Craig & Nicholas approached me to plan their wedding day in the Abel Tasman six years after they had visited from Scotland on a previous trip, where they got engaged in a little cafe bar in Marahau, after a stunning long walk in the Abel Tasman. When they first contacted me, same sex marriage was still not legally possible in New Zealand or in Scotland, so the plan was to hold a civil union. At this stage in my business I was a charter boat owner and only providing wedding planning in the Abel Tasman National Park on our boat The Noth Western, part of my task was booking a registered New Zealand Celebrant.

Over the next year while planning was taking place, the law changed in favor of Craig & Nicholas to legalize same sex marriage. I was so excited to break the good news to the boys, but they seemed quite complacent about it, which to my amazement seemed strange, until they contacted me the next day and asked if I would be the one to officiate, then they would get married. Of course at this stage I wasn’t registered and as a dyslexic, had never even imaged that I could pull it off. Completely excited and scared of course, I started the process and became a registered New Zealand celebrant. We all had such a wonderful day, I will forever be grateful to Craig & Nicholas for their trust in me and willingness to share their story.

Terri

Thanks to #Wingitnz and Oliver Webber photography. This event was managed under a Department of Conservation permit: 37652-WAT

The Story in their words & Testimony to all involved in their Micro Wedding Moon

Well, my goodness, it has been such a long time already and that seems crazy, given that just this time last year we were still making the last minute plans. Still here we now sit, a married couple in our home in Scotland and it’s long overtime due to reflect back on our experiences and pass on our heartfelt thanks to you and your team for that day. Throughout this year, our special day has come back to us in so many ways. Firstly when we got back, we had our pictures from Oliver Weber to look back on and relive some fantastic memories. We received a magical gift from Craig’s Mum and Dad of a large canvas picture of Fisherman’s Island which now sits happily above our sofa.

Shortly after our return, the wedding cake toppers arrived safe and sound and now take pride of place in a display book cabinet we have. In August we held our home event and prepared a video montage of our favorite moments set against some of our favorite music. With that complete, we got round to filling our NZ Photo frame gifted from NZ relatives and now that Christmas has approached we’ve been preparing calendars for our wedding guests to remind them of the big day. So, we’ve truly lived our wedding throughout this year and we have every reason to.

You helped us create such a magical experience. It all began at The Waters, each of us arrived separately with our families and we were blown away. The view was a massive sample of what lay ahead for our wedding, but it was backed up by that incredible modern, luxurious feelings of the accommodation. It’s a huge credit to the managers who looked after everything concerned about how we felt. We had no doubts or questions, she covered so much and everything we could need was to hand. Our 5 Star trip advisor review remains in place to this day and we’d happily return one day in the future. It was important to us that with our family and friends we didn’t feel like we’d pulled them across the world for a couple of hours, so building up to the days around the wedding was important with Kiwi tours. In the end, it was clear that our eyes were bigger than our capabilities as we stretched ourselves too much on that 1st day. We had the people who were shaky on buses, those who wanted to be out and about outside the bus and the realities of driving distance limiting our ability to pack in what we’d planned. They were the challenges, but we still had a great day. Highlights will always include that cave trip in the morning, followed by that glorious breakfast spread that Terri had arranged. It was such a special start to the day. PuPu springs was also gorgeous, the clarity of the water on that magic blue sky day.

Riwaka Resurgence wines was another hit, not just because of the wine tasting, but the tour of the vines and the friendliness of the hosts. We were so chuffed after we learned from the 1st days tour that you guys were able to flex so easily with our last day tours to accommodate all our requests, it was so much more manageable. You couldn’t find a more idyllic spread than in the courtyard of that first vineyard at Noudorf. I think we were all enchanted by the old cottage in the country, I (Craig) personally loved the artwork at the artists studios and the view at our last vineyard was a perfect end (funny we were drinking some of their wine at an upmarket London Indian restaurant in October!). Of course, in life nothing is predictable and even in the most perfect of settings, there are always realities to deal with and the sad news we received on our last night regarding Kathryn’s father was a disappointing way for the week to end. The funeral went as planned and we’ve caught up with our Kiwi girls again since, who nonetheless loved the wedding experience. So that was all the surrounds, but then there was the day itself.

We knew you’d make the day special for us, but how did you pull off that magic moment when we opened the morning curtains to a clear blue sky? All the preparations and nervous energy that go into making something like that and when it comes together like it did, it just feels perfect. From there, everything sailed so smoothly, from the exhilarating boat ride, to the simple beach set up we’d looked for, to the perfection of each step of the ceremony.

Annemieke’s harp playing added really beautifully to the scene. It’s fair to say the island was truly a step out of reality into our ideal day.

We wanted to take a moment to thank all the people you had involved and helping you throughout our stay. I know we won’t remember all the names exactly, but a big shout of thanks go to our friendly bus driver (Mike), The team for looking after us at our base, The Waters, in Kina and of course to Annemieke’s beautiful harp playing, your two beach helpers, Lisa and Suzette, who were brilliant, our boat driver who gave us that great tour after the wedding and of course all the people at the different venues we visited on our tours along the way. (Contact Terri, if you want some great itinary ideas)

Finally Terri, a bit on yourself. I think in advance I (Craig) fairly hammered you with questions and queries and confirmations etc and during that time, there were moments where we seemed to be going over the same stuff again to get it right. I started to wonder how things would work out. Your work on the ground on our behalf in advance though and most especially your attention to us and our party once in New Zealand was excellent. We couldn’t have asked or wanted for more and if we could, I’m sure you’d have thought of it first. We both really love your passion for what you do and for the area you have chosen to do it in, always keep hold of that, no matter what challenges you face, the world needs that passion. So from us both, finally, a huge thank you for your work and dedication. We wish you every success with your business for the future and have seen that you’ve already been expanding the website. We definitely hope to be back in New Zealand again in the future and if we do, we’ll be sure to pop in and say hello. For now, Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.