Weddings

Sarah & Luke’s Cloudy Bay Coastal Wedding

Words by Hannah Pronesti / Images by Paul Tatterson
July 29, 2016

Talk about the luck of the Irish! Luke and Sarah first crossed paths in an Irish bar on St Patrick’s Day and they’ve been having a jolly good time together ever since. The Auckland pair stumbled upon Paripuma Coastal Garden in Marlborough’s Cloudy Bay, the perfect place to host their seaside garden party wedding – parasols and all – and Paul Tatterson’s stunning snaps are testament.

Not only did Paul Tatterson beautifully shoot Luke and Sarah’s day, he also managed to impress them with his candid capturing methods – apparently he got down on the dance floor while simultaneously snapping away! “We had the best experience with Paul! He was a delight to have around on the day, going above and beyond.” Says Sarah. “We are so incredibly happy with our photos – he captured the day just as we remember it – and we’ve had a number of friends say they’d like to get married again just so they can have Paul take the photos!”

We’re a little in love with Paripuma Coastal Garden and Luke and Sarah’s festival style garden par-tay came to life thanks to the styling prowess of Two Foxes. “The ceremony was on the lawn just in front of the main house, overlooking 15 acres of native garden that leads right out to the ocean,” Sarah recalls. “The top lawn was transformed into a dining area with two big long tables, wild flower settings and festoon lighting. We went for sharing/family style dinner, almost like a long Italian lunch meets a slightly posh BBQ. That part of the garden gets the last of the evening sun and the sunset was pretty dreamy!”

Cloudy Bay Coastal wedding Marlborough NZ - photography by Paul Tatterson

“The Bridesmaids Vow to Be Chic dresses were rose gold and sparkly.” Sarah tells us, “We teamed that with these beautiful stripped back flower crowns to create a bit of a festival frolic vibe.”

When it came to making their marriage official, who better to do the honours than longtime pal Paul Flynn. “He’s been one of my best friends for about 15 years now, so to have one of our close friends marry us was quite special. He was also our MC and definitely set a slightly wild tone!”

Our newlyweds were in good hands with Two Foxes on styling duty, “These guys took things to another level.” Sarah tells us. “They drove two trucks down to Marlborough from Auckland (that’s a good two day mission), provided all the furniture, built the tipi, hung the festoons and took care of so many niggly details for us. Nothing was a problem and the end result was pretty magical.”

boho bride in Rue de Seine and vintage fur

Finding the perfect dress was not without its challenges and somehow Sarah ended up with two! The first was a gorge Rue de Seine number that she donned for the ceremony, before making a quick outfit change into a slightly more casual Sabo Skirt dress, paired with vintage fur. A halo of flowers courtesy of Rock N Rosie completed this babe’s bridal look.

Luke’s family were unable to make the trek from the UK due to health reasons but unbeknownst to him, Sarah had them secretly film messages to play on the day. “We combined that with a few video messages from other friends from around the world and created a surprise short film that played out as part of the speeches. So incredibly moving – the wonders of technology!”