Come away with me: a rustic forest wedding in New Zealand
When it came to choosing their wedding venue, art teacher Carly and helicopter engineer Scott knew that they wanted to be married somewhere that reflected who they were. The couple, who met at university in South Africa, both love being outdoors, and wanted to celebrate the natural beauty of their adopted home of New Zealand.
Their venue, the Old Forest School, is a woodland haunt enveloped in giant swathes of sycamores and redwoods — the perfect place for the nature-loving pair to seal the deal.
The couple devised a unique ‘Dutch still life’ theme — with large, richly coloured floral arrangements, taxidermy and an array of collected items. An avid collector, Carly scoured op-shops for beautiful pottery bowls, jugs, glass bowls and bone-handled cutlery for the banquet-style dinner, and used many of the objects from her own home in styling the venue.
“We are the perfect combo of calm and crazy,” says Scott. “Maybe a bit more crazy!” The pair hit it off straight away when they met. “We had both moved to New Zealand with our families from South Africa,” he says. After just a year of dating, Scott and Carly moved to the UK for a working holiday. “It was a very tough move,” admits Scott, “because we were so young and away from all of our friends and family.” But it was this move, the couple agrees, that cemented their relationship. “We knew coming that if we could get through that and still be happy, it was the real deal.”
On the seventh anniversary of their first date, Scott popped the question. “He told me he’d bought a new collar for our dog,” remembers Carly. “I bent down to look. Embroidered on it was, ‘Carly, will you marry me?’ It was so special because our dog means the world to us and it was such a simple idea. I had no idea it was happening.”
Conscious of the fact that many of their family and friends lived overseas and would be travelling great distances to be with them for the day, Scott and Carly were careful to keep the guest list intimate. “Your wedding day will probably be the only day you will ever have that particular bunch of the most special people in your lives together at one time,” says Carly.
Family is incredibly important to the couple, and they ensured that each of their families were honoured and included on the big day. “We had my grandpa and Scott’s poppa as ring bearers, and we asked them to walk down the aisle with our grandmas before the bridesmaids. This was so special for us as both sets of grandparents are the perfect example of marriage,” recalls Carly.
The wedding was directed by the couple’s personal style — notably their fascination with all sorts of taxidermy. “Our home features animal skins and a mummified rabbit,” Scott says. Keeping with the theme, the couple were wed under a stag’s head.
Carly’s wildflower bouquet included South African proteas; the first flowers Scott bought for her, and the last before he proposed. Flowers by On My Hand.
The wedding’s casual, intimate vibe extended to cocktail hour, where guests meandered towards the property’s fringe, near Rotoehu Forest.
Suitcases opened and a picnic was laid out, complete with celebratory champagne.
Carly’s embroidered wedding train brushed the forest floor, collecting the odd leaf and twig. Dress by Rue de Seine.
Colonial windows filter forest light into Redwood Stables, where the banquet tables are set. Festoon lights add extra warmth.
Carly personally styled the reception, with assistance from her florist and closest friends.
The spread tumbled together like a Dutch still life, a tribute to old-world masters who rendered game fowl and candlelight in oil.
Another sweet touch? “The favours were little medical bottles that we filled with shots of alcohol,” explains Carly. “The bottles had the name of each guest and their table number.”
“It was very important for us to put our personal style into the wedding,” says Carly. “We really wanted it to reflect who we are.”
In 17th century Dutch paintings, flowers were depicted as a sharp departure from reality — memento mori, or, symbols of fleeting earthly beauty. At Scott and Carly’s wedding, each vase was decorated with tulips; a subtle nod to 1637, or the year of “Tulip Mania”, when a single tulip bulb would be sold at the same price as a house in Amsterdam.
The banquet room was peppered with quills, glass jars, trophy cups, oil-wick lamps and vintage Halina-Prefect box cameras.
“Most people assume a wedding day has to run by the book, in a certain order,” says Carly. But, she advises, it doesn’t have to be this way. “Do what works for you and make it your own.”
