely lady called Terri with a big smile welcoming us.
We told her our story and that we wanted to just sign the papers, but she did not allow something so sterile! Terri suggested she can just give us the address of the registry office, but she thought that it is not a memorable way for the wedding after such an incredible proposal in New Zealand. Although we told her we are just a backpacker, we do not have a budget for a fancy wedding, she still give us an offer we couldn’t refuse, which is’ she’d help us to be our celebrant, in return to just pay it forward and to share our story to help others also who want to get married in Motueka know it is possible if they don’t know where to start! We were so touched!
An A+ celebrant!
For the location, Terri suggested the beach near the Janie Seddon in Motueka, a heritage site and she said the earliest day we can do the wedding is three days later, which by coincidence was….. Valentine's Day wedding! Oh wow it’s perfect! Such a good day!
Before the big day, Terri and I kept in contact for the preparation, run down.., etc, I can hardly imagine we are going to have a wedding on the beach! We are so excited.
Our “far from typical” Big Wedding Day.
On Valentines Day, the weather is a lovely sunny day, we invited some close friends we had made on our travels to join our wedding, two of them are our witnesses. Our wedding starts at 6 pm, out of office hours. Our new work friends come in their simple beach wear, to match the beautiful beach, sunshine and the green grass.
Terri welcomes everyone to begin our wedding, followed by the official New Zealand vows. After my fiance sang his love song he wrote for me (Terri’s suggestion) Our eyes are full of happy tears. We are now official husband and wife! We celebrate by locally made apple juice cheers! that Terri bought, which Motueka is famous for “fruit” Terri then took photos and I tossed the bouquet of free lovely garden flowers by our landlady.
Love is all we need! and the Dream Maker of course!
All of us enjoyed our simple casual wedding. My husband and I are so happy to have a wedding in our style. We believe marriage should not link up with material things or money. Something like that, marriage is all about LOVE, love is the most powerful energy in the universe.
Thank you to Terri our Dream Maker, we will never forget our Valentines day
Sin & Lok – Janie Seddon Motueka
About the Author Terri Everett Terri Everett built her reputation as an elopement specialist after visiting New Zealand in 1995 on her honeymoon from the UK. Later returning to live and building a business with her husband and two children.
Together they operated a commercial scenic boat charter; Sealimousines in the Abel Tasman. It was during this time that the demand for wedding transport in such an incredible location became popular and the rest is history.
Terri continued to evolve the business, now named The Dream Maker by one of her brides in 2011.
Her service covers the most epic wilderness across the top of the South Island and into other locations due to demand.
Terri was awarded “Most Unique Wedding Experience in New Zealand 2019.
Terri and her husband Jim are now proud owners of a Moonraker House a purpose built tree house they built for elopement style resort weddingmoon packages, in one of the most iconic beaches “Split Apple Rock” a stone throw from Abel Tasman National park.
Disclosure: We provide advice to the best of our ability but can not be held accountable for information that has changed over time. We link businesses we are confident will offer great customer service, but it is important to do your own investigations before engaging any other business. If you feel that we have not given good advice please do get in touch.
