Danielle and Paul’s New Zealand adventure leads to classic elegant wedding

Several months and many Facebook messages following their chance meeting in England, Danielle travelled over 11 thousand miles to New Zealand for her and Paul’s first date.

“Paul was living in New Zealand with family when he invited me for the summer holidays. We spent three amazing weeks together driving around North Island, camping in a tent, climbing mountains and skydiving,” says Danielle, 27. “I was heartbroken when I returned to England. We found it too hard to be apart so just a couple weeks later, Paul followed me home.”

Almost a year after buying their first home together, Paul proposed to Danielle atop Scafell Pike – England’s highest mountain. This prompted the planning of their classic elegant wedding.

“We decided we wanted to have an intimate wedding as neither of us liked being the centre of attention,” Danielle explains. “We agreed we didn’t want to spend a fortune on a lavish wedding neither of us wanted.”

On June 6, 2018 the pair celebrated their marriage among 18 day guests, with extra family members and friends later joining them at Samlesbury Hall in Preston, Lancashire to make 55 for the evening reception.

“It sounds cheesy, but I could’ve got married wearing a bin bag and it still would have been the wedding of the year for me as long as Paul was by my side. The whole day was perfect.”

Photos courtesy of Gemma McAuley Photography.

Danielle carried sunflowers on the day – a nod to her late Nanna who passed just a year prior. “Sunflowers remind me of her.”

Danielle and Paul kept costs down by creating the decorations themselves or borrowing items from friends and family.