Both lovers of the outdoors, Marla and Mark met whilst bike racing in New Zealand, and Mark also popped the question whilst the couple were out hiking together. So it was the most natural choice for this outdoorsy duo to choose a beautiful open air location to tie the knot. Today's beautiful real wedding therefore took place at Black Barn Vineyard, and to add sophistication and a little bit of glamour, Marla and Mark chose fun accents of hot pink and gold, creating a truly beautiful summer wedding day, all captured for us to enjoy by Meredith Lord Photography.

As both Marla and Mark are outdoorsy it's no huge surprise that they bonded over a cycling race. Marla explains how biking lead to romance..."Mark has been good friends with my best friend Kate since his Mum coached her high school soccer team. Kate and I were living together and Mark encouraged her to find a friend to do “Round Taupo” – a 160km cycling race in the middle of NZ – in a team with him, so she roped me in. We all met in Taupo for the weekend and things went from there. Mark invited me to visit him to do some training in Wellington, and we ended up dating. For the first year we were commuting between Auckland and Wellington, and then Mark moved to Auckland (yay!)."

For their proposal Marla and Mark again took to the outdoors, this time whilst visiting Marla's family in Canada. Marla sets the scene..."We went for a beautiful hike in Radium, BC. While I was admiring the view, Mark got the ring out of his bag and got down on one knee. It was perfect because we are really outdoors-y people so he couldn't have chosen a better place. The funny part is that a few days earlier, my Auntie had been teasing him to hurry up and propose and offering to take him ring shopping...He had the ring in his pocket the whole time!"

Unsurprisingly, Marla and Mark chose to have an outdoors wedding ceremony in the scenic surroundings of Black Barn Vineyard courtyard, under a canopy of trees for shade.

The ceremony was kept ultra personal with Marla and Mark surrounded by family and with a very carefully selected ceremony playlist. Marla explains: "Music was something we spent ages trying to choose – we wanted a little classic rock vibe. We walked down the aisle to “Somebody to Love” by Queen. We signed the paperwork to “You Got the Silver” by the Rolling Stones and “In a Little While” by U2. We walked out to “Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick (cheesy but clearly awesome!)"

Family was the biggest priority, with Marla and Mark choosing their wedding specifically so that family could travel to be with them on the day. Marla explains: "My biggest priority was having my family over – my aunties and uncles and cousins are an awesome group of people and we hardly ever get to all party together, so a wedding was a perfect excuse to get as many of them as possible over to New Zealand. We had it on January 3rd so everyone in Canada would still be on Christmas Holidays. We wanted to really focus on inviting people who were important to us, and making sure they all had a good time."

As Marla and Mark were celebrating under the sun, Marla kept her and her bridesmaids outfits very simple and light, with upstyles and natural makeup.

Hot pink was a recurring theme, with hot pink rose bouquets, boutoineres and of course the girls hot pink bridesmaid dresses.

The reception décor again incorporated fun bursts of pink as well as nifty gold animal wedding favours and some crafty DIY table numbers made by one of Marla's bridesmaids.

Advice wise Marla advises staying calm, and not letting any planning stress get in the way of things. She explains: "No matter how organised or relaxed you think you are, it will be more stressful than you think! Planning a wedding is surprisingly hard on your relationship with each other and with your parents – take time out to relax. On the day everything will turn out great and you’ll have a great day and you will forget why you were stressing."

For their honeymoon Marla and Mark travelled to Hawaii to both relax and to run the Kalalau Trail on Kauai. Huge congratulations to you both and thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous outdoor wedding with us. A big thank you also goes to Meredith Lord for sharing her work with us. To see more from Meredith Lord head over to www.meredithlord.com

The Wedding Details

• Ceremony & Reception: Black Barn Vineyard
• Wedding Dress: Sarah Seven at The Bridal Atelier
• Bridesmaids dresses: Myer
• Shoes: Myer
• Flowers: Magdalen Hill
• Styling: Toni Mcgregor from Magdalen Hill
• Groomsmen’s suits: Working Style
• Veil: Jessica Bridal

• Cake: Cindy’s Cakes
• Gold Animal Wedding Favours: Klepac & Co.
• Stationery: Minted
• Make Up: Cushla Bower
• Hair: Kelly McKenzie from Pure Hair
• Wedding Bands: David Keefe Jewellers
• Reception Music: Volume DJ
• Photography: Meredith Lord Photography