Hazel & Luke
Hazel and Luke celebrated their love at Hobbiton, infusing the venue's charm with their DIY creations. Their vibrant, romantic ambiance and personalised details created an extraordinary celebration, leaving a lasting impression on their guests. This kaleidoscope of colours and magic will forever be etched in their hearts. Hazel shares the details from their gorgeous wedding…
Photos by Jinal Govind Photography
We chose to get married at Hobbiton - a decision I think many people weren’t sure we were serious about at first! Luke and I are both huge fans of the books and films, and originally being a designer, I felt a lot of pressure to make things picture-perfect. I was the one who suggested Hobbiton as a venue, because doing something a little unexpected felt like less pressure to create a details-perfect wedding. However, we both agreed from the start that we didn’t want the very distinctive venue to take over focus. We spent a lot of our time planning how to naturally incorporate the venue while elevating the rest of the design choices so that it still felt like a regular wedding to our guests.
Much of our wedding was DIY. Stationery, florals, confetti, hair, nails, and make up. This was in part because we both enjoy a bit of DIY, but also because it helped us put money toward the things we felt were most important to us, such as our outfits, our photographer, a day-of co-ordinator, and a unique guest experience.
I spent many months growing a cut flower garden from scratch, focusing on dahlias, hydrangea, foliage, and wildflowers. Loved ones also contributed from their own gardens, with one special dahlia in my bouquet sourced from a bulb originally grown by my late grandmother, Kathleen. These were (very carefully!) driven up from Wellington to Cambridge in big buckets of water, and supplemented with purchases from a local flower farm. The bridesmaids and I each put together our own bouquets the night before, and you can see all of our creative personalities coming out in the way they look. Some more structured, some more loose and whimsical. It was a special part of the day to have my girls’ individual creativity captured, and it was a wonderful activity for us to share together before bed.
Many other details were from home - confetti was hand-dried hydrangea flowers picked from our garden, and even the dried citrus decorating the tables was hand-dried fruit from our grapefruit tree! These small personal details from home were really special to us, and worth the extra effort.
We gathered with the bridal party first thing in the morning to share breakfast - this helped us shake off some nerves and feel a bit more normal! Luke and the boys headed back to their accommodation to chill and play some backyard cricket, while the girls and I took the morning to slowly set up, get ready, and soak up the entire experience. My girls gave me a few heartfelt notes and gifts, and we video called another would-be bridesmaid that couldn’t be in the country. It was important to me that getting ready felt the same as all the times I had gotten ready with my girls before an event or night out - a mess of shared products, scattered mirrors, and an experience full of laughs, love, and helping one another.
The dress was a well-complimented moment - I had a really specific vision for my dress and couldn’t find exactly what I was after. I nearly settled on something that was just okay before my seamstress pointed out we could redesign an existing dress to be exactly what I’d envisioned. It came together perfectly! It was definitely a splurge, but it was worth it for the “holy sh*t” that fell out of Luke’s mouth just as I reached the top of the aisle and the music stopped!
Our ceremony was in the Hobbiton gardens, which was alive with bees and butterflies amongst the flowers, and trees heavy with fruit. I walked down the aisle to a guitar cover of Concerning Hobbits, which now causes us both to get very emotional when it plays in the films!
After the ceremony our guests enjoyed a full tour of the movie set, while we took our bridal party photos. It was fun as we got to experience the grounds with our bridal party at a slower pace than most of the regular tours the venue offers. We wanted to make sure we got some photos where it wasn’t immediately obvious that our venue was Hobbiton, which is unsurprisingly hard to do. Jinal absolutely nailed it with a perfect balance of shots that embrace the venue, and shots that left it more subtle to focus on us!
Because our timeline was very packed, we sneakily scheduled to have our dinner served picnic-style out by the lakeside, while our guests ate and socialised inside! These moments for the two of us were very special, and let us soak up the beautiful venue and our newlywed status under a beautiful pink sunset. Our reception was held in the one and only Green Dragon, and for our first dance we performed Merry and Pippin’s rendition of Brew for the Brave and True from The Return of The King, complete with full mugs of “ale” to down at the end (actually just water - we weren’t keen on any stains from spills!). We knew we’d feel awkward dancing romantically in front of everyone and really just wanted to kick off the dance floor with something upbeat and a bit silly! Our guests got involved clapping along with the beat, and some even tried to sing along using lyric sheets we provided. At the end of the night, guests were rounded up onto coaches and we were left to slow dance to one of our favourite songs just the two of us in an empty venue - that’s when the happy tears really flooded out!
There’s something quite special about being able to watch our favourite films together and see the exact spot we got married, almost exactly as it was on the day. Really, Hobbiton was the perfect fit - as two people with a passion for food, who share a love for all things that grow, and most of all, as hikers who love a grand adventure, Hobbiton practically felt like home!
Photographer: Jinal Govind Photography
Ceremony & Reception venue: Hobbiton Movie Set
Bride's attire: Hello Romeo Boutique
Groom's attire: Rembrandt
Bridesmaids dresses: BLAK Bridesmaids
Zoe Porter Jeweller / Nolan & Vada / Nicola Ann Harwood Goldsmith / The Gold Exchange Wellington / Loeffler Randal / Merchant 1948 / Hallensteins / Elegant & Wild / The Vintage Party, Wellington / Farmlet Flowers / Central Flowers Wellington / Sweet Avenue Cakes / Courtney McCulloch Celebrant / DJ For You