Morgan and Maxwell embraced the wonderful features of Morgan’s hometown of Oamaru on their special day, including an urban art gallery, Victorian pub, limestone quarry and picturesque garden! The result is a stylish celebration with plenty of personalised touches that are just gorgeous. Morgan shares their story…

We hosted 140 of our family and friends in the Morgan’s hometown of Oamaru. Nearly every single vendor was not only personally known to the family, but were experienced professionals in their field and known to be some of the best vendors in North Otago!

We married on a Friday, with all the wedding party stayed in the same building on Thursday night - the boys in the upstairs apartment and girls down below. We got ready separately and met at the art gallery down the road for our first look with Rachel our photographer.

We then did a mini pub crawl with our bridal party through the Victorian part of town, meeting our families at the local Belgian style brewery - a personal favourite of Maxwell’s. We had family photos here before heading to the ceremony via the Limestone Quarry. Rachel had her husband meet us there with his drone and we got some of the best photos of the day.

Our ceremony was at 4pm at Rocklands, a private address set in a wonderfully manicured garden. We wrote our own vows, which we shared privately a couple days before. Afterwards we mingled with bubbles, canapés and lawn games handmade by Maxwell.

The reception began at 6:30 back in town. Guests found their seats on a homemade seating chart featuring our favourite records. Each table setting had a QR code for a “disposable camera” that let you take 15 photos that you couldn’t see the until we released the gallery to everyone the following Sunday. Using this, we got to see our wedding through our guests eyes!

After some hearty food, plenty of wine and a 25-minute speech from Morgan the band kicked off and played into the night, with after dinner mojitos and an 11pm cheese roll delivery on the dance floor.

The next day, we hosted everyone at Morgan’s parents home, overlooking Oamaru harbour. It was a fantastic day and another late night for most of us.

We really wanted our wedding to showcase this amazing town, as well as be a great experience for our friends and family, and reflecting who we are as a couple and what we enjoy. Everything turned out pretty amazing, we are happy we focused on the details though alot of advice was not to, as the details are what made it feel like ours.

Photographer: Rachel Wybrow Photography

Trish Peng / Portfolio Jewellery / Walker & Hall / Tessa Simpson Make-up / Gabrielle Roney Hair / Celine Rita / Mairead Fox Florist / Working Style / Hallensteins / The Loan and Merc / The Old Confectionery / Rocklands Estate / Tracey Johnson Designer Cakes / Radikal Neon / Tble Linen / Little Hire Co / Sally Ann Donnelly / Alan Ned Gray / Forester Art Gallery / The Criterion Hotel, Craftwork Brewery / Parkside Quarries / Sarah Caldwell Celebrant