We got married at the National Marae in Christchurch.

We had been to our friends wedding at the Sydney Opera House in 2000 and this experience made our minds up in terms of, we wanted to get married abroad and essentially do something that we would remember for the rest of our lives. We have always wanted to visit NZ as various friends had commented what a beautiful country it was. On that basis we thought, why not, and decided that we should get married in NZ. Other factors were that my wife didn't want the typical British 'big white wedding', weddings in the UK are expensive (in terms of what you actually get i.e. one day) compared to being married abroad and having the travel experiences as well.
I would also say that more and more people in the UK are now deciding to get married abroad.

Why we hired Donna

That was simple.

After deciding to get married in 2001 I sent off e-mails to various NZ wedding organisers (after going on numerous websites). Donna's reply was almost instantaneous and was extremely informative. In fact I was particularly amazed when I actually realised what time it was in NZ when she was replying...it was about 10pm. This demonstrated to me her commitment to her business and on that basis I decided to use Donna to arrange our wedding.

Type of wedding

We actually chose a typical Marae wedding on the basis that was unusual. From the moment that we agreed to do this,to the day of the wedding, Donna was always available and made the actual day a truely fantastic experience. The organisation was first class and I would have no hesitation to recommend Donna's services to other parties.

During the morning of the wedding Donna was kind enough to let us use her house to get ready for the wedding as she had arranged a make up artist to prepare my wife's make up and a hairdresser to prepare her hair.

We had a Rolls Royce to drive us to the venue and upon arrival; we were welcomed by a 'Maori Challenge', which was enlightening. The actual wedding ceremony was fairly straightforward (and not too long - thank goodness). After the wedding we had a champagne celebration at the venue in which Donna read various messages from our family and friends who had been e-mailing her/ sending cards etc to Donna's address in NZ. Unfortunately due to the distance (and costs of getting to NZ) our friends and family could not make the trip. I should stress that this was not a disappointment as we were aware of the position before we decided to get married in NZ and in any case we had the wedding videoed (and lots of photos) so we could share our day with f & f when we returned to UK>

I should add one final comment, Donna, who had been brilliant throughout, informed us that our wedding at the National Marae (a couple from overseas) was a first and to quote her ''..was an International even!...and if we would agree, the 'Press' (which is the largest daily circulated paper in the South island) would like to report on it...''. We agreed that this would be ok and a bit different, and in any case thought it would be a small insignificant article somewhere in the middle of the paper (if they chose to print it) !! However, when we awoke on the morning after the wedding we were suprised to see our photo (well more of my wife than me !!) on the front page and we had even a bigger article feature than Tony Blair (UK Prime minister) and his election campaign!!
- Di & Steve, UK

Our New Zealand Dream Wedding

My fiance and I could not agree on where to get married because our families lived on opposite sides of the United States. Finally we decided that it would be easier to avoid the family politics by getting married in New Zealand on our own. My fiance searched the Internet for a wedding planner to help with the arrangements. He chose New Zealand Dream Weddings because Donna Dohi was so friendly and helpful and always responded to his inquiries immediately. She was very understanding and concerned when we had to postpone our trip for 2 months after my fiance hurt his back, and helped us reschedule our wedding. When we flew into Christchurch she and her husband greeted us at the airport and drove us to our hotel - something that most wedding planners wouldn't consider doing!

Donna planned a lovely wedding for us at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo. She provided me with an incredible hairstylist and professional photographer and ensured that everything went smoothly on our wedding day. Donna provided many thoughtful touches, and emailed back and forth with our family members while we were traveling in New Zealand - even sending them digital photos from our wedding with a nice note. All of my relatives were very impressed with Donna's personal touches, and they experienced them halfway around the world! Afterwards, we wanted to tip Donna because she gave us such an extraordinary wedding but she wouldn't take it - saying, ''We want to provide you with the best service at New Zealand Dream Weddings, and we don't need a tip for it! Use the money to celebrate by going out for a nice dinner.'' Donna Dohi and New Zealand Dream Weddings are truly wonderful and I would recommend them to anyone planning a wedding in New Zealand. She went above and beyond the call of duty to make my wedding day the best day of my life!
- Alison & Chris, USA

Steve and I arranged to go travelling in December 03 and planned to be away for 2 months in total. Our planned destinations were Thailand and New Zealand. We decided on Thailand because of the white sandy beaches, undiscovered coves, and of course Bangkok with its colourful bars and mad way of living. Thailand did live up to our expectations but it was New Zealand we were looking forward to the most. We chose to visit NewZealand because of its fresh air, magnificent scenery and all the activities on offer. We also decided this would be the ideal place to get married. Having not really planned on getting married at all we decided on a low key wedding, i.e. just myself and Steve!

