Our Elopement // Robin + Andie
Like many, we weren’t able to have the big 2020 wedding we had planned pre-pandemic with our favourite people flying into New Zealand from all over the world. We had organised the most amazing 20/21 New Year’s Eve party to be hosted at home on the olive grove, but the New Zealand border closed and our overseas guests struggled to get refunds on the flights they’d booked. It was all a bit of a mare! We had no choice but to put our ‘big party’ dreams on hold to try and keep our wedding business, personal finances and anxiety under control. It was truly heartbreaking.
What kept us going and inspired us were our amazing wedding clients who went ahead and got married during the craziness. We loved documenting and being a part of the incredible micro weddings and elopements that made 2020/21 so remarkable.
At the end of the 21/22 wedding season and after dusting off two years of Covid complications we felt like we should celebrate that we’d made it through these challenging times together as a couple and as business partners. No mean feat!
22/6/22 suddenly seemed like the most perfect date for us to get hitched as it marked 6 years since our first date in London. We weren’t sure if it would be possible to organise anything in just a few weeks… So, we decided to focus on what was really important to us. The idea to elope suddenly became a really exciting option and something to look forward to again.
As professional wedding photographers we didn’t want a wedding day that might feel the same as one of our client’s weddings or “another day at the office.” So it had to be quite different to the norm!
We wanted to hang out with those closest to us and those who had been supportive during the peak turbulence of the pandemic. At heart, we wanted a ‘big little day’ that was super chilled and wouldn’t cause us any further worries or break the bank. It was exciting to create a super special day that was a bit different.
We began documenting our celebrations the day before our elopement. Rob took a trip to the barbers in Christchurch and Andie picked up her bouquet from The Flower Press.
Alex from The Flower Press designed a winter wedding bouquet for Andie that sweetly incorporated some olive branches from our family grove. We made sure every single detail of our day felt celebratory or was meaningful to us.
In terms of style, we wore appropriately warm winter clothing we felt represented our best selves. This included a woolly poncho hand sewn by Andie’s mum and Merry People gumboots for splashing around on the beach. They were SO much fun to wear and reminded us of the good times we’ve had together at music festivals.
The morning of 22/6/22 arrived with pink sky and low lying cloud. It was a beautiful winters day on Banks Peninsula. We knew it would be!
As documentary wedding photographers, we thought it might be interesting to photograph our own day. We wouldn’t recommend anyone does this unless they’re pro, slightly bonkers and equipped with several cameras and lenses, a tripod and trigger and a drone!
Here we are below… a little bit (overly) excited to get married whilst trying to take a family photo with our wee girl Schnooks. Tripod and trigger photography at its finest haha.
Was it a good idea to photograph our own wedding? No, no it was not! But we are actually really happy with the results we were able to achieve and only Rob could have taken the gorgeous photograph of Andie and her dad Chris ‘walking down the aisle’ of Robinsons Bay Valley Road with the magical Okains Peak in the background. It was an image Andie had pre-visualised for years and had told Rob about… so only he could nail it.
We do adore our elopement pics… they’re natural, relaxed + funny!
After a super early hair and makeup sesh and a couple of quick portraits at home we met our favourite Canterbury based celebrant Kineta Booker down at Okains Bay at 10am. Rob went ahead to the lagoon end of the beach and set up our music speaker and signing table (or should that be wine table) and got the vintage 2016 Bollinger (the year we met) sorted and all ready to go. It’s most important to have a good bottle of champagne for a celebratory toast. Throughout the day we made sure we had a few of our favourite New Zealand wines too… be rude not to!
Here’s something we prepared earlier… olive leaves for biodegradable confetti.
Rob was able to photograph Andie, her parents Chris + Annette, our celebrant Kineta and our witnesses Jeremy and Sarah walking down the beach to meet him at the lagoon. At around 10:30am we officially tied the knot! The morning ceremony meant we had the rest of the day (and night) to celebrate! Genius.
We signed the register to ‘Extraordinary Life’ which is a beautiful song by Gordi. We also had a few more songs on an ‘Okains Bay’ Spotify playlist we had made to have playing on our wee Boom while we celebrated on the beach. Just the greats like Stand By Me and few other favourites etc When we listen to this playlist in the car now it takes us right back.
