Katie + Sean \\ Italian Villa Wedding at Olivio~Nor

Effortless elegance and spilling with Tuscan romance in the heart of Martinborough, NZ. Katie + Sean celebrated with close family and friends at the beautiful Italian styled villa Olivio~nor.

Nestled amongst 180 Olive trees and manicured gardens, with the undulating Tararua Ranges as a dreamscape backdrop. Olivio~nor is a small slice of Italy hidden in the beautiful Wairarapa.

Alfresco dining under the sweet Summer sun, celebrating love and forevers.

Details beautifully captured by August & Vine Photography. Read more of Katie + Sean’s love story below;

How did you meet and how long have you been together? 

We met in 2012 at a canoe marathon in a small town called Craddock, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We were both working at the event which is how we met. We started dating in March 2013.

Tell us a little bit about the proposal and your engagement?

Sean was very sneaky… I had arranged a weekend away with all our nearest and dearest before we were heading off to NZ. We had rented a beautiful cottage in the Drakensberg, so the setting was perfect. On the day we had actually gone to watch one of the rugby world cup games and then had come back to the cottage. Sean had been sitting on the ring all day so much to his dismay I suggested we play some boardgames to continue the fun. His anxiety took over and he suggested to me we go for a walk because he was over the games haha. I obviously didn’t realize that everyone was in on this so once we walked out it was mayhem inside with everyone trying to put champagne in the freezer etc (they obviously couldn’t do this when we arrived otherwise I would have drunk it) There was a cute little pond at the bottom of the garden with the most beautiful back drop of the mountains that we walked towards, as we walked down Sean slipped and almost rolled his ankle which left me in hysterics, as we got to the bottom, I was obviously still laughing but turned around to admire the view and as I did he was on one knee and asked me to be “his forever” I instantly went from laughing to crying (happy tears) and instantly said yes. We then walked back up to the cottage with everyone waiting to congratulate us.

Tell us about your wedding style. What influenced your planning for the day?

Our venue had a beautiful Tuscany style to it, so all the décor etc played into that really well. There were beautiful gardens and rolling hills and olive trees all around the property, it was truly a beautiful setting. Sheryl was amazing in that she took on all the planning and décor on so we were honestly so lucky in the fact we didn’t have to do much in that respect.

What was your favourite detail from the day?

It was really sad that we weren’t able to have our family present, so having them all dial in over zoom and be with us throughout the day was very special. I lost my dad a while ago and I was just so taken aback when Candice our celebrant asked my mom to give me away, it was so very special.

What was your favourite moment from the day?

Besides walking down the aisle and saying “I do” it was having our photos taken with Sam (August & Vine). She is honestly such a wonderful human and made us feel so comfortable. We had so much fun and our photos came out better than we could have expected.

Why did you choose your destination?

Sean and I have such wonderful memories in Martinborough so we thought it was only fitting we have it there. We also wanted something outside of Wellington but not too far away for guests traveling. It was also just one of the most beautiful venues and the first one we actually saw. We knew it was the one as soon as we left.

What does marriage mean to you?

Marriage is a partnership, and something you work on every day. It’s important for us in our marriage to have trust, communication and most importantly to have fun. We are always laughing and it’s something about us we are most fond of in our relationship. We have a lot of respect for one another too and I think it’s an important foundation to a good marriage.

Advice for other couples planning a wedding?

Choosing a venue that handled most things for us was such a blessing. It meant we were able to focus on just enjoying the moments and the process together and really took that stress off us. Don’t leave things to the last minute, the more you get done early on, if you can it will make the process much more enjoyable and mean you can focus on the fun stuff.