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Our fantastic boss Jenene got married recently. Read all about the details of her amazing day here...
There were three important factors for myself and Ken on the day of our wedding (aside from the actual ceremony). We wanted everyone to drink, dance and eat – lots. Our wedding day was to be one that was celebrated, talked about and remembered.
We didn’t want a lot of formalities or traditions for the sake of them, we wanted what we wanted. It’s a nice feeling to be able to do that, as a lot of couples get caught up with family pressure in the planning process and as a result sacrifice many things they’d quite like, for the sake of harmony. We were very lucky, our families were quite happy to keep out of the arrangements and just turn up on the day with nothing to do other than try and meet the three aforementioned criteria (they passed with flying colours).
DESTINATION Having the wedding in the Hawke’s Bay really added to the festivities of the wedding. We had hired two houses over the Tuki Tuki bridge, tucked away up on the hill with an amazing view of Te Mata Peak. This was our first good call, finding a private destination that only our closest friends (who we enjoy spending extended periods of time with) knew about, that were fully kitted out with private swimming pool, outdoor areas, views and oh, everything else you could possibly need at your finger tips. Luxurious, amazing and utterly peaceful.
PREPARATION Ken and I both found the whole wedding organisation relatively pain and stress free. After many years of running our own businesses and organising many events, putting together our wedding was more fun than pressure filled. The only consideration we needed to make was to not blow our budget completely – something that we both struggled with since I bought the dress that cost several small fortunes. After our arrival and settling in to our luxurious accommodation (oops, there goes that budget again!), we spent the next day or so following up with key people for the wedding to make sure everyone had what they needed to make the day run smoothly. I wasn’t keen on any ‘work’ for anyone. Outside of those loose ends being tied, I slotted in a few pampering sessions and Ken gathered his friends together to play a round of golf out at Cape Kidnappers – one of New Zealand’s finest golf courses. Lucky man!
REHEARSAL I’ve always found these an amusing concept and wondered exactly their point, but I realised the value on the eve of our wedding when the concept of getting married in a forest finally dawned on me – it meant so many things could potentially go west. Thankfully our celebrant Bev was extremely organised and focused and had us all in place and aware of what we were supposed to do. Any lingering questions by the whanau as to why exactly we were getting married in a forest were well and truly cleared up at this point with the general consensus being ‘wow’, an outdoor cathedral.
THE BIG DAY – 29th December 2006
I surprised myself by how well I had slept the night before. I was prepared for it to be fitful and patchy, but instead it was calm and refreshing. The day was beautiful, sunny with no clouds in the sky - days like that in the HB are just magical. I got up around 6am and took the pooch down to the river and happily stretched my legs and soaked up the reality of the day. It was nice to have some reflection time. Once back at the house, I decided being cooked for wasn’t an option (I needed something to do), so made an omelette for everyone and we tucked in before heading off on our morning’s tasks.
I headed into Havelock North on my own and took the chance to crank up the stereo with “Our Song” by Elton John – which I’d be walking up the aisle to in just a few hours time. With hindsight this was the smartest move I made all day (other than marrying Kenny, of course), as I got all the tears and nerves out of my system and just felt amped about what was ahead.
First up to the hair dresser, where I figured out that I forgotten to bring down with me... the picture of what I wanted to replicate. Luckily she understood perfectly and nailed it, it just looked beautiful. Next I was off to see the florist and pick up our flowers and head back to the river houses for a make up session. I’m very lucky, I have a make up artist on staff at nzgirl, so Elaine came down for the wedding and stuck around the whole day for touch ups (which, surprisingly, I didn’t utilise much at all!). Elaine really understood what I was trying to achieve with my make up and did a brilliant job.
Then pretty much all I had to do was….put on the dress. I waited until the last possible minute, and then Sarah helped me slip into it. Actually, it was more like shove me into it – I had unfortunately gained a few of the kilos back thanks to Christmas celebrations, but thankfully nothing that couldn’t be sucked and buttoned in. Once all my bits and bobs were in place and secured, I took a look in the mirror and smiled, it was finally time. Mum, Dad, Varsha, Sarah, Simon and I all piled into the two cars and waited for the call that everyone was seated and ready for us.
We used matching Ford Territories - one mine and one borrowed from the lovely folks at Hastings Ford who felt sorry for us as one of my brothers - whose car we were using to match mine - was too sick to make it down to the wedding - thanks Ford!
Being the girl I am, I don’t like to enter any where without a little ceremony – so Sarah and I belted out classic love songs and 80’s hits, at full volume (much to my poor deaf brother’s despair!). As we drove into the forest we were singing Dragon’s “Rain” at the top of our lungs – we were sure that rocking in would make everyone laugh. Surprisingly, they didn’t hear us (god knows why not, as we were particularly loud and off key!) As I stepped out of the car and onto the black carpet that we had laid out over the forest, I took my dad’s arm and looked around me at the amazing Redwood Forest and all its beauty.
