Getting to create a wedding gown is so special to us, but nothing has ever compared with recreating Robyn's wedding dress for her daughter Becca, to wear on her special day. The dress was originally made by Becca's grandmother back in 1986, and in 2020 we gave it another life. We sat down with Robyn and Becca to see how their wedding day's differed, while the sentiment stayed the same. One dress, two stories.
Becca: I met Tim through our love of snowboarding on the dreamiest un-official “first date” you could get. Snowboarding until sunset, followed by stargazing, then dinner and a movie. Since then mountains have maintained a strong meaning for us. Three years later Tim proposed in the same mountains where we met, and then in March we also got married in the same mountains as well! We wanted our wedding to represent us and our journey, and it was vital for us to have plenty of time to spend with our friends and family at the event.
Robyn: The vows were probably the most important when it came to celebrating our marriage. I also wanted pretty flowers and all the friends/family I wanted. Wedding venues were few and far between so venue not as important.
Becca: Tim proposed during a hike in the mountains where we first met. The sun was setting as we got to the top and the views were amazing! So Tim set up a self-timer “photo” (actually a video) and as I was posing for the photo next to him, he got down on one knee! I couldn’t believe it. He had also hiked all the way up with a bottle of champagne and a picnic but it was too cold at the top, so he hiked back down with it again and we celebrated at the bottom! When we got back to Christchurch, Tim had set up fairy lights all around the tiny-house that we were building together. He had decorated it with roses and candles and made dessert, which ended the perfect day with a romantic evening in our future home.
Robyn: Dropping me off at home after a date one evening!
Becca: The wedding ceremony was lots of fun. It was outdoors near Castlehill amongst the mountains and beech trees. It was a moody day with the mountains just peeking through the clouds which created a really dramatic atmosphere. I had bumble bee’s buzzing around the flowers in my hair and Tim and I were laughing the whole time. We had an amazing worship session performed by our friends including a celloist. After exchanging our vows we had communion, and before we knew it, we were husband and wife! Every part of the ceremony was just perfect.
Robyn: Ross was a bit late for the service. Apparently he was busy getting our skis ready for the honeymoon!
Becca: The dress exceeded my expectations! Sarah and Fritz did an incredible job reinventing my mums dress into my own dream dress. I had a pretty strong vision for what I wanted it to look like but there were lot’s of things I hadn’t thought about, which is where Sarah and Frtiz’ expertise was so great! Deciding to do a gorgeous low back was Sarah’s idea, which really made the dress. On my wedding day I received so many compliments on how beautiful the dress was.
Growing up I remember I always loved looking at my mum's wedding photo’s and especially adoring her dress as a little girl. My grandma, (my mum’s mum) made mum's wedding dress back in the day, so it’s always been very special. When I was looking for my own wedding dress, I knew I wanted a traditional style and kept being drawn back to the elements I liked in mum’s wedding dress - the sweetheart neckline, a flowy skirt from the waist and lace on top. So I thought, why not ask mum if I could try it on. It was crazy because I fit it perfectly, mum and I must have had a very similar body shape and size from when she got married. Then before we knew it we were making plans to modify it.
Dad saw it for the first time on the wedding day, he said I looked as beautiful as mum did in it. I loved being able to wear my mums dress, that grandma had made. And maybe my own daughter might do the same for my dress one day!
Robyn: It was important to me to have it made by my mum as there was really pretty lace in fabric shops in city. A bonus was that we saved a heap of money having it home-made.
It was wonderful! I was really pleased we could keep some of the traditional aspects of the dress but also have new modern design, and of course it was good for the dress to get another life. I was pleased for my mum too, who made it.
Becca: After the ceremony, we took group photos, and cut our cake. Guests continued with afternoon tea and lawn games while the bridal party popped off to take some epic wedding photos in the mountains - taking 4wd’s to the top of a ski-field. We were a little late getting back, but our MC’s were great and the guests had already started on dinner when we returned. We had speeches and dessert followed by… a POWER-CUT! Complete darkness. Turns out we had over-loaded the generator in the venue. Our guests turned on their phone lights and started singing a song and swaying their phones - it was such a fun atmosphere! Luckily our sound guy had a back-up generator to save the day and we were able to continue dancing into the night. Most people stayed the night at the venue or just down the road, so the next day we put on a brunch and spent the morning catching up with everyone. Bumble-bees, power-cut and all, our whole wedding was perfect and we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Robyn: It was a freezing day for the photographs outside, and didn’t have plans for that. So we all just had to grin and bear it - literally!
Becca: We had a few challenges, leading up to the wedding we had two bridal party cars breakdown, most cars couldn’t get up the steep road to get to the venue, our singer lost her voice, I forgot to print off the marriage registration to sign (BIG WOOPS). On top of that, the generator failed the morning of the wedding so my sneaky bridesmaids delayed me by an hour, they were so amazing I didn’t even know until after the wedding. Of course there was the power-cut during the reception, which also meant no power or hot water for the 40 people staying the night at the venue and for the cooked brunch the next day! Much more behind the scenes. But all in all everything going wrong made us all the more grateful for the amazing community we have around us who helped pull it all together… and made for an especially memorable wedding for everyone!
Robyn: Things were more simple 30 years ago, so less to go wrong!
Do you have any advice for future brides or couples?
Becca: All the little things you may find yourself stressing about leading up to the wedding don’t matter at all on the day. Things may not go to plan but you just have to take it in your stride and remember the most important thing is that you’re marrying the one you love, and get to spend the best day of your life with all the amazing people in your life. That’s all that matters in the end.
Robyn: Forgiveness is always important and a vow means a vow.
