Words cannot properly describe this stunning Christchurch Garden-style Wedding. Blue skies and perfect green grass created the most perfect venue for Claudia & Carl. I love photographing weddings in the summertime in Christchurch to get these stunning days. I have known Claudia for a number of years so when she asked me to photograph and also be her makeup artist for their wedding I was blown away and so honored to do this. I

Words from Claudia . . . .

Why did you choose your Christchurch Garden-Style venue for your wedding?

We chose my grandparents’ property to have our wedding. It was perfect to have the ceremony and reception here. For us, this was the perfect place to have a garden wedding with our closest friends and family, covid had changed plans for us, Carl’s family lives in Auckland so we had to change our date at short notice to allow for them to be able to travel, this made it easy to do having the wedding here. My grandparents were such a huge part of her life growing up and she wanted to celebrate such an important part of their life at a very important place in their life.

How did you want to spend your wedding morning?

My morning was exactly how I imagined it, getting ready and mum and dad’s, along with my sister and best friends as my bridesmaids. Hair, makeup, and mimosas! Perfect! She wore a stunning dress from Paper Swan Bride, it was a “Daisy Brides Dress”

Dress: A Dasiy Brides dress from Paper Swan Makeup: Tracey Allsopp Hair: Nicci Spencer

What was your favorite part of the day?

Our first look! We thought it would be a good way to settle the nerves and then allow more time with our guests after the ceremony. It was a very intimate and special moment that they were able to share together. We shed tears of love and hugged ourselves silly! It was an amazing feeling of excitement and love they had for each other. We wanted to have this moment just the “two of us” to say those special and meaningful last words together before we were married. We then spent some time with their bridal party doing photos around the property and whilst sipping away on champagne, we also went to the grandparent’s property (just 5 mins around the road) for some photos before the guests started arriving for the ceremony, the grounds were absolutely stunning and it gave us a lot of variety for the photos.

The ceremony was very special to us as our good friend who came down from Auckland was our celebrant. We both wrote our own very special vows to each other (there were not many dry eyes in the house haha). Our relationship started out as a friendship as flatmates in Wellington, but over time it grew into something very strong and deep, so approximately 5 years later here we are about to embark on the most exciting adventure of our life.

What was the easiest part of “one” of your vendors, building up to and the day too?

“All of our vendors were incredibly hospitable and accommodating around our covid changes. Incredibly, all vendors were able to change dates and rescheduled to the new date to work with us remotely given we were living in Wellington while we got married in Christchurch. On the day everyone worked together seamlessly with no dramas. We had a wonderful day and loved every minute! We decided to not have a traditional sit-down meal and opted for a modern buffet style. Everyone gathered around the pool area for speeches, drinks, and helping themselves to the yummiest food ever!! Catering Crisp + Vale

Carl along with his groomsman (best friend and his brother) and his mum & dad got ready at Peppers Clearwater Resort. It’s a beautiful venue, the rooms are big and got great light to get ready in, on arrival, there is a loaf of fresh bread in the bread-maker and the smell is to die for! Peppers Clearwater

Styling and flowers by the talented Lisa at The Event Boutique

Lisa wrote . . . .

“We had the privilege of working with the fabulous Claudia and Carl to help design and coordinate their Wedding. With a range of date options due to covid restrictions, we had to be incredibly flexible …. and we ended up planning this incredible wedding within a few months. And it was a beauty.” We loved creating this beautiful Christchurch Garden-Style Wedding for their special day.

Claudia & Carl went out with a bang after this sensational first dance!! They took dance lessons leading up to the wedding! Can’t recommend it enough for couples to do this, if it’s your buzz!! They all partied on into the wee small hours along with DJ Dwight, rumour has it guests did end up in the pool ?

Getting hitched? Check out my work ❤️ for more Christchurch Garden-Style Weddings. Wedding Photographer – Tracey Allsopp

I’d love to hear from you about your special plans for your big day, message me ?