A grumpy Lacey almost ruined Jed’s valiant efforts for a surprise proposal on One Tree Hill.
But it was clearly meant to be, and the couple was married in a short and sweet ceremony on the beautiful Tutukaka Coast, with family and friends travelling far and wide for the big day.
The celebrant was late, but the weather was perfect – and Lacey’s dad even wore a suit.
We’ll let her fill you in on all the details…
How did you meet? Jed and I met at university in 2009. We had quite a few mutual friends but didn’t manage to cross paths until our third year when my friend and Jed’s flatmate invited me around to their house for a “red card” party.
Tell us about the proposal: Jed is incapable of keeping secrets so I always thought that I would know when he was going to propose because he wouldn’t be able to hide it from me. However, he fooled me by buying the ring, calling my dad for permission, and proposing all in the one day. I was at work so he could resist the urge to text or call me.
He picked me up from work and said he had been cooped up inside all day and wanted us to go for a walk (not unusual – Jed doesn’t cope well being inside all day). Long story short, I had had a very stressful day, I was a bit grumpy, I insisted on doing the grocery shopping and didn’t pick up on his not so subtle hints to hurry up at the supermarket. When we got home I still didn’t notice how quickly he unpacked the shopping while hurrying me to change into exercise gear.
We then left the house to get in the car – I was still grumpy and said something about driving to go walking and how silly that was. We fought through 5:30pm Auckland traffic to get to Cornwall Park. We power-walked up to One Tree Hill and under an overcast sky, howling wind and the threat of rain, Jed asked me to be his wife. I never saw it coming! We then ran all the way back down the hill to the car to call our families.
Location of wedding: We got married at Matapouri on the Tutukaka Coast, which is north of Whangarei. My dad lives there, it is the place I call home, and Jed and I have spent many summers swimming and fishing up there. We wanted to showcase this beautiful part of New Zealand and it was the perfect place for our wedding. Our ceremony was at Otito Reserve and the reception was in a massive marquee at the Matapouri Hall.
Andrew Noakes and Jo Dixon
Friends and family came from all over the country for the wedding.
Describe your wedding day: The whole day was spectacular! It rained for most of Friday (not a surprise for September) and we were very worried about having to turn our outdoor wedding into an indoor wedding, and to floor our 10m x 20m marquee. But we woke to cloudless skies on Saturday and it remained that way the whole day.
I got ready at my family home with my closest family members and my two bridesmaids while Jed and his family and friends set up our marquee and ceremony. He also managed to fit in a round of golf, too! Our ceremony was short and sweet, we said our own vows and tried to personalise everything. Our guests enjoyed nibbles and drinks and lawn games while we had our photos taken back on my farm. We had an amazing band (who also played at Jed’s 21st), and after all the formalities were over, we danced the night away!
The plus size bridesmaid dresses: My dress was a Stella York design from Brides Corner. It wasn’t the type of dress I was expecting to wear on my wedding day, but as soon as I put it on, I did not want to take it off and I knew that it was the dress for me.
The flowers: I used the amazing team at Mint Floral in Whangarei. I knew absolutely nothing about flowers so I gave Jasmine a picture of what I wanted from Pinterest and she recreated it perfectly.
Highlight of the wedding: Oh, there are so many, I don’t even know where to begin! The amazing weather was definitely one of them, as well as all of our guests travelling so far (99 per cent of them had to travel for our wedding, some as far south as Dunedin and as far north as Samoa). We had a barbecue the night before and brunch the day after so that we had plenty of time to catch up with everyone.
Probably the thing that I loved the most was that our wedding was very personal to us (from the rugby and dog cake to the table numbers to hand-built bar leaners to the wording in our ceremony) and it was also a very family affair – my dad collected all the food for the caterers, my brother was MC, my mum helped with getting ready on the day, and Jed’s family were amazing at setting up the entire marquee exactly how we wanted it.
Jed’s mum made our “Mr and Mrs” banner, our table runners, and an enormous bowl of punch for everyone to drink. We had a family friend make our signing board and hand-paint all our table numbers. Another family friend made our cake and a family friend runs a restaurant that caters weddings as well.
One other thing that sticks in my mind is my dad in a suit! My dad is a farmer, he lives in stubbies and swazi shirts. I’ve never seen him in a suit in my lifetime and what’s more, he led me to believe he was just going to wear a shirt and jeans with his gumboots, then he steps out in the latest suit AND tie from Barkers!
Was there any drama? We initially thought the weather was going to cause trouble but the only issue we had was that our celebrant was late. She got the time mixed up and was 45 minutes late to the ceremony. But it’s true what they say – on the day, it really doesn’t matter!
The honeymoon: We spent a lot of time with family and friends in the lead-up to the wedding and a couple days after the big event. On the Monday, we headed up to Paihia for two days of relaxing. We will go on a proper honeymoon in March next year – so far Hawaii or the Galapagos Islands are our top choices.
Your photographer and favourite photo? We used friends of my dad’s – a husband and wife team – and they were amazing! I love all 858 of our photos but the one of Jed and I at the front entrance to the farm is pretty amazing.
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