I’m Lucy Slight and I’m a writer who has worked in fashion and beauty media in New Zealand for the last 15 years. I’m currently the beauty editor at Viva magazine. Clint Roberts, my husband, is a radio announcer on ZM’s Bree and Clint show, which is on every weekday afternoon. We live in Titirangi, Auckland with our two daughters and two cats.
We discovered OFS when scrolling online looking for the perfect venue for our wedding. I came across some photos on a blog, I think, and found the venue from there. Straight away, I knew it was the one, and Clint agreed!
We really wanted a beautiful venue that we could hold both the ceremony and reception at, so our guests didn’t have to move locations. We wanted natural scenery for photos and we were after a venue that provided tables and seating so we had less to arrange in terms of vendors. We loved the whole vibe of OFS – it really was love at first sight.
Best tip for getting married at Old Forest School…
TRUST SU-AN! Honestly, she has seen it all and organised it all, and she’s one of the best parts of having your wedding at OFS. If you’re nervous about anything or have any concerns, she comes up with solutions quickly and is always there to offer advice. Having someone like that to help you with logistics is invaluable and really put us at ease through the whole planning process.
We had just over a year – maybe a year and three months – from booking to big day, and that was a great amount of time. I think even less would have been fine! Once we booked the venue, we got straight onto locking in all our vendors, and once that was done, it was just a waiting game until the wedding day.
We got married in February 2018, the day before Clint’s birthday! There were only two dates left available at OFS that summer – December and March – and we decided that March was a little easier for people travel-wise, not being as close to Christmas.
We had our ceremony outside under the big tree, which was absolutely perfect. The day before our wedding it was dark, grey and torrentially raining all day, so we knew that getting married in the school house was likely, but we really had our hearts set on doing it outdoors. Having the back up of the school house was such a relief though! It turned out to be the most beautiful afternoon – super hot and not a cloud in the sky. So hot that the guests went through our beer stocks much faster than we imagined they would!!
From day one, we just wanted our friends and family to have the best day. We wanted to throw a fun party and for everyone to enjoy themselves in a super casual and easy-going way. Having everything feel really chilled out and informal was key for us, so we loved that we could get the Big Smoke BBQ Truck to do our catering, rather than having formal table service and several courses. People still rave about the food!
Our aisle song was ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed and first dance song was David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust.’ I had wanted Perfect Day to be my wedding song for years – in fact, I told Clint when he proposed that that was non-negotiable!
I didn’t want to have a seating plan originally, but our photographer, Amanda Thomas, told me that she’d been to weddings before with no plan and it could get awkward, with people not knowing where to sit and family members ending up near the back etc. So I reluctantly agreed, but actually in the end, I loved creating the seating plan! I drew the table plan on big sheets of paper and wrote everyone’s names on small post-its, moving everyone around until we had it sorted. It was fun!
Morning of the wedding…
I stayed at the bach with my family in Pukehina and my two bridesmaids came over first thing for hair and makeup. Clint went up the road to his family’s bach with his two groomsmen and they just hung out for the morning before heading to the venue early to get ready and make sure everything was set up properly.
We suggested everyone stay in Pukehina, so most people got baches on the main road, but people also stayed in The Mount. Our buses picked everyone up from The Mount through to Pukehina, which was amazing.
We had the ceremony at 3pm (from memory), which gave us plenty of time to take some quick photos and then be able to hang out with our friends and family before dinner. That was perfect timing for us, as we said no more than one hour for photos because we didn’t want to miss any of the action!
Best ‘on the day’ tip…
Honestly, we both agree that the best thing is to just go with the flow when the day finally rolls around. There are plenty of people around to help you, there are very few things that can happen that are insurmountable, and if you worry too much you won’t have a good time. RELAX.
We had friends and family come from New York, Singapore, Australia and all around New Zealand, which was so special – especially because we had friends who had never been to that part of the country before. It made it even more of a holiday for them.
One of our friends, somehow, left his shoe on the bus on the way home… The next morning, the bus pulled up to our bach and the bus driver yelled out to us “I think someone left their shoe!” and threw it out the door. That afternoon, the friend in question turned up to our BBQ, still in his suit, with only one shoe on… So good.
Guests are still talking about…
The dancing! Our friend Dean Campbell DJed and his brief was “dirty pop”. It was the most nostalgic playlist full of pop bangers and the dance floor was packed the whole night. Also, the Mr Whippy truck! Instead of cake, we had Mr Whippy turn up after dinner and that was an absolute smash hit.
The best memory from our day…
Lucy – having all our friends and family together in one place was amazing. The whole day was a magical blur, but I’ll never forget that everyone travelled from out of town, just for us.
Clint – At the end of an incredible day, dancing outside under the fairy lights after dark with all my best friends and family, ice cream in hand.
Best part about married life…
Lucy – Everything we’ve done since getting married! Travelling, renovating a house then buying another, and of course, having our two girls – and doing all of it together.
Clint – Having someone to help with the fitted sheet (and sharing the journey of life with the person I love the most. But mostly the sheet thing).
Vendors…
Photographer – Amanda Thomas Photography
Flowers – On My Hand
Food – Big Smoke BBQ Truck, Mr Whippy
Hair and makeup – Melle Van Sambeek
Bar staff – The Rusty Hare