I really didn't know the first thing about organising a wedding in England, never mind abroad. I therefore decided to log on to the internet, typed in ''New Zealand Weddings'' and up came Donna's website. I found the website very easy to follow, it gave loads of useful information about what we needed to do and it all looked very simple and easy to organise. The website also showed photographs of all the locations on offer although it was state that any location, within reason, would be considered. There were also quotations from other couples who had used NZ Dream Weddings which we found reassuring, most of these were also from countries other than New Zealand.

I started emailing Donna and arranging our wedding, which happened on 23 January 2004 at Sumner Beach in Christchurch. Donna arranged everything for us including: uplifting the marriage licence, arranging the venue, arranging transport and also arranging the celebrant and photographer. Donna always replied to my emails promptly and gave me loads of information on request, including a local hairdresser and beauty salon.

I emailed Donna on our arrival in Christchurch and the following day Donna and her husband picked us up and took us to the local government office to uplift our marriage license. I found Donna very friendly and easy-going and she made our marriage very personal. A day or 2 later they took us to our wedding venue and were also our witnesses. The photographer she had arranged was very good and the photos were fantastic.

All in all a very special day to remember for a lifetime. I would defintately recommend NZ Dream Weddings to others, it really takes the stresses of organising a wedding away leaving you to just relax and enjoy it.
- Nicola & Steve, UK



Hi! I understand you are thinking of hiring New Zealand Dream Weddings. Basically there are three parts which I would like to comment on:
1.) Why we have selected New Zealand Dream Weddings as our agent?
2.) Why NZ is the selected place?
3.) How about the wedding programs?

Well, to start with, we actually selected the location first as to where we want the wedding ceremony to be held. New Zealand is our top choice, because I have stayed there for 3 years and always wanted to have my wedding pictures taken with the beautiful scenery in NZ, especially Queenstown. It was my husband's idea to have a wedding blessing done in NZ. Hence, we started surfing the net for further details and looking for an agent who offer such service.

First learnt about New Zealand Dream Weddings was on the net. Well there are several others posted on the net. We have selected NZ Dream Weddings, because it has won several awards, good recognition and reputation. Strongly believed that NZ Dream Weddings will be a reliable one. I had communicated a couple of times with Donna on the phone and via the net, and was very impressed with their service and commitment to the job. Prompt response, good service, design the package and program tailor to customer's desire and liking. Considering we are on different time zone almost 6 hours difference between Singapore and NZ. Some time, forgot about the time difference and need an immediate answer on some matter. I rang Donna and she can still be reached at 2 or 3 am NZ's time. We were very impressed and appreciated such quality service from NZ Dream Weddings. The good thing is we need not spend much time coordinating for our wedding or worries.

We were very pleased with the programs, wedding planner, the church, pastor, photographer , the limo service and others. Everyone is so friendly, fully flexible and helpful. Everything was well organized and taken care off before our arrival. No tension throughout the service and photography shots too.

It was very romantic, sweet and relaxed wedding ceremony for both of us. A very memorable, happy and lovely one. Our family members were also very happy and admired how simple and pleasant the wedding could be in this way. The photos taken were very beautiful too.

We will strongly recommend our friends and relatives who wish to opt for honeymoon wedding ceremony than our usual traditional custom ceremony such as 10-course dinner with many tables, full day service and others. The traditional ones are very tiring and leave couple with no special moments...

New Zealand Dream Weddings is the ideal choice, and provide excellent and quality service.

With Best Regards
- Eunice & Walter, Hong Kong



Thank you for the opportunity to tell you about New Zealand Dream Weddings.

Kris and I were originally planning to marry when on vacation to save on time, money and fuss. when we planned a holiday in New Zealand, we toyed with the idea of getting married there but had several concerns about paper work, location, attire, and all the details that come with a wedding. We both came across Donna's website at separate times and told the other about this lovely website. We emailed Donna about her services and were hooked. Her warm and inviting manner over emails convinced us that we were in the right hands. The location options were breathtaking. From the website pictures, you could just imagine the endearing memories from marrying in such a place. The prices were incredibly reasonable and they offered a multitude of services to make the day complete. Donna provide us the all the information we needed. She offered to make all the arrangements and paperwork filing that was needed. We felt like getting married in new Zealand would be easier than getting married in Texas and less expensive. We also loved the idea of getting married in such a beautiful country.

