A Modern New Zealand Beach Wedding For This Globetrotting Pair

We are swooning over the beautiful beach wedding of our real bride Charlotte & and her love Tom. A truly magical affair. The stunning bride visited our Roseville head office studio and fell in love with the Valentine wedding gown, opting for a bespoke strapless neckline. SIMPLY STUNNING!

Charlotte and Tom’s love blossomed across several continents; they were introduced through a mutual friend via FaceBook whilst Charlotte was travelling in South America and Tom was living in London. They hit it off so well that Charlotte decided to prolong her trip and join Tom in the UK – where they stayed for the next 5 years until warmer climates eventually beckoned, and they moved back to Sydney in 2019.

Not long after returning to Australian soil, Tom popped the question.
Charlotte vividly remembers the romantic proposal:

“Come October 2021 we were happily settling into being parents of a four-week-old bundle of fur – our first baby, Clover. Much to my delight, Clover thought that I was such a good dog mum that she’d written me a lovely card asking me to pack my bags so Tom could take me away for the weekend to say Thank You. I jumped into the car to find a playlist of all my most special songs Having carefully collated the list with Dad, it included the perfect mix of meaningful family moments as well as songs that Tom and I had loved over the years.

I was taken to a beautiful lunch in Berry, New South Wales but come the most perfect sunset on the first night and no ring, I’d decided I was just ridiculously lucky and it wasn’t ‘that’ weekend after all! Thankfully a stunning morning beach walk (with some rather aggressive waves coming a tad too close to Tom’s pocket and the ring box for his liking), was the moment I’d been waiting for, and I very happily said Yes before spending a beautiful day full of massages, picnics and more champagne than a girl could ask for!”

Charlotte and Tom carefully planned their wedding and had an idea of what they wanted, but it wasn’t until they found the perfect venue that it all really started coming together!

At the very beginning of the process, they sat down and decided on their top 5 non negotiables, one of them being that everyone could stay together, bridal party included, the night before the wedding and preferably by the ocean.
The McCallum Residence reception venue in Clevedon New Zealand was everything they dreamed off and really leant itself to the romantic, but fresh and modern vibe that they were after. They took subtle queues from things like the yellow bridesmaid dresses (Charlotte’s mum and grandmother had yellow bridesmaid dresses and she wanted to keep the tradition going!), a touch of yellow in the flowers, and even the groomsmen’s socks! All the vendors they worked with were incredible, and the florist and planner (https://www.letstoast.co.nz/ourstory) went above and beyond to help the bride bring her dream to life!

Charlotte has so many fond memories of her wedding day, but one of the most precious was seeing Tom at the end of the aisle. She describes it as: “A once in a lifetime moment – he looked so handsome, and I just couldn’t stop grinning!”

When it came to picking her bridal gown, Charlotte knew it was going to be difficult. She says she is the world’s least decisive person – there’s always “something better” around the corner, so she knew picking a dress was going to be HARD. She went to about 13 different appointments without finding what she wanted, although was finally getting closer knowing it was going to be strapless! She recalls:

“Enter my amazing Mum. She’d been driving past Peter Trends Bridal, Roseville, for years on the way up to the Central Coast and I can always remember her looking in the window and saying, “we’ve got to go in and try the wedding dresses when it’s your turn!!”. She booked us an appointment and we met the wonderful Kajsa, who with little more than my ‘…strapless?’ idea, found me my dream dress!”

Charlotte looked like a dream in her bespoke Valentine wedding dress from our Emanuella Collection. We customised the design to a strapless sweetheart neckline, and the contemporary, clean lines effortlessly complement this ball gown silhouette. A modern yet classic Australian designed wedding dress made of soft buttery luxurious satin with lustre and a warm ivory tone – with a cheeky front split.