Primrose Gown – Bree & Sean

February 17, 2020

Real Brides

Primrose Gown – Bree & Sean

COUPLE’S NAMES

Bree & Sean Le Roux

Wedding Date

27 October 2019

LOCATION

We got married in the Classical Garden within Sculptureum in Matakana, NZ. After the ceremony, our guests made their way through a sculpture walk. This gave the bridal party time to have photos while our guests were entertained. The garden ends up leading to Rothko restaurant, which is where our reception was held. We chose Sculptureum because it catered to every single one of our needs: a ceremony spot, a restaurant for our reception, lots of amazing spots for photos plus a cultural experience for our guests to enjoy. We wanted a relaxed, yet elegant European garden party style wedding, which is exactly what we got!

GUEST TOTAL

117

PHOTOGRAPHER

Our photographer was Seng Kit, from Insight Enlight photography. He was recommended to us by a friend and we both liked his previous work in landscape photography. We really appreciated his relaxed, friendly yet hardworking attitude and felt it was a great fit for us as a couple. On the day when Seng and his team showed up, from the get-go – they worked so hard, yet fit into the day so seamlessly, it was like they weren’t even there. They were our ‘invisible ninjas’.

BRIDE’S DRESS

I wore the Primrose wedding gown by Bo and Luca. It’s delicately hand-beaded, long-sleeved and made from the finest Indian silk. The gown is backless with a string detail across the back to keep the dress snug in all the right places. It is light as a feather, even with four tiers of silk skirt which flow down softly from the waist. From the moment I put the dress on, I knew I had found the perfect one for me. I was and am still completely besotted with it. It’s elegant, romantic, soft and has a slight bohemian feel about it.

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES

My bridesmaids all wore dresses of their choice, in white tones. I wanted their personalities to shine through and for everyone to feel comfortable and beautiful and like themselves. They wore matching shoes, pearl earrings and we had their hair styled into low, Italian style, middle-parted buns.

ENGAGEMENT STORY

Sean proposed to me Christmas Eve last year. I had absolutely no idea it was coming. 2018 was a very tough year for me personally, and I had lost my Dad to cancer only 2 months before. On the morning of Christmas Eve, we got up early and went for a walk on the beach in the rain, (I remember feeling quietly happy he was up for it!) and then went out to a local café for breakfast on the beach. When we got home, he asked if I wanted to open an early Christmas present, and sat me down on the couch. As soon as he uttered the words “I wanted to ask for your dad’s blessing before he passed away…” I realised I was about to be proposed to and time kind of went all funny. There were lots of tears and laughter and after about 5 minutes, he said “so… I take it that’s a yes??” ha! I loved that the proposal was simple, intimate and heartfelt.

WEDDING THEME

We wanted our wedding to be relaxed, yet elegant. The vibe of our wedding was a European style garden party with our guests milling around freely, with food and drinks flowing and beautiful acoustic music playing. There was no sit down three-course meal, instead, we decided on a constant abundance of food and drink.

WEDDING RINGS

Sean had my engagement ring made with the help of my best friend. It’s a trilogy set, with 2 diamonds nestled beside green quartz, in a gold setting. Sean’s mum gifted him the gold and diamonds which she brought with the family when they immigrated from South Africa 20 years ago. Our wedding bands are both gold, and mine is set with tiny diamonds throughout. Sean has his wedding band tattooed under his ring, due to him being a builder and not being able to wear a ring to work. I felt really honoured he wanted to do this.

FLOWERS & BOUQUETS

Choosing the flowers was the hardest decision for me across the wedding! I think it’s because I love flowers so very much it was really difficult to choose. I worked with a fantastic florist, Hannah at Grace & Flora and we ended up deciding on a bohemian yet classic pairing of white orchids and chrysanthemums, blush pink and purple roses, soft bunny tails, native silver ferns, and toetoe. Hannah created a beautiful big piece, which was placed on top of a lion fountain that we got married in front of.

CAKE

Our cake was a three-tiered, naked-ish style cake from Rose Crafted Cakes. The top layer was gluten-free carrot cake, the second layer was peanut butter and chocolate ganache and the bottom layer was vanilla and lemon curd ganache. It was so delectable, and I only wish I ate more.

FOOD & DRINKS

For our food, we had a large grazing table available to guests immediately after the ceremony. We then had a constant stream of plates being served to our guests. At 10 pm, we had a carving station with a selection of meats and salads to keep our guests well fed!

HONEYMOON

Sean and I had a mini-moon/staycation at SkyCity Grand in Auckland for two nights which was so nice to be able to kick back together and reminisce about our day. We are going to a wedding in Thailand in February, so we are going to extend our holiday and have our proper honeymoon then.

GIFTS REGISTRY

Our gift registry was for anyone who wanted to contribute to a Travel Account with Flight Centre for our honeymoon in Thailand in February.

MEMORABLE MOMENT

One of my most memorable moments was walking down the first part of the aisle on the arms of my two brothers, towards my stepdad Heugh. As my brothers passed me over to Heugh, a tear slipped out from under his sunglasses and dropped onto his blazer. He is a man of few words and that moment really touched me. Heugh has been a very solid and protective presence in my life. Another memorable moment was deciding to wear my Dad’s hat on our wedding day so he could be there in some shape or form. He never went anywhere without his Akubra hat.

ADVICE FOR BRIDES-TO-BE

My advice would be to approach your wedding as the most special, amazing day of your life. Make sure it’s a reflection of the two of you and your energy as a couple, not what you think other people want. Always remember what that special day is all about – celebrating love and each other and you can’t go wrong! From a practical point of view, every time a task or job pops into your head, just do it. Doing a tiny little bit every other day will save you a lot of stress leading up to your wedding. Dream, visualise, and then do. Everything will fall into place.