Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. This week, Snapchat founder’s megayacht arrives in NZ but is he on it? New York’s elite jet in for Kiwi model Maia Cotton’s wedding; Six60 star Matiu Walters ties the knot in Mangawhai.
Society Insider: Miranda Kerr and Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel’s yacht in NZ; who was at Maia Cotton’s wedding; Six60’s Matiu Walters weds
New York based Kiwi model Maia Cotton with new husband Max Feldstein; Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel and Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr; Caren Freeman and Six60 lead singer Matiu Walters. Photo / Herald composite
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The $200 million superyacht owned by the co-founder of Snapchat and CEO of Snap Inc was docked in Wellington Harbour on Christmas Eve.
And earlier this week there were sightings of the magnificent boat named Bliss off the coast of Nelson, with a source saying it departed on Tuesday.
Although neither Los Angeles-based Kerr or Spiegel have been confirmed to be on board, three private jets were spotted landing at Blenheim Airport and were thought to be taking guests to the yacht.
Former Kiwi supermodel turned yoga goddess Rachel Hunter has been home in Auckland this month and her London-based daughter, dancer Renee Stewart, is due here any day.
Hunter has been a loyal fan of Kiwi sailing, but hopes of her supporting New Zealand during the Sail GP look to be foiled – she and Stewart are due to host a wellness retreat at the Mana Retreat Centre in the Coromandel next Wednesday and Sunday. SailGP takes place in Auckland on January 18-19.
Hunter will welcome her first granddaughter in nine weeks when her son, Californian-based Liam Stewart and his wife Nicole, welcome their second child. Liam and Nicole have recently been enjoying a babymoon in the Caribbean.
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North of Auckland, exclusive golf clubs Tara Iti and Te Arai Links have been a must for many movers and shakers over the Kiwi summer holidays.
Both courses, owned by American billionaire Ric Kayne, have become the playground of the uber-wealthy, with a long list of multi-millionaires building homes around both courses, including Zuru billionaire Nick Mowbray, retail titan Rod Duke, investment banker Jonty Edgar, and Californian-based former Treasurer at Apple, Gary Wipler.
Irish pop star Ronan Keating sang his classics at a private event at Tara Iti on Boxing Day, and brought along his Australian wife Storm and their two children, Cooper and Coco.
The family enjoyed a stay at the beautiful beachfront homes at Tara Iti with friends and made some new ones too.
Society Insider is told members and residents of Tara Iti and Te Arai were thrilled to have the pop star and family there and Ronan was charming and friendly to all.
Storm described Tara Iti and Te Arai Links as one of the most stunning and incredible corners of the globe and compared them with some of the best courses in the world.
The group played golf and sang and danced their way around the idyllic baches and surrounds, as well as taking in the scenery by chopper.
All Black Beauden Barrett, a member of Te Arai, has been back and forth to the courses over the Christmas break.
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The week before Christmas, Barrett rubbed shoulders at Te Arai with world golf No 3 Rory McIlroy, when the Irishman played the course with Kayne and Kiwi golfing star Ryan Fox.
After Christmas, Barrett’s wife Hannah got in some practice at Pāpāmoa, playing a ladies’ golf day, joined by her mother Alison Laity.
The Barretts and their children have been at Tara Iti over the new year with Graeme Hart’s son Harry and his fiancee Cartier Lee. The Hart family are shareholders of Tara Iti Golf Club.
Last weekend, Beauden played a few rounds with Fox, professional golfer and fellow Taranaki lad Sam Jones, and keen golfer, rich lister John Green. Beauden and Hannah played together back at Te Arai Links South this week.
Just before Christmas, Kiwi Formula 1 star Liam Lawson had a round with Nick Mowbray, who along with his fiancee Jaimee Lupton is building a John Irving-designed bach at Te Arai.
Also on the course was Lawson’s American girlfriend Hannah St John, Kiwi motor racing star Daniel Gaunt, and Mowbray’s soon-to-be brother-in-law Tim McGoldrick, who is engaged to Lupton’s sister Morgan.
A host of rich list daughters hit the Tara Iti course over the break, including Cameo Turner and Libby Owen and their friend Arabella Nelson, the sister of Lucinda Burling. Turner has been home from Los Angeles and divided her time between the compound of her parents, Cara and Craig Turner, in the Bay of Islands, and property mogul Steve Owen’s bach in Ōmaha.
