Located in Whangarei Heads, New Zealand, Hayley and Marty married in an intimate ceremony in the company of 36 family and friends. Their ceremony venue was a historic church from 1858 in Whangarei Heads, New Zealand—a church of the early settlers of the small coastal area where Marty grew up.

Before the bride entered the venue, Marty had been pacing back and forth in the church for 15 minutes prior—so you could say he was a tad nervous! Hayley walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of her favourite song ‘Intro’ by the xx and there was not a dry eye in the house.

This was an un-plugged wedding, meaning no phones or cameras were allowed to be used by guests. The couple explain, ‘we found this made the guests more involved with sharing the experience 100 per cent. Being able to look around and see all our friends faces not their phones made their presence there mean so much more to us.’ And with photographer Callie Marshall documenting their day, there was no shortage of stunning images.

‘Callie had pre-planned where she wanted to take our photos, so we trusted her judgement and gave her full creative control—after all, we hired her based on her work. But by coincidence one of her main locations happened to be the council protected land at the end of the street where Marty had spent many years playing as he grew up.’

The couple add, ‘after a fantastic sunset and many laughs with some of our best friends we had lost track of time and ended up being an hour late to the reception venue! Though after seeing the photos this was well worth it!’

The couple add, ‘the whole day was just so much fun! Our bellies hurt from laughing so much by the end of it all. Whether it was things like, Callie (The photographer) piggybacking one of the heel-wearing bridesmaids down the beach or Hayley’s dress being chewed by a cow—there was never a dull moment! But everything was absolutely perfect.’RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_60RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_04RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_16RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_18RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_71RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_77RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_22RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_33RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_40RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_76RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_85 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_82 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_84 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_80 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_77 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_57 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_58 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_59 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_48 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_86 RC_Weddings_MartyandHayley_87

Photography: Callie Marshall | Styling + planning: The Bride + Groom | Floral styling Mint Floral | Location: Whangarei Heads, New Zealand | Ceremony Venue: McLeod Bay Church | Reception Venue: A’fare Conference Reception Lounge | Guest List: 36 people | Celebrant: Aaron Halvorson | Catering: A’fare Conference Reception Lounge | Cake: Jodi Gamble