With all the docs signed it was time to crack open the champers. Is there anything better than Bolly on the beach in the sunshine? No, no there is not. It really was such a glorious day!
We had a little bit of fun with the drone before heading off to meet everyone back at MAPU in Lyttelton making stops en-route along the Summit Road for a few more tricky tripod portraits. Again… we do not recommend this haha but they worked out pretty well!
We’ve absolutely loved wearing our elopement clothing again (and again!) as they’re not just ‘one day only’ pieces and they bring back so many happy memories. Andie has worn her wedding wellies to many a beach engagement shoot since. We also loved that her hat by Me & The Brave gave back 5% to mental health causes in NZ which was pretty awesome.
For our elopement vendors we chose wedding industry people and businesses who are as passionate as us and we greatly admire their talent. Our fab celebrant Kineta Booker and makeup artist Chloe Jacobs always bring warmth and sunshine and they’re so good at what they do! We feel very at ease with them both and Chloe even managed to cover up the mascne (mask acne remember that?!) on Andie’s nose and cheek. Swaye from Akaroa Hair Studio is the best and so fun to hang out with.
Giulio, the crazy talented chef at MAPU has created a next-level dining experience in Lyttelton. With only 6 seats in his test kitchen, it was the perfect place to take Andie’s parents and our two witnesses (bestie + bro) for lunch to celebrate! Giulio had thoughtfully designed a bespoke pescatarian menu, especially for us with countless courses including crayfish and wine pairing. It was all such a treat!
After the generous wine pairing at MAPU, we were in no state to take photos after lunch, but we did anyway and that was all part of the fun! This champagne spray shot is actually a still from a video clip we made… but you get the general idea… very messy!
Back at Andie’s brothers house we were joined by his partner Caroline and son Fletch for cake and champagne. As if we needed any more booze ;)
How lucky were we to have the magic of a pink sunset and a Full Time Tart cake with fresh pink tulips to end the most spectacular day.
You might have noticed that food and drink was seriously high up on our wedding day priorities. We are both foodies and love nothing better than a wee splurge on creatively crafted food and wine. In the evening… there was always going to be room for our favourite cheese and a glass of Prophets Rock before heading to The Observatory Hotel in Christchurch to pass out! What a day!
We chose our vendors because we can feel and see the love they put into their art, and we are super grateful to everyone who helped make our day so extraordinary.
Robin + Andie’s Elopement Dream Team
Elopement Photography: Robin + Andie
Ceremony Location: The lagoon at Okains Bay.
Celebrant: Kineta Booker https://kinetabooker.com
Confetti: Robinsons Bay Olives https://robinsonsbayolives.co.nz
Private Dining: MAPU https://www.mapu.co.nz
Cake: Full Time Tart https://www.fulltimetart.co.nz
Wine: Champagne Bollinger, Quartz Reef + Prophets Rock https://www.prophetsrock.co.nz
Cheese: Barrys Bay https://barrysbaycheese.co.nz
Wedding Night: The Observatory Hotel https://observatoryhotel.co.nz
Andie’s things…
Wedding ring: Walker & Hall https://www.walkerandhall.co.nz
Hat: Me & The Brave https://fivepercentbrands.co.nz/pages/me-the-brave
Hair: Akaroa Hair Studio https://www.facebook.com/AkaroaHair/
MUA: Chloe Jacobs https://www.facebook.com/chloejacobsmua/
Poncho: Annette Moore (Andie’s Mum)
Bouquet: The Flower Press https://www.theflowerpressnz.com
Boots: Merry People https://merrypeople.com/en-nz
Rob’s things…
Wedding ring: Elk + Cub https://www.elkandcub.com.au/
Beard: Brooklyn Barbers & Babes https://www.brooklynbarbersandbabes.co.nz
Coat + Hat: Johnny Bigg https://www.johnnybigg.com.au/nz
Socks: Happy Socks https://www.happysocks.com/gl/
Shoes: All Birds https://www.allbirds.co.nz