Inside Natalie & Sam Gunn’s Intimate Backyard Wedding

A family friend’s intimate backyard setting was the perfect location for Natalie (née Procter) and Sam Gunn’s autumn nuptials.

It was perhaps love at first swipe for fashion designer Natalie and insurance broker Sam, who both swiped right on the dating app Tinder six years ago.

“If it wasn’t for the app, I don’t believe our lives would have ever crossed paths. Sam grew up in Tauranga, and myself in Auckland. We didn’t have one single mutual friend which I find so rare nowadays. The friend groups we’ve brought together have been such a highlight of our relationship!” says Natalie.

After a first date at the Viaduct’s Dr Rudi’s and a sweet treat from Miann afterwards, six months later that Sam moved in with Natalie in her Karangahape Rd apartment and the rest was history.

After winding down her business, New Zealand-made womenswear label Mina, early this year, deciding to focus on health and regrouping, Natalie and Sam set their sights on marriage.

The now Tauranga-based couple were married in their friend’s Pahoia garden on Friday, April 19, a sunny autumn day that was planned in a mere five months, and an engagement that happened only a fortnight before the wedding day.

Natalie tells Viva how their dream day came to be: finding a pre-loved second look, a cake homemade by her mum, and how a mountain of help from family and friends made the day absolutely perfect.

THE VISION

We wanted the day to reflect the two of us completely; casual and relaxed, really really good food and cocktails and lots of laughing and dancing. We wanted it to be a celebration of both of us, but also a thank you to all the amazing and special people who have been part of our journey thus far.

THE LOCATION

The location of our wedding comes with a bit of back story.

Five months prior to our wedding day, Sam and I were not engaged or even planning a wedding. We had however talked about getting married but we had a lot happening in our lives at the end of last year, we didn’t want to add to the stress.

The home where we did end up getting married belongs to friends of my parents. One evening after work we decided to head out there to have a look at the property for future us getting married. The house was out in Pahoia (30 minutes from Mount Maunganui). It’s out on a peninsula that looks out to the Coromandel and Matakana Island. The house is beautiful and I loved everything about the house, the interiors, high ceilings, evergreen gardens, vege gardens and fruit trees. We loved that it was someone’s home and therefore felt like a home. That evening we left the house with a date pencilled in for April 19 (only four months away).

Three weeks later we sent out a “Save the Date” to our friends and family, which you can imagine came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. Sam proposed two weeks out from the wedding date on Easter weekend so you could say we did everything a bit backwards!

THE CEREMONY

The ceremony was casual and intimate, exactly how we wanted it. When we scouted around the private property that we had our wedding, there were so many beautiful big open spaces but none of them were exactly what we had envisioned. Down the side of the house was a small manicured garden with big green hedging which was the perfect space to hold our 85 guests.

My best friend Anna (also a bridesmaid) was also my florist for our wedding, which was incredibly special. We had “a picked flowers” meadow at the front of the aisle along with a few small terracotta pots up the aisle spilling florals and persimmons.

We had no microphones which made the ceremony that much more intimate. Walking down the aisle with my dad was really the only blurry moment from the day. I was incredibly nervous and forgetting to breathe, haha, but once down the aisle and a quick look out to see our closest friends and family all tucked up together in this little garden setting I was instantly calm.

THE PLANNING

I was really excited to organise my own wedding. I am a very sentimental person so I always saw my wedding as one done with lots of love and family and friends involved.

The timing of the wedding was very intertwined with the wind-down of my business, which on reflection was the best thing we ever did. It was working through the often sombre emotions of closing something I had worked so hard for, but at the same time planning this once-in-a-lifetime event that required my design and creativity. We saw it as a day that signified the start of a new chapter for us.

With only four months to plan it, we had to make decisions fast, but I think that really worked in our favour and for our budget. With the nature of a DIY wedding, we soon realised we would need some assistance on the day to make sure things all ran smoothly. We worked with an “on the day co-ordinator” to make the day run smoothly, which I would recommend to anyone doing a DIY wedding.

THE RINGS

We knew we wanted to design the ring together so luckily for Sam we did things all backwards. Once we decided we were getting married, the next step was to start the ring process. We worked with a client of my dad’s, Ron Avery who is a retired goldsmith but still loves the craft so does a few bespoke from time to time.

Sam and I both really enjoyed the process, we learnt a lot about diamonds, and the intricacies of making a ring. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted a diamond but we concluded with a brief of “not too sparkly and I want practical” and we were just hoping I would have a ring before our wedding day.

Easter weekend, Sam and I were walking our puppy on the beach early in the morning and I turned around to pick up the ball and there was Sam on one knee with the ring. Despite the fact we knew we were getting married (in 16 days), and I knew roughly what the ring would look like, it was still such a surprise!

I am in love with my ring, it’s unique, we both contributed to the design process and it tells a story. Sam has a classic gold band that complements the softness and curves of my ring.

THE DRESS

Being in the fashion industry and designing for years, I knew I would design my own dress but I think it was the short time frame that overwhelmed me a bit. I knew I wanted to wear my Oumie’s veil (Wihlemina, where Mina my brand name originated from) so I had to design something that complemented that.

The veil was really small and delicate with lace detailing around the edges and I chose to wear it a little more contemporary and wore it as a headpiece. The fabric for my dress was gifted to me by my fabric supplier that we sourced our fabric for Mina. It was a beautiful ivory floral brocade in a silk blend.

As for the second dress, I never thought I would have a second dress, but I fell in love with a vintage piece from Love James Vintage. It had an incredible plunging back with a bow that fell to the floor, fun sleeves and all lace. It was quite a statement piece but still felt very me. It was the perfect party dress!

