A North Canterbury Elopement Set Among the Vines
Anna (she/her) and Stacey (she/they) met at a point in life where neither of them was searching for anything big, just figuring out what came next. Instead, they found each other. Things moved quickly and easily from there, dating, spoiling one another, and moving in together in true u-haul fashion.
When it came time to get married, they kept that same ease. A small, comfortable ceremony with their closest people, followed by cocktails, a brew-pub celebration, kids firing confetti cannons, and rainbow confetti of their own, all set among the vines of Dancing Water Winery, a boutique North Canterbury vineyard.
Later lesbians, unexpectedly all in
We’re later-in-life lesbians who met completely by chance, at a time when we were both separated and figuring out what our next chapters might look like. Neither of us was expecting to find “the one,” but it didn’t take long to realise there was something undeniable between us.
We dated, spoiled each other, and leaned fully into the energy and reciprocity we found together – something that felt easy and deeply mutual from the start. Before we knew it, we’d moved in together, and the rest is history… very much u-haul style. wink
An intimate ceremony, then celebrating outward
We wanted our ceremony to feel as true to us as possible: present, personal, and grounded in the moment we were sharing together. Having a small number of our biggest supporters there mattered most, especially so we could speak intimate words to each other and feel completely comfortable in that space.
After the ceremony, we widened the circle in a way that still felt right. We invited a slightly larger group of friends and family to celebrate with us at a cocktail party, and later in the evening, even more people joined us for a party at our favourite brew-pub. It gave us the best of both worlds: a deeply intimate beginning, followed by celebration with the people we love.
Confetti, kids, and doing it together
Getting ready together with our children and our best friends was amazing. We loved having good friends insist on driving us to the ceremony, and seeing our kids fire confetti cannons filled with butterflies and hearts during the ceremony, followed by us setting off our own rainbow confetti later.
Having our Mums there, our celebrant from Elope Away being so fun, and spending every moment of the day together made it feel magical and perfect from start to finish.
Built together down to the diamonds
We worked closely with our celebrant on everything that was said and wrote our own vows. We chose our dresses and shoes together, put our own flowers together, and had matching engagement rings.
We also chose our wedding bands together, which included Stacey spoiling Anna with gorgeous sparkly diamonds, because she is a princess!
Trusted people, easy choices
We already knew and loved our celebrant’s inclusive, joyful vibe at Elope Away, and she recommended our photographer, Kirsten Smart Photography, for the ceremony.
For the finer details of the cocktail party afterwards, we had a good friend step in and help us bring it all together. On the day, thoughtful details like signage by Your.DÈTAIL, makeup by Amberley Beauty, and behind-the-scenes content captured by MI. Content Studio helped everything come together seamlessly.
No second thoughts
This was absolutely the best and most intimate choice for us. We wouldn’t change a thing.
Photography by Kirsten Smart Photography
Celebrant Elope Away
Content Creator MI. Content Studio
Make Up Artist Amberley Beauty
Signage Your.DÈTAIL
