There is no hiding the fact that I am a huge fan of the talents behind Brancoprata – Sofia and André. I gush about them often, and I’m seriously considering a trip to Portugal just to meet them in person. With styling of Sofia and the stunning photography of André – they are such a power couple of talent, not to mention they are just all around awesome people. So when I heard they were traveling to New Zealand to capture the day of the oh so sweet Steph of BubbleRock Studios, I had ants in my pants waiting to see the final product. Well the wait is over my friends, and boy is it pretty! See all of the awesome in the full gallery!

Click here for the full image gallery!

When Robin and I started planning our wedding, we wanted something that would reflect not only our two cultures but also our love of travel and genuine things: family, friends and food. We didn’t want to go for a rustic, vintage look necessarily although we love old stuff; we are a little more eclectic and thought that a few different influences weren’t going to be a problem: it is just so us.

Finding the venue was our first challenge. I had trouble letting go of my dream to get married on a Caribbean beach. But Robin (kudos to him) found the perfect location, which encompasses so many things we love: outdoors, tropical, sea and holiday feel. The gardens we got married in are in a town called Mangawhai Heads, an hour and a half north of Auckland (New Zealand). Being far enough away from Auckland to make it a weekend trip, most of our guests stayed for three days: which was absolutely perfect!

Being a seaside resort, we really felt transported into a tropical environment and looking at our photos from Branco Prata, we really have the impression to be in the Caribbean or somewhere exotic. So that was it: we found our perfect venue.

When it came to planning the wedding, I was being a typical me… Started super early, got told I had heaps of times and run a sprint to the finish line at the last minute. Planning a wedding requires skill and time. I didn’t have much of the latter but hope to have shown some skill at planning and creating our perfect wedding.

We chose to DIY a lot: invitations, decor, paper goods, flower in my hair, flowers… And none of this would have been possible without the support of a great online community on Twitter. I met the best support network, found the best inspiration and created the best team of ‘vendors’… And thanks to Twitter, we found one essential piece to the success of our wedding: Branco Prata. We flew Sofia and Andre to be a part of our wedding: we knew then that our wedding styling, day-of coordination, details and photography would be in very good hands. And we have absolutely no regrets.

My favourite part of the wedding, other than saying yes to the person I love, was to see all  my friends from Europe make the trip all the way to New Zealand. It was very special to have them all with us and especially my three best friends. I wanted them to know how important it was for me and I found a great shop on Etsy who created some ‘engraved’ leather bracelets that I gave to my girls on the morning of the wedding. I have been wearing mine ever since.

It is those little significant details that make the day so special. Not the flowers you carry, not your wedding dress: but those little things that tell people: ‘I love you’… And both Robin and I tried to weave a lot of those little attentions around, which made our wedding unique and special to us and to our guests.

Photography and Styling: Brancoprata / Invitations: BubbleRock Studios (the bride) / Wedding dress: The Little White Dress / Bridesmaids: Portmans / Bridesmaids clutches: Pano Pra Mangas / Groomsmen: YD / Kombi Van: Classic Campers / Paella:  Paella Pan / Desserts: Frog and Kiwi / Wedding Cake: Kendall Van Rensburg / Venue: Milestone Cottages

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