Hello everyone and welcome to a special edition of our blog. If you haven’t guessed by the title – today is our wedding day. The reason we decided to go to NZ in the first place is because we knew we wanted to get married here. We crafted the rest of the trip around this day.

The day started off slow. Ronnie went into QT town central to go to the barber for a hair cut and beard trim and to grab some last minute earrings for Aimee. Also to get some semblance of breakfast/lunch (it is easy to forget to eat when getting ready for a wedding). He went to Fergbaker which is right next door to the famous Fergburger and bought a couple of pancetta and cheese danishes as well as some chocolate croissants. They were both really delicious. The pastry was buttery and flaky as it should be and the savoury/sweet contrast between the two pastries was very nice.

During this time Aimee was getting her hair and makeup done in the hotel room. We then got our wedding clothes on and drove on over to the airfield where we were to meet our celebrant and photographer. After a quick meet and greet (and safety video) we loaded onto the helicopter to take us up onto the mountain.

We flew in the helicopter for only about 10 minutes. The views over QT and Lake Wakatipu were fantastic and the helicopter ride was super fun. At one point the photographer was flying the helicopter which was a bit terrifying but he told us that he used to be in the Air Force which made it less terrifying.

Eventually we reached the top of the mountain and we got out of the helicopter. Damn. The views here were absolutely breathtaking. On one side (where we did the ceremony) you could see a river in between two mountains snaking through a forest. On another side was an even higher mountain that was covered in snow, on another side was some farmland and a part of the lake way down the mountain and then on the last side was shrubbery, some rocks and a massive drop off. It was spectacular.

The whole ceremony only took 5-10 minutes and then we toasted with a glass of grape juice and then went tramping around the top of the mountain looking for good spots to get photos. This was such a nice and fun experience. Then at the end we jumped back into the helicopter for a little scenic flight back to the airfield.

It was such a nice way to get married. The company we went through made it completely stress free. Basically all we had to do was get dressed and turn up. Honestly, we can’t imagine doing it any other way. It really felt like it was about us. It was much cheaper than a traditional wedding and we are already on our honeymoon. It suits us perfectly.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to the bar for a drink. The bar staff gave us a complimentary celebratory drink which was nice and by this time we were very hungry again so we got some chips as our dinner reservation was still a few hours away.

After a few drinks at the bar we made our way back into QT town centre for our wedding night dinner. We had a reservation at a place called Jervois Steak House. We started with a few entrees, Mooloolaba Prawns and Crispy Calamari with gochujang glaze, kimchi and gochchang aioli. The entrees were great. The calamari was crispy out the outside and soft on the inside and the sauce was spicy and complemented the calamity perfectly. The prawns were messy, but tasty.

Then the main dish. We ordered a $150 steak, It was a wagyu scotch fillet with a marble score of 8. It was soft and tender and absolutely melted in your mouth. It came with a red wine jus as well as some black garlic butter.

Pure deliciousness. We also had some sides which was candied sweet potato and pecans, onion rings and seasonal greens. We were way too full for dinner so we decided to skips dessert, but the restaurants gave us a nice little congratulations dessert, which was good of them.

It was probably the most money we have ever spent on a restaurant meal but we thought – why not? If you can’t spend up on your wedding night: when can you? We also didn’t have to buy dinner for 100 people so we think we probably saved money.

Spending:
Haircut – $34
Fergbaker – $16
Earrings – $105
Dinner – $290
Total – $445