Bride & Groom: Rhonda & Gideon Tali
Wedding date: 01/09/2023
Key details:
Wedding Dress: Alma J Bridal in Mount Eden. Alma was involved right from our first appointment and helped me choose a dress that fit not only what I thought I wanted but more so what actually made me feel like a bride.
Bridesmaid dresses: Juli Bridal and Ball Dresses in New Market. Juli was helpful from the beginning, catering to my 5 bridesmaids and our indecisiveness. She was also easy to work with in following appointments.
Suits: We got the groom’s suit from Working Style in Ponsonby. We got the groomsmen suits from Johnny Bigg Sylvia Park.
Draping, lighting and styling: We went with the package provided by Allely, and it turned out BEAUTIFUL!
Cake: The wonderful team at Fale De Keke made our delicious cakes. We had 11 tiers eek.
Flowers: Yvonne of Ben & Yvonne did our beautiful floral set up and the girls bouquet’s.
Hair & Makeup: Bridal party hair was done by the wonderful Loa (@hairbyloa on Instagram!) Make up was done by Georgine Lee (@leexglam on Instagram). The best team!
Photographer: Milk n Honey, is based in Auckland NZ. Very responsive and always open to any changes I needed with our album.
What song did you walk up the aisle to? The groom & groomsmen walked down to Love Will Keep Us Alive cover by Maoli and Josh Tatofi. The bridesmaid entrance was Josh Tatofi – You’re the best thing. The bride entrance was Still the One cover by Josh Tatofi. (Can you tell we love Josh Tatofi).
Wedding dance song: Our first dance was I’m gonna love you – Josh Tatofi.
Q. Why did you choose Allely Estate as your Wedding venue?
I knew long before the proposal Allely Estate was where I wanted to have our wedding. My sister, who was my maid of honor on the day, actually helped me look for venues 3-4 years before the actual wedding thinking it was going to happen sooner and she stumbled upon Allely Estate website. I personally love the venue because it is in Kumeu, and I spent a lot of my time in Kumeu as a child where my dad used to work in the vineyards so it was kind of a full circle moment. I’m glad we went with Allely!
Q. Did you have a theme or vibe?
We went for a garden wedding theme with brown colors! With the programme and the DJ, we tried to set a romantic vibe but also a party celebration of the greatest day of our lives!
Q. Did you incorporate any tradition?
Not really; we had some siva Samoa as the performances and the usual gifting of cakes to our important guests and elders. Other than that, we wanted to keep it simple.
Q. What advice do you have for other couples?
A couple days out from our wedding we sat down with Ben and Yvonne and they gave us the best advice that changed our outlook on the wedding entirely. They said to us that we can have planned our wedding down to the finest detail but if something does not go as planned or someone shows up uninvited or the timing goes off, don’t let it ruin the whole wedding. That easily (especially for the bride) took away all the pressure. Ask anyone, we were the least stressed bride and groom you’d see. Another thing is, buy stuff or book things within your means and stick with things that are necessary. It will all still end up a dreamy wedding since it is at Allely. Annoy Athina (or your wedding planner) with all the emails because as many as there are, she responds to them all and is willing to make it the day of your dreams!
Q. How did you both meet? What is your personal 'love story'?
Gideon and I met through our church. Gideon grew up in the fellowship however, I only joined in 2015. We started as friends, his sister becoming one of my closest friends. Then I was head girl in college and for some reason had it in my mind I needed a ball partner. Gideon would deny it, but he definitely offered himself for the position, and we went to the ball together in 2016. From friends, to best friends and eventually fell in love. The rest is history lol. We always lived by Romans 8:31 and that’s how we got to where we are. 6 years later, Gideon finally got his knee dirty at our favorite beach during a sunset where it was just us and asked me to be his wife. The planning started straight away, and in 10 months we got married on the 1st of September, 2023.
Q. Tell us about your favourite wedding moment?
Hard to pick since we loved the entire wedding! We do think the ceremony is the best part, especially it being the time we are married and become one as husband and wife!
Q. What special touches were important to you?
Over the years, we figured RGT was a nice, simple way to refer to us as a couple. The team at Allely helped us have the backdrop say this, which made it feel special and our own! Having Ben and Yvonne create our welcome and seating chart was also special as I’ve always loved their work and being able to have them decorate and set up part of our wedding was nice to have! Athina helping me down the aisle (me and my long train) was another moment I found special especially after the 10 months we worked together to make our wedding day as special as it was!
Q. Any further comments?
Thank you so much to the team and our girl Athina for all they did for us. This is coming quite late but the 1st of September 2023 was the best day of our lives and going to be a day we think about forever.
