A Meaningful & Whimsical LOTR-Inspired Wedding

It was an absolute pleasure to work on this beautiful wedding. The entire wedding was full of deeply meaningful and personal details. This started with a really romantic theme that meant a lot to A & J, the gorgeous bride and groom. Think: Aragorn and Arwen on the bridge, deep in the forest.

A & J chose to have their wedding at Wellington Zoo as it was important to them that their wedding helped support a charity. As animal lovers, the Zoo was a natural choice.

Finally, having recently lost close family members, it was important to recognise and honour the loved ones who could not be at the wedding. As such, we put a lot of effort into designing a beautiful memorial table. This, as well as the ceremony aisle florals, featured butterflies. For the family, butterflies represented a link to loved lost ones.

KAMALAS, WELLINGTON ZOO

Photography: Ryan McCauley Photography

Wrist Corsages

As a fellow crafting-lover, Mother of the Bride, S, wanted to make wrist corsages for the family VIPs. We organised a workshop for her to make her own fabric flowers. We then stitched these onto lace applique pieces taken from Grandma’s sewing box and finished the corsages with beautiful satin ribbons.

Getting Ready

Our work on the wedding design and styling itself began by styling the Mother Of The Bride’s house. The house was to be the meeting place for guests and the location for all the ‘getting ready’ photos. To this end, we made a custom throw and cushions for the family swing seat, as well as florals for the dining table and outdoor hanging vases with waterproof teal lights for night time photos.

Kamalas

Kamalas Pavillion is built on the former Elephant House, home of beloved elephant Kamala. The striking architecture, designed by Assembly Architects and engineered by Alistair Cattanach, won the Small Project Architecture Award in 2013. If you are searching for a truly unique wedding venue, and want to support the Zoo, a Wellington institution, take a look at Kamalas. The following is a photographic summary of a wedding held at Kamalas.

The Pavillion features a beautifully curved wall and ceiling, with translucent cladding and striking black metal mesh. You have the option of completely opening one side to a paved courtyard, or closing it with plastic panels. There is vehicle access and parking at the rear for vendors. Guests enter via the main entrance of the Zoo.

As guests arrive, they can enjoy a pre-ceremony drink (provided by Nosh Catering) and chat in the courtyard. For A & J’s wedding, we set up a couple of gazebos to provide shade and shelter for the bar.

At the rear of the Pavillion is a small carpark, which is where the wedding party can arrive and park. Access to the Pavillion is then down a pretty walkway. For A & J’s wedding, we lined this walkway with greenery arches and fairy lights. This really helped to ‘set the scene’ and build anticipation as the Bridal Party prepares to walk down the aisle.

The length of the Pavillion makes it ideal for a dramatic Wedding Ceremony aisle. We used folding chairs from Carlton Party Hire and edged the ceremony aisle with lanterns and troughs of greenery decorated with fairy lights and butterflies. The bride was not a huge fan of flowers and wanted her wedding to be as sustainable as possible. As such, the Ceremony set-up featured mostly greenery foraged from a friend’s farm and living plants which the couple could transfer into their garden. Touches of gypsophila, Queen Anne’s Lace and foraged flowers added some contrast.

For the Ceremony, we erected a curtained backdrop frame to cover the television on the far end of the Pavillion wall. In front of this we created a broken arch from branches and ferns. A curved hedge of greenery, potted ferns and potted Renga Renga lilies was placed in front of the arch. Either side of the Ceremony Backdrop, we were able to style a beautiful signing table and memorial table. These blended in seamlessly with the Ceremony design.

The bouquets reflected the lush, green woodland theme. Fern, Ruscus and Eucalyptus formed the base of the bouquets, with Queen Anne’s Lace and Gypsophila added. The Groom and Groomsmen wore gorgeous buttonholes featuring feathers created by the Mother of the Groom.

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After the Wedding Ceremony, guests were invited to return to the courtyard for champagne and nibbles from a Grazing Table.

Next to the courtyard is the play area, a fun space for selfies! Guests were also free to stroll around the Zoo. During Cocktail hour the Bride and Groom headed off to have photos and a Meerkat Encounter - just one of a number of totally unique wedding experiences couples can select from if they have their wedding at the Zoo.

As guests relaxed, we set-up the Reception space. In front of the Arch, we set up a cake display table. The Bride and Groom chose three of their favourite cakes from Sweet Vanilla Cafe, rather than a traditional wedding cake. Two rows of banquet-style tables seated Family and VIP guests. Bar-leaners and seating in the courtyard were available for remaining guests. Kamalas can seat 100 for banquet dining, 150 for cocktails.