Aki and Andrew

Our Love Story

Andrew and I met on Tinder. Since we are not from each other's friend circles, we could just be straight up from day one so the first date, which was pretty much a "job interview" haha. It’s great because there's no pretence, we can just be very honest about who we are and the principles we live by – nobody is wasting each other's time. I gave Andrew an advertising agency creative brief to crack on our second date as I wanted someone that's very involved in my life and my career is a big part of it. Turns out he thrived and fast forward to today, we own a photography and videography company together.

I’m also a fashion content creator and Andrew doubles as a radio broadcaster and learning & development coach. When we don't have deadlines, I make videos sharing behind-the-scenes of my fashion photoshoots, talk about Lockdown mental health and share my latest fashion investment and tips on Youtube. And when I'm not doing that, I'm practising and polishing my photography or videography – there's always something to do when you are your own boss. Having said that, Andrew is good at enforcing a one day-off rule from not touching any camera equipment each week. When that happens, we do boxing at home together and cook up a storm. I have a traditional Italian Carbonara recipe (from my God-mum in Torino) that Andrew loves and he has a steak recipe that I'm obsessed with.

Our Proposal

Andrew’s proposal was very simple. He was planning to propose on my birthday but my best friend showed up and joined us for dinner! He proposed the next day instead. It was odd as he was overdressed that night in a suit when he usually goes for a jumper and jeans combo. He wanted to go to a few places we always go to but the weather was just diabolical so we ended up having dinner at our favourite restaurant and he proposed as soon as we got home.

Our Wedding Planning

Having everything we want and nothing we didn’t was most important to us when it came to celebrating our marriage. We documented the details of our wedding planning in this youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5woddF8843s&t=1s

We wanted a wedding purely just for us – something romantic, intimate and dramatic. Lockdown simply gave us another nudge that an elopement was a brilliant idea. We found the planning process to be very straightforward and managed to sort our elopement in 16 days, booking a helicopter to a Queenstown mountain top to say "I do" with our celebrant, photographer and videographer friend. I ordered my outfit online during Lockdown and it arrived in less than 2 weeks. Andrew picked up a suit as soon as New Zealand entered Level 2. I drafted out a detailed 30-second video storyboard, frame-by-frame for one of my videographer friends to execute and had a Zoom meeting with our photographer to discuss our vision. Andrew sorted a suitable celebrant and the paperwork. I booked the flights to Queenstown.

We even made a surprise wedding announcement video to release to our friends and family. It was fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-iWDp7cQQE

Our Wedding Day

Saying "I do" on the 'top of the world' was a pretty cool experience.

We woke up just before lunchtime at QT Queenstown, ordered some pizzas while ironing our clothes and got dressed. It was really fun and cruisy. We got to the helipad at 3.40 pm. I had a briefing with the photographer and videographer before we flew up to the mountain top around 4.30 pm. The theme of our wedding was 'Vogue meets Tarantino'.

We had around one hour so we got the announcement video out of the way first – I was actually directing the video in my bridal outfit. It was hilarious but I'm used to multitasking like this.

The celebrant asked Andrew: "Is she always like that?" "Yes darling, he knows what he is about to marry – a workaholic."

Then, we had a 20-minute ceremony and that was us! Once we were back in town again, we had a wedding banquet for two at Eichart's, nobody was invited. Andrew rang the restaurant and asked: "My love, are you ready for this?" over to the phone "Hi ya, can we please reserve a table for me and my wife?" That was the first time I'd been called a wife and it was very special.

We loved how stress-free and relaxed our day was, that's why elopement was great! Celebrating love should be fun and exciting. No starving or waking up early. Our ceremony lasted 20 minutes and it was everything we wanted! The best thing is that we got to enjoy every moment and we have an amazing video & photos to treasure forever!

The weather was beautiful, but we had two dates marked in our calendar just in case the weather wasn’t great. It turned out we had a beautiful sunny day on Day One. Yay! Our location was a pleasant surprise too. We had a few mountain top options to pick from and the one recommended by the helicopter pilot was simply breathtaking!

Coolest experience ever. Highly recommended.

Our Advice

Know exactly and realistically how you want your wedding to be – that's half of the task done.
Talk to your network and friends. Chances are you will get the best deals from them. Plus you get to support their businesses too. Win-win.
Don't get into debt. We understand that this may be the biggest day in your life, but you don't want to start a new chapter of your life with a 4-5 digit personal debt.

Stand Out Vendors

Everyone was accommodating of our unconventional wedding and requests. My videographer friend, Jared, churned out the video editing in three days. Our photographer, Dawn, sent us the photos within two weeks. Our celebrant, Charlotte, helped us with the styling on the spot. Over The Top Helicopters are oh so sleek. QT Queenstown even dropped off roses and facial sheet masks prior to the big day.

We are so grateful for everything!

Our Vendor Team

Venue | Round Hill, Queenstown

Photographer | Dawn Thomson

Videographer | Jared Donkin

Florals | Rose Tinted Flowers

Celebrant | Charlotte, Your Big Day Queenstown

Bride’s Outfit | Safiyaa top, Jacquemus pants

Brides Accessories | Paco Rabanne

Grooms Attire | Ted Baker

Rings | Tiffany & Co

Helicopter | Over The Top