THE BRIDESMAIDS

My bridesmaids were an ode to Mina wearing a custom piece that took inspiration from one of my very original off-the-shoulder styles. It was an autumn wedding full of winter produce and florals. Purple eggplants and yellow courgettes were dribbled throughout the ceremony and tablescapes so the colour palette of the bridesmaids was tied into it.

THE SUIT

Sam wore a classic black tux and bow tie while his groomsmen wore black suits with matching black bow ties.

THE BEAUTY

My makeup was done by Natalie Dawson, based in Mount Maunganui. My brief was natural and fresh with a soft melon-coloured lip. I looked just like myself. My hair was done by my wonderful Aunty Tonia which was so special having her there in the morning getting ready. I have a short blonde bob so we did a Hollywood wave to sit under my headpiece. It was super classic and I loved it.

THE FLOWERS

My florist was my beautiful friend Anna from Shade Studio, who has recently started her own flower farm outside of Tirau. Not only was she doing the florals on the day, she had been working those months leading up to the wedding planting and growing the blooms as well. It was a special experience for both of us having her be such a big part of our day. With an evergreen garden as the backdrop, we went for a “textural and foraged” look. Anna created a foraged meadow at the front of the isle with spilling produce and terracotta pots filled with bunches of blooms. Our tables and tipped-over pots around the reception area were full of seasonal produce, many of it grown from my dad’s vegetable garden (mini squashes and yellow courgettes, and lots of Sicilian baby eggplants sourced from the weekend Avondale vege markets). We had scattered fresh figs on the tables and our grazing table, it really was a beautiful mix of florals and produce.

THE FOOD

The wedding wouldn’t be us without a large grazing table, which Mum and I worked on sourcing the weeks leading up to the wedding. We dehydrated fruit, made homemade seeded crackers, sourced fresh figs from a friend, and got our hands on a large gouda cheese wheel as our centrepiece for the grazing table.

Next to the open grass area, we had a Hampton-style marquee where we hosted a family-style dinner. Food was always going to be a big part of the wedding. Sam and I love sharing food with friends, hosting barbecues or curry nights at our house, or trying new restaurants. And we both share a love for Middle Eastern food. We had Ima Cuisine cater our wedding which was just amazing. I wanted it to feel like we were all sitting down for a family meal together, so instead of menus we had Yael, the owner and chef of Ima, speak to the dishes that came out. She is so passionate about her food culture so it was a really special experience.

THE CAKE

Our wedding cake was a labour of love. Mum and I spent weeks testing different cake recipes to finally find the perfect chocolate cake recipe. The morning of the wedding we decorated the cake together with florals, sliced figs, and candied orange, it was beautiful and exactly how I had imagined it.

THE RECEPTION

The reception was all that we had envisioned and more. We were blessed with the most calm and clear-skied autumn afternoon.

After the garden ceremony, our guests were given a glass of champagne by our groomsmen and were escorted down the side of the property where both our parents and Sam and I stood among citrus trees and a small vegetable garden.

It was an opportunity for us to hug, kiss, and share a quick welcome and thanks to each and everyone of our guests. We knew the day would be full-on so it was a nice moment for us to connect with each of our friends and family.

The rest of the afternoon was around to the back of the property which was a big open grass area looking out to the water. We had a vintage drinks caravan where we served two of our favourite cocktails along with beer, wine, Pals, and prosecco. The afternoon consisted of music, cocktails, and a grazing table while we all enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. Off the front of the veranda, looking out to the estuary, we had a Hampton-style marquee where as the sun set, we sat down for speeches and family-style dinner.

Later into the evening Sam and I had our first dance under the veranda and the night turned into a dance party with homemade treats and our wedding cake made by my mum. The setting was perfect and with the environment small and everything surrounding the house, the whole day felt very intimate and relaxed.

THE PHOTOS

Ana Galloway from Nelson was our photographer, she was incredible. She understood exactly what we wanted and her process was so thorough. She wasn’t just there to photograph our day and then leave, she spent so much time getting to know us leading up to the wedding, understanding our story, how we met, and our dynamic as a couple, she truly wanted to capture our story. Her assistant captured the day on a Super 8 video camera, which we are patiently awaiting so we can relive the day.

THE DAY

Sam and my biggest fear was that the day would go by so fast and we’d wake up and it would all be a bit of a blur. I mentioned earlier that walking down the aisle with my dad was quite an overwhelming moment but as soon as we stood together, seeing all our favourite people, it was just calmness from there. We were both so present that entire day, we had many moments thanks to Ana our photographer where it was just the two of us and we could check in on each other and quickly debrief on all the special moments. The day was even better than either of us could have imagined.

All our closest people together in one place, to celebrate us was so special. We reflect on the day so much about how we will never again have all those people with us in one room. There was so much love on that day, all the work put in by friends and family in the weeks leading up, and for it all to come together so perfectly.

THE MOMENTS

It wasn’t meant to be a surprise but our name cards on the tables were actually envelopes that had handwritten notes and a thank you to all of our guests. It wasn’t until halfway through dinner our MC made mention of it and our guests all opened up their name cards to find a little note written by us. It’s a privilege to be invited to a wedding but it’s also a privilege to have really amazing people in our lives so we wanted to give our thanks to them.

NATALIE’S TIPS

Once you start planning your wedding, your social media platforms bombard you with content. It’s super overwhelming. Remind yourself that this wedding is for you and your partner and no one else. Everyone’s wedding day is perfect for them, and yours will be too. So try tp block out the noise and do what makes you both happy.

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