Donna & Hayden

Boats, buses, rental cars, taxis, helicopters and vintage cars. If you’re the kind of person who gets a kick out of co-ordinating complex logistics (perhaps you also dreamed of being a LAX air traffic controller?) – Donna and Hayden’s wedding is the one for you. Not only did they need to figure out how to shuttle back and forth between the most remote corner of Waiheke Island and downtown Auckland, but they had to figure exact timings for tides and flight times so that everything could go off without a hitch.

Spoiler alert – there were hitches. Several of them. But when you’re adaptable and focussed on what’s really important on a wedding day like these guys were, everything feels like it was all meant to be.

Both Donna and Hayden got ready on Waiheke before a quick flight across the harbour to their St Patrick’s Cathedral ceremony. Family is incredibly important to Donna and Hayden and I love how this shines through especially in their ceremony photos. At the start and the end of the ceremony, they gathered their family around them so they could share in the big moments together.

A few delays meant that the plan to sneak in an Auckland photoshoot was scrapped as everyone raced to the boats. Being the adaptable people we are this meant an impromptu back of the boat photoshoot and a few grabbed frames as Donna and Hayden walked along the beach en-route to their Man O’ War reception. I love how perfectly these fit with the rest of the day and is another of those “meant to be” moments.

Part way through their evening reception – another spanner was thrown in the works as it was announced that Auckland was about to be plunged into another lockdown. Making the most of their last moments of freedom, I think everyone gave a collective sigh of relief to have been able to share the day together.