Mele & Jone: Setting the high bar
Wedding Day: 29th December 2020
We love Markovina Estate, from meeting at their local church to their special day, Jone and Mele fell in love. After six years together they tied the knot at our estate, incorporating their traditional culture and a live stream to ensure their family abroad could also enjoy this momentous occasion.
Their guest also loved Markovina Estate and will remember their special day forever.
Jone lived in Tauranga and came to Auckland for a church service in 2014, where I happened to be at the same service too. After church, he approached where we casually chatted and I didn’t pay much attention to this. The next day I get a text from a random number which happened to be Jone, and I later found out that he had begged a mutual friend of ours for my phone number. We went on our first date end of 2014 and the rest was history.
Jone couldn’t decide where to go on our first date, so I suggested movies and dinner at Denny’s. I can’t even remember the name of the movie because we spent so much time laughing together. After the movie we went to Denny’s and just talked for hours on end about anything and everything, it was the best first date I could have ever asked for.
In June 2020, Jone had planned a dinner date at Eight Restaurant at Cordis Hotel. I was mid-way through shelling a king prawn and he opened a small black box and places it on the table. I didn’t register what he was doing until he gently asked me to marry him. My first reaction was to laugh, which I did for a good minute and then of course said YES!
When we were searching for a wedding venue, I was telling a friend about my search in which she told me about her son getting married at this beautiful vineyard in Kumeu. She gave me the details and I immediately booked a viewing at Markovina Vineyard Estate after recently becoming engaged. I wanted to keep my options open, so I booked viewings for three other vineyards in Kumeu.
When Jone and I went to the viewing at Markovina, we instantly fell in love with Markovina Estate with the ambiance of the place, the lush green gardens and the beautiful vines and lights hanging from the ceiling. I knew in my heart that this was the place I wanted to get married at.
Another reason we love and settled on Markovina was of course the price. We thought surely because the venue is so stunning it would cost an arm and a leg, however the affordability of the food and drink packages were a pleasant surprise and was one of the deciding factors for us. We still went and viewed the three other vineyards, but none of which lived up to Markovina. Markovina for us, had set the bar so high that we could not settle for anything else.
Jone and I then took our family to Markovina’s Open Day and that was it! They fell in love with Markovina too, especially seeing it lit up in the evening.
We found Markovina did not necessarily need a lot of decorations as it is already stunning, but is also very versatile where you can personalise your decorations. We wanted to keep with the vibe of the venue, so we chose to go with a polished rustic dusty pink theme. We had seen some weddings on Pinterest that we took inspiration from and we picked out what we liked from those weddings and had our decorator bring it to life. Our guest love Markovina Estate as well.
After the ceremony, we had some time alone in the garden where we both just sat in awe of officially being married. It was such a special moment for us both. As we looked forward to to reception, it was a no brainer for us to choose the buffet style service as we love our food, and especially in bulk. The selection of buffet menu was great as it we had multiple dishes to choose from with a few of our cultural favourites, like taro and chop suey.
When we was looking for a photographer, we had seen some stunning pictures by a couple who did photography together, on the New Zealand Wedding Discussion Group Page. We loved their style of photography as it was vibrant, the colours of the photo came to life and they really popped. We were also impressed with their highlight video production, so we made sure to book with Kiri Marsters Photography.
Another vendor we chose for our special day was LUVS Affordable Decorations. We had seen the countless events they decorated and were inspired. Their style of decor is that of the more classic wedding theme, but they are very creative and can create a theme according to the client’s vision.
When I sadly lost my beautiful Mother in October 2019, I knew I wanted to honor her on our wedding day. She was helping me with the planning of our wedding, so I had her picture attached to my bouquet and set up a dedication table to her and my late father in-law who passed away in 2013.
Unfortunately due to COVID19, Jone’s mother and brothers were unable to travel to New Zealand in time for the Wedding. We made sure to set up a Facebook page in order to live stream the ceremony to our family in Fiji and abroad. My bridesmaids had organized a surprise slideshow for Jone, where his mother, brother, uncle and best friend were filmed wishing Jone and I a blessed and happy marriage. This was so special to us both and left us in tears of joy.
My advice for other couples is to never go to bed angry at your husband/wife, deal with issue, forgive and forget. Also, a happy wife makes for a happy life.
Vendors:
Venue: Markovina Vineyard Estate
Photographer & Videographer: Kiri Marsters Photography
Florist: Emerson Rose Florals
Decorator: LUVS Affordable Decorations
Cake: Pietra13
Favours: Cookies By Kiki
Celebrant: Rev. Moses Cama (Bride’s father)
Bride’s Dress: Xian Bridal
Bride’s Shoes: Shoe Talk
Bride’s Accessories: Lovisa
Hair & Make-up: Jmee Lee Mua
Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits: Taro Cash
Groom’s Shoes: Jonny Big
Rings: Michael Hill
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: City Chic
DJ: Tia Damu (Family Friend)
Photobooth: Hot Shots through Markovina
Accommodation: Airbnb
Transport: Personal cars with a white bow from Spotlight
Hire: Mr&Mrs sign and candle holder- Covers Decoration Hire