Also spotted playing at Te Arai was Six60 frontman Matiu Walters and family, days before he married his freelance producer partner Caren Freeman in nearby Mangawhai.
Freeman told Society Insider: “The day was beyond perfect, celebrating with family and friends. We are both very, very happy.”
Freeman said Matiu’s suit was by T.Begg Tailoring, and her dress was custom-made by NZ bridal designer Trish Peng, with jewellery by The Diamond Shop. The couple has a daughter, Boh, 3, and a son, Kīngi, born last March.
Te Arai’s architect, Queenstown-based multimillion-dollar property developer John Darby took girlfriend Sally Ridge and her children, Boston Ridge and Astin and Mclane Parore, to enjoy the surrounds and meet Ronan.
Over the break, Darby also showed Ridge and her kids the exclusive Coromandel beach getaway of Whangapoua and the neighbouring pristine beach New Chums (Wainuiototo Bay), which often appears in global lists of the world’s best beaches.
Behind New Chums is Te Pungapunga Station, where for more than a decade Darby and associates have had contentious plans for development.
Around the coast from Whangapoua, America’s Cup and SailGP star Peter Burling and wife Lucinda are said to have been enjoying time at Coromandel glamour spot, Matarangi, where they were married in 2023.
Further from home, Nick Mowbray kept his golf game up in Maui, Hawaii, with former Australian water polo Olympian Tyler Martin, the partner of rich lister Craig Heatley’s daughter Sophie. The couple, based in Sydney, own non-alcoholic beverage company Yes You Can.
Mowbray and Martin played at the picturesque Makina Bay on Maui’s southern shore, which he had also played with Craig Heatley in 2022.
Mowbray and fiancee Jaimee Lupton, along with their daughter Noa, joined Martin and Heatley and their two young sons at the Four Seasons Resort in Maui. The luxurious hotel was made famous as the location for the first season of television show The White Lotus.
When New Year’s Eve rolled around, the four parents had an adults’ night out and took in a concert featuring pop star Kesha and rocker Alice Cooper.
Lupton and Mowbray met and hung out with Kesha after the show.
Hours earlier, Kesha had performed her hit Joyride in Las Vegas for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin' Eve party, hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Rita Ora at Times Square in New York.
It was Ora’s second time in the coveted role with Seacrest, but this time she had her husband, Kiwi director Taika Waititi with her. Ora and Seacrest both joked they would kiss Waititi at midnight.
Days earlier, Ora and Waititi were in Auckland for Christmas at Waititi’s $10.5 million Point Chevalier clifftop mansion.
Over Christmas they were joined by Ora’s best friend, global socialite Vas J Morgan and famed New Zealand-raised Peruvian photographer Mariano Vivanco, who with friends enjoyed the hospitality at Waititi’s specially crafted waterside pub.
Ora is understood to have returned to London this week, while Waititi attended a Golden Globes after party in West Hollywood that Morgan co-hosted, with the likes of Elle Fanning, Cara Delevingne, Zoë Kravitz, and Anya Taylor-Joy in attendance.
Nick Mowbray’s brother Mat and his family have been home from Hong Kong over the break and have spent time on the family’s superyacht around the Coromandel and Great Mercury Islands with sister Anna, who has also been holidaying with husband, former All Black Ali Williams, and family and friends at Ōpito Bay on the Coromandel.
This week Nick Mowbray and friends joined the boat off the Coromandel coast.
The billionaire Hart and Hawkesby families had Christmas at the Harts’ home in Aspen, Colorado. Rich listers Paula and Simon Herbert and family also enjoyed Christmas in Aspen’s winter wonderland.
The Hawkesbys and some of the Harts were back in Auckland for New Year’s Eve and were understood to be on their superyacht, which was seen moored around Waiheke. The Herberts are said to be enjoying time at their compound in the Bay of Islands since their return from the US.
Also heading for the snow in the US are Coatesville rich listers and ski lovers Malcolm and Jodie Dick. Society Insider hears they love the slopes of Park City Utah so much they are building a house up there.
Act leader David Seymour and his partner, property buyer Alexandra Vincent Martelli, were also in the US after Christmas. They are said to have enjoyed some time in California.
