Ben and Laura shared mutual friends at high school and university in Wellington. They fell out of touch for five or so years before reconnecting in Auckland while Laura was flatting with one of Ben’s friends. They’ve been together ever since and married in January 2019 after getting engaged over Christmas 2017.

How long did it take to plan your wedding?We chipped away at our wedding plans from the time we booked our venue (Rose & Smith) in February – getting married in January – so almost a year! Paula at Rose & Smith was amazing and so helpful throughout the planning process as well as on the day!

Did you have a particular theme in mind?We knew that we wanted our wedding to be fun and relaxed but still elegant.

Was any aspect of the planning more challenging than others?It was surprisingly hard finding a venue in the Wellington/ Wairarapa region that would comfortably seat over 150 people while also having character.

What made you choose the venue?When we visited Rose & Smith and met with Paula we knew we had to get married there. We loved the big dining room, huge outdoor space and the vision that Paula had for the venue. Having so much experience planning weddings Paula has set Rose & Smith up to make it easy for couples and conducive to a stress-free (and amazing) day. She and Dale Keith (Head Chef at Rose & Smith) worked with us on our menu, wine list and bar selection. Paula and I caught up over coffee every couple of months to talk through our plans. She was able to recommend vendors and help with everything from budgeting to styling.

What did you enjoy most about the day? The whole day was amazing – having all our favourite people together, the ceremony, the food, the speeches, the music, and the outdoor dance floor – we could not have had a more perfect day.

Top tips

Book vendors you like and feel comfortable with – we did this with every vendor. It made for a completely relaxed wedding weekend.
Make sure you take a step back to take it all in throughout the whole day and evening – it goes super-fast.