Love and a Land Rover

The inaugural Martinborough Weddings photo competition invited any couple who has been married in South Wairarapa in the last 20 years to submit a photograph. An impressive 68 entries were received and the winners were announced recently at the Altitude Apartments in Martinborough.

Trish Higginson and Karina Hailwood can chalk up another triumph with this photo competition, following as it does on the highly successful Summer Pix held early this year. Trish and Karina are constantly on the lookout for fresh ideas for their Martinborough Village website, and, as is so often the case, it’s all about chance encounters and enthusiasm.

This idea began with a conversation at the Village Café, when one of the staff commented that she would love an opportunity to share some of the wonderful photos that were taken on her wedding day. Soon after, Trish ran the idea by Leanne and Fiona, who own and run Altitude Apartments and were keen to promote them as premium wedding accommodation for bridal parties. After “sitting chatting for two hours” a plan was forged for running a competition with the results event being held at the Apartments.

Trish says that once again local businesses gave their support, with Nick Arnold donating the irresistible canapes, Palliser the bubbles, and other businesses a range of prizes focusing on beauty and accommodation. Every entry won a beauty voucher and Martinborough Wine Merchants provided a bottle of local wine for the finalists who missed out on the top prizes, so nobody went home empty-handed.
Guest judges were Peter and Fiona Couchman, who are both international trainers specialising in leadership training and who own the Wellington and South Island franchise of Dale Carnegie Training. The 68 entries were whittled down using a scoring system that included location, romance, personality, quirkiness and the caption.
In a masterstroke that really made the winners stand out from the bunch, each finalist was asked to tell their story in 200 words. In fact it was those 200 words that won Jessica and Peter third prize, with the judges commenting that “the story behind it sealed the deal when choosing this prize winner”. It’s to do with five layers of wedding dress tulle, a very small car, and a brand new husband trying to help and accidentally ripping the dress!

Courtney and Shane’s second prize and photo was delightfully different from the traditional wedding photograph, with a rustic barn, amazing Wairarapa evening light and sky behind, the couple framed in the doorway, and a story in every window.

The winner of the competition “ticked all the boxes” and the judges summed up by saying, “We love the magical beauty of this image, the love between the happy couple, the ethereal lighting, golden grass, the majestic cliffs of our beautiful South Wairarapa coast, the rugged Land Rover adding another dimension – a complete package”. As a by-product of the competition, this photo has also attracted the attention of Land Rover NZ, who are considering it as a promotional shot.

All the entries can be viewed on http://www.martinborough-village.co.nz/blog/post/4786/Martinborough-Village-Wedding-Competition-winners/ ,. Martinborough looks its very best in the photos showcased in this competition and some of what makes our region special is summed up in Sara and Daniel’s own words in their finalist story: “This place is a little piece of paradise that lets us have our perfect days, and whenever we go out and the sun is shining we get to remember the day where we made our vows, promised to grow old together and can fish till our hearts’ content……….albeit arguing over who got the bigger fish”.