Who really attended Maia Cotton’s wedding? Details revealed
Unconfirmed sightings of Justin Bieber in Queenstown led to much speculation as to whether the international megastar was here to attend the wedding of Kiwi Victoria’s Secret model Maia Cotton.
There is still no concrete evidence, but Society Insider can reveal some of the other details of Cotton’s nuptials to New York venture capitalist Max Feldstein. And it seems many of the guests were friends and contemporaries of Bieber and his wife, American model and socialite Hailey, who is the daughter of Stephen Baldwin.
IMG Entertainment’s Cully Smoller, a close friend of model Gigi Hadid, was in attendance with his fiancee, model Kendall Visser, and her model brother Neels. Smoller once dated Hailey.
As she revealed to Society Insider last year, Cotton met Feldstein in 2018 when she and Visser were flatting together, and Visser was dating Feldstein’s flatmate.
Fashion designer Samuel Krost, who has been linked to Bieber’s ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, was also in attendance with his wife Esther.
Sports Illustrated cover star model Brooks Nader and her three sisters were also among the large group of American movers and shakers who jetted into Queenstown for the wedding.
Brooks’ younger siblings Mary Holland Nader, Grace Ann Nader, and Sarah Jane Nader followed her into the modelling and fashion industry.
The Nader sisters made global headlines while in Queenstown, by swimming naked in one of the glacial lakes while on a heli-hike in the mountains.
Before the glamorous wedding party hit Queenstown, Cotton and Feldstein spent time in the Bay of Islands, where Cotton’s family – father, celebrated artist Shane Cotton, architect mother Luanne Bond, and Maia’s younger sister, gallery owner Mika – are now based.
Feldstein, who invests in start-ups and new companies in the sports, media and entertainment industries, had met Cotton’s family on earlier visits to New Zealand. When he proposed to Cotton in Russell last year, her family were hiding in the bushes and jumped out after Feldstein popped the question to help the couple celebrate.
Over Christmas, the couple were joined by friends and family as they explored the best the Bay of Islands had to offer, including time spent at luxury resort The Landing in Kerikeri.
Fashion journalist and Today Show style contributor Liv Perez and her New York real estate developer husband Alex Nachum, were among the group up North. Cotton and Feldstein attended their wedding at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds in England in July.
The glamorous wedding party and guests hit Queenstown a few days before new year. Many stayed at Millbrook and at smart private accommodation on Lake Hayes and Lake Wakatipu.
The Shotover Jet and dirt bike rides were a hit with guests, as were picnics, and swims in the lakes, helicopter rides into the mountains, and making the most of Ayrburn’s hospitality offerings.
The Cotton family are close friends with Sally Ridge and her children – Boston Ridge and Astin and Mclane Parore. Sally’s boyfriend, multimillionaire Queenstown property developer John Darby, Boston’s girlfriend Tabitha Jessop, and Astin’s girlfriend Amelia Beder were all in Queenstown for the wedding celebrations.
On New Year’s Eve, a party was held for Cotton and Feldstein at Darby’s world-famous Amisfield Winery. Shocking pink carpet was laid out to welcome guests. Cotton wore a brown halter dress, with her husband-to-be in a mauve suede jacket and trousers.
Pink lighting glowed inside, while guests enjoyed champagne, cocktails and canapes while partying late to DJs on the decks.
After a day of rest and relaxation, the wedding took place on January 2 with a black-tie affair at the Italian-inspired private estate Colpo Di Fulmine on Lower Shotover Rd.
The order of ceremony booklet had a sketch of the Italian-inspired villa.
A white altar draped with white chiffon and stunning flowers graced the lawn with the mountains and trees as the backdrop, with seating for approximately 180 guests.
The bride looked beautiful in a strapless classic off-white duchess satin gown with her hair pulled back, while her groom wore a classic black tuxedo.
Society Insider is told the reception was held at Drift Bay Private Villa. Set on 10 acres of waterfront land with views of The Remarkables, Lake Wakatipu, and Cecil Peak, where it is understood Cotton and Feldstein and family stayed while in Queenstown, which costs up to $9500 per night for a maximum of 12 guests.
The Matt Chaplin-designed modernist home has seven guest suites, a tennis court and a hot tub with enough space for 14 people.