We started our vacation in Queenstown a week before our wedding. When we flew to Christchurch, Donna and Shoei offered to meet us at the airport. They helped us with our luggage and took us in their car. They were so friendly and nice if felt like we were meeting old friends. Before going to our hotel, they took us to sign a few documents to make our wedding official. Donna had filed the paper work with the government prior to us arriving. The paperwork took a few minutes to sign. We did not have to wait. It was easy and painless. Next, Donna and Shoei took us to our hotel. Our wedding was scheduled for the next morning. We had planned a number of activities, so we wanted to marry early in the morning. The next morning, Donna and Shoei arrived in a very nice car that had a white ribbon and bow. Donna placed a rose on Kris and gave me a bouquet of flowers. The flowers were very pretty and fresh. We were off to Bridal Path in the Port Hills. On the way,we meet the celebrant and he followed us the the wedding location. The location was very nice, it over looked Christchurch. We felt we had just met up with dear friends. We were unable to arrange to have family there with us so having such caring people made it easier to b so far from Texas. Being way up on the Bridal Path in the Port Hills made us feel like the only people in the world. The ceremony was beautiful. The words and feelings are unforgettable. It felt exactly right.

The location, celebrant, Donna and Shoei made it a very special day for us. After the wedding ,we talked and laughed while eating snacks that Donna's son, a chief, created for us. WE had a champagne toast and signed a few documents. Afterwards, Donna and Shoei took us back to our hotel. When we said our good-byes at the hotel, Kris and I felt as if we had the most lavish wedding with all the trimmings and most of all grateful that we shared it with two people who cared just as much as we did about making the day special. Later that day, we went to see the Christchurch rugby team take on another rugby team. It was our first live rugby game. We loved it. It was the semi-finals and the Crusaders won. It was great. WE spent another 3 weeks in New Zealand. The people in New Zealand were also nice and the locations were just beautiful. In the end, we had travelled from Queenstown to Auckland and along the way we meet two wonderful people that helped us get married.
- Myeong-Ju & Kris



Thank you very much of your professional services and all those arrangement well organized during our stay in New Zealand. How can we ever thank you enough. You made our wedding the most beautiful experience any couple could ever experience. The way you meet us at the airport and greeted us like old friends made us feel straight away at ease. Thank you for everything. We will definitely be singing your praises to everybody that is thinking of getting married. New Zealand Dream Weddings in our opinion is the best anybody will ever find to coordinate their wedding. We will see you next year.
Love and best wishes
- Debbie & Alan, USA



Many thanks to you both. It really was our Dream Wedding. The day was everything we hoped and more. Fond regards..
- Wendy & Martin, UK


Dear Donna
Thank you for the wonderful arrangement for our wedding in New Zealand with such short notice. All the best to you both and your children, good luck with your business
- K H Thung & Mabel Thung, Hong Kong


Hi Donna
Received the video - its great!! Please thank your videographer for me - he did a very professional job. Love the whole thing - movie, sound track, music and stills! Excellent work. Donna, once again Vera and I want to thank you for a really memorial day - it really could not have been better. I think you should offer balloon wedding as a central feature.

Everyone who has seen the photographs and the video is knocked out by the idea and the setting, Vera and I are surprised they all feel this was a terribly adventurous way to get married - it was such a serene experience and not at all dramatic. Again thank you.
- Vera & Paul, Hong Kong



Dear Donna,
How can we ever thank you enough. You made our wedding the most beautiful experience any couple could ever experience. The way you meet us at the airport and greeted us like old friends made us feel straight away at ease. Thank you for everything. We will definitely be singing your praises to everybody that is thinking of getting married. New Zealand Dream Weddings in our opinion is the best anybody will ever find to coordinate their wedding. We will see you next year.
Love and best wishes
- Sonya & Bruce, USA

Dearest Donna,
This is just a small note to say thank you so much for everything New Zealand Dream Weddings did to make our wedding in New Zealand perfect. You are a gold mine and I don’t mind telling everybody. The way you organized everything for us as well as to pick us up and send us off at the airport. Nothing was a bother to you, you took everything in your stride. Good luck to you and New Zealand Dream Weddings, you deserve a gold medal.
Love
- Lisa & Tommy, UK

Hi Donna
I want to thank you soooooo much for the perfect day. The photos are perfect too and everyone loves them. I have over 70 reprints to do of various photos. All the best for you both and your family
- Tina & Craig, Australia


To a special person DONNA
Thank you for making our wedding a day never to forget, Our flowers, photos, video everything, was perfect. Don’t forget to contact us when you are next in Tokyo.
- Mika, Japan

Dear Donna & Shoei,
Thank you both so much for organizing our Wedding Day. It was absolutely perfect! We really enjoyed our day and will remember it always.. We will certainly be recommending you to everybody back home. We would love to come back and visit again in the future and hope we can meet up. Don’t forget if you are ever in the UK please give us a call.
With love
- Karen & Andy, UK

Dear Donna,
A wee note to say thank you for all of your wonderful efforts in organizing our wedding. It was a fantastic weekend. Thank you for the wonderful gifts from New Zealand Dream Weddings. The title does really say it all. We wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors and happiness with your family. Look forward to catching up with you in the near future.
Love
- Sarah & Graeme, New Zealand