Up the top of the aisle was my stunning husband-to-be, waiting patiently with the most dazzling blood-shot eyes, thanks to him trying his best not to cry! Bless! To the sound of three violins and a cello I shuffled towards him with a stupid grin on my face.
The ceremony was so different from what I expected, but more than I had hoped for. It was just so relaxed and yet formal. It was a beautiful combination of touching moments and hilarity and something we’ll never ever forget. There were some pearler comments made by various participants and it just reflected the way we are with each other – so at home with our selves and in our relationship.
My favourite moment was the celebrant reading out the reasons Ken had told her that he wanted to marry me – it was such a treat to hear her say things that weren’t planned as part of the ceremony, but special additions that were part of the ‘unveiling’. I loved that he said that as soon as we started our relationship he knew he never wanted it to end.
Amazingly, I didn’t cry. I was pretty sure I was going to blubber, but nope, I was dry! I smiled so much my face hurt and I had plenty of wobbly lip moments, but I held it together.
Post ceremony the guests all piled back into buses and headed out to Te Awa Vineyard, while we took 15 minutes out at a friend’s place with our wedding party to have a glass of champagne and take in what had just happened. We were really pleased we took this time, it was so important to get a moment to breathe and try and slow the pace of the day down a bit. We didn’t want to go off for photos, so this was the quick interlude before rejoining the guests.
Te Awa had gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure every aspect of the reception was thought of. The flowers were spectacular (Singapore orchids and ivory roses), the 300 candles and 2000 fairy lights made the venue look spectacular and the staff were ensuring that everyone was being watered and fed.
We had no real formalities, as we didn’t want a sit down meal, but loads of finger food all night and dancing in between.
The string quartet who played in the forest continued for a while and then we headed for speeches, which were touching and entertaining. The highlight being the big wind up from me to Ken, which I had been planning and playing out for months (evil wife!). I had made it very clear to Ken that I would not be changing my name, with the intention of surprising him on the day. I wrote a speech based on analysing the similarities between the Freer and Crossan families and concluded that after much analysis and comparison I felt that I had passed the Freer test and that I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate and special than to take his name to honour how privileged I felt to have married him. Well, then we got some tears out of Ken…and pretty much everyone else in the room.
Saving the best part for last, the band One Million Dollars rocked in and played a two hour jazz funk set which we all just danced our arses off to. So much fun! They were brilliant – just thinking about them now gives me shivers. Seriously, it was worth every penny to have an eleven piece band really crank up the party. Once they concluded, Hobs the DJ jumped on stage and rounded up the evening with some solid old school hits that everyone could wiggle to.
The day passed so fast, it was incredible. It was everything we hoped for. Our friends raved about it and still do. We had a spectacular time and felt so privileged to have had a beautiful setting, all our closest friends and family there and a wedding that went absolutely according to military-precision planning, but also just the way we wanted it to be.
Relaxed and full of dancing, drinking, eating…and smiling!
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her amazing day here...
DESTINATION
I surprised myself by how well I had slept the night before. I was prepared for it to be fitful and patchy, but instead it was calm and refreshing. The day was beautiful, sunny with no clouds in the sky - days like that in the HB are just magical. I got up around 6am and took the pooch down to the river and happily stretched my legs and soaked up the reality of the day. It was nice to have some reflection time. Once back at the house, I decided being cooked for wasn’t an option (I needed something to do), so made an omelette for everyone and we tucked in before heading off on our morning’s tasks. 
First up to the hair dresser, where I figured out that I forgotten to bring down with me... the picture of what I wanted to replicate. Luckily she understood perfectly and nailed it, it just looked beautiful. Next I was off to see the florist and pick up our flowers and head back to the river houses for a make up session. I’m very lucky, I have a make up artist on staff at nzgirl, so Elaine came down for the wedding and stuck around the whole day for touch ups (which, surprisingly, I didn’t utilise much at all!). Elaine really understood what I was trying to achieve with my make up and did a brilliant job.
My favourite moment was the celebrant reading out the reasons Ken had told her that he wanted to marry me – it was such a treat to hear her say things that weren’t planned as part of the ceremony, but special additions that were part of the ‘unveiling’. I loved that he said that as soon as we started our relationship he knew he never wanted it to end. 
Te Awa had gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure every aspect of the reception was thought of. The flowers were spectacular (Singapore orchids and ivory roses), the 300 candles and 2000 fairy lights made the venue look spectacular and the staff were ensuring that everyone was being watered and fed. 
The day passed so fast, it was incredible. It was everything we hoped for. Our friends raved about it and still do. We had a spectacular time and felt so privileged to have had a beautiful setting, all our closest friends and family there and a wedding that went absolutely according to military-precision planning, but also just the way we wanted it to be.