Australian wedding planner to the stars, Laice Bollen from Place of LB, is said to have created a 575sq m glasshouse effect marquee erected on Drift Bay’s lakeside lawn for the occasion, with a separate seating area, dance floor, DJ booth and white chiffon curtains throughout.
Bollen was the wedding planner for the wedding of another famous Kiwi Victoria’s Secret model, Georgia Fowler, who married Nathan Dallah last year in Bowral, New South Wales.
At Cotton and Feldstein’s reception, catering staff lined up along the house and welcomed guests to the lawn with Champagne and wines.
The newlyweds had special touches at each place setting, with pictures of themselves with their wedding guests, taken from previous holidays, gatherings and special moments.
The food was extensive, with starters ranging from focaccia, stracciatella, heirloom tomatoes and basil, rigatoni alla vodka and zucchini flowers.
Mains ranged from roast, local sustainable fish to a vegetarian option of eggplant parmigiana with sides of arugula salad and goat’s cheese with candied almonds, a classic green salad and roast potatoes. Dessert was a strawberry mint granita or wedding cake and dessert canapes.
Cotton is proud of her Māori heritage, and her father Shane led a haka at the reception.
Feldstein’s Jewish traditions were also marked, with the bride and groom lifted on chairs as part of the traditional dance called the Hora.
Cotton changed into a second outfit for later in the evening for the DJs and dancing, wearing a cream sleeveless corset and long fringed skirt.
While many of the guests headed home over the next few days, Cotton and Feldstein have been enjoying the best of South Otago and Wānaka.
A Good Week For... Fashion designer Caitlin Crisp
The year started with a beautiful announcement from one of New Zealand fashion industry’s brightest stars. Designer Caitlin Crisp, 29, and her husband, property development manager, Andrew Vincent, 31, are expecting a baby boy.
The couple found out their baby’s sex just days after Christmas, with the baby due on July 1.
Crisp was back at work on Monday, proudly showing off her burgeoning baby bump as she met with her staff.
The former Project Runway star met Vincent in 2021 while watching the America’s Cup sailing. Society Insider announced their boating engagement at Man O' War Bay on Waiheke in January 2023.
Last summer the couple married in a beautiful ceremony in the garden of Vincent’s family home in Karaka.
In July, Crisp opened her first flagship store in Ponsonby Rd and last October, she was named one of Society Insider’s most influential young Ponsonby entrepreneurs.
Party People of the week
The ASB Classic is still under way, and many of NZ’s most famous faces have been enjoying the action.
Stars spotted courtside have included Rebecca Wright and Andrew Gourdie, who Society Insider revealed before Christmas were dating. They were in a corporate box with The Hits' host Matty McLean and husband Ryan Teece.
Also enjoying the action during the tournament were TVNZ’s Simon Dallow, Jenny Suo, Chris Chang and Zion Dayal, former Black Cap Jimmy Neesham, as well as Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, Government ministers Judith Collins and Brooke van Velden, and Labour MP Barbara Edmonds.
Radio stars took in the action too, including Coast’s Toni Street and Lorna Riley, and The Hits’ Ben Boyce, as well as comedians Madeleine Sami and Eli Matthewson.
Social media stars Brittany Cunningham, William Wairua and fiancee, lawyer Taylor Sutherland, also headed to the Classic’s women’s week to watch players including Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys and overall winner Clara Tauson.
Business movers and shakers in attendance included sponsors Manuka Doctor’s Matthew Pringle, Nespresso managing director Stefan Vermeulen, Fisher and Paykel NZ COO Vaughan Schwass, Rebecca James executive general manager of business banking at ASB, and Asahi Beverages NZ CEO Andrew Campbell.
A special New Year’s Eve party was held on site this year, with international players, media, celebrities and sponsors in attendance.
The event followed the night session of tennis, with drinks served at the Aperol Terrazza Bar in the Serve from 9.30pm. US player Sloane Stephens opened the exclusive function, with an iconic G.H. Mumm Sabrage bottle opening moment. DJ Dan Aux played hits to get the crowd dancing. At midnight guests enjoyed views of Auckland’s fireworks display from the SkyTower.
The players found time for some off-court action too, with Kiwi player Lulu Sun enjoying a visit to the Auckland Fish Market; former world No 1 Osaka taking a sail yacht out into the Waitematā Harbour, US player Keys visiting the All Blacks Experience, and fellow American Stephens jumping off the Sky Tower.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
