Autumn wedding at Black Barn Bistro, Hawke's Bay.

‘A simple, elegant event with minimal decorating and fuss’ is how Crystal and Sam described what they wanted for their Hawke’s Bay wedding, so they chose one of our top New Zealand wedding venues, Black Barn Bistro, and let the epic autumn landscape do all the wow-factor for them.

Eva: Describe the things that were important to you when you decided to plan your Hawke’s Bay wedding at Black Barn Winery?

Crystal: “It was important to us to have the ceremony and reception at the same place so that everyone could relax at one location without worrying about travel throughout the afternoon. The Black Barn Bistro was fantastic for this because everyone was able to chill out after the ceremony in the courtyard with snacks and drinks until it was time for the reception. A number of our guests have serious dietary restrictions so we also needed to find a venue that was able to cater for these allergies. The Black Barn team was amazing at coming up with a great menu with substitutions to cover all of our guests.”

Eva: How did you find the photography experience? 

Crystal: “We really appreciated how well organised Eva and Andrew were and how well they worked as a team. They efficiently coordinated our guests to make getting through the list of family photos a very smooth process. It was a real advantage to have two Hawke’s Bay photographers shooting our wedding as it meant that we were able to have a photographer with each half of the bridal party as we got ready for the wedding. It was nice to look back once we got our photos to see how each other's mornings had gone. Having two photographers also allowed us to get some awesome bridal party creative shots with Eva, while Andrew was capturing some lovely photos of our guests back at the Black Barn courtyard.

Eva: Covid caused a significant delay and stress. How did it feel to finally be getting married after such a long engagement?

Crystal: “After having to postpone for a full year about 6 weeks out from the wedding in 2020 when the first national lockdown was announced, we were thankful to be able to go ahead as planned in 2021 after a few smaller lockdowns earlier in the year. It was a lovely day to celebrate and catch up with all our family and friends after not having seen them for a long time.”

A big thanks to Crystal and Sam for letting me share their Hawke’s Bay wedding. It was a beautiful day to be part of and that’s thanks to all of their awesome wedding vendors:

VENUE: Black Barn Bistro, Havelock North

WEDDING DRESS: Churchwood Bridal

HAIR: Rachel Haworth

MAKEUP: Anna Scott

FLORALS: Flower Arrangements by Mary Ritchie

CELEBRANT: Family friend, Emily Wotton

BAND: The Stereos

CAKE: Cake Collective

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES: Lulus