23 December 2023

Second-Chance Love

Ngā Mārena. Rural Weddings.

writer: Lauren Jackson

photographer: Francine Boer

If you’d told Katie Vickers in 2014 that she’d be married to Luc Rodwell by the time she was thirty, she wouldn’t have believed you – after all, the two had broken up. And yet, after six years apart, the couple rekindled their relationship, and Luc popped the question within a year, culminating in a romantic celebration at Katie’s parents’ historic homestead.

Top image. The Bankhouse Homestead dates back to the late 1800s. The Wairau Valley property now has vineyards, but was once part of one of Marlborough’s largest sheep runs. Above. Katie’s wedding dress was the third she tried on at Paperswan Bride in Christchurch. She added the sleeves later to ward off the autumn chill.

When she was twenty-three, Katie and her then-boyfriend Luc had just broken up after four years of dating. They parted on good terms, but though Katie believed they were finished, Luc didn’t feel the same way. “We always said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,’” he says. Katie quips, “Yeah, but I didn’t think that it would be.”

Katie and Luc, 30 and 31, first met at Lincoln University in Canterbury when they were nineteen. Both in their first year at university, they shared a cheeky sense of humour and loved to party. “Katie was really down to earth. Always laughing; always smiling; always happy,” Luc remembers. “She’s still quite a goer. She’s full pace; always wanting to get on to the next thing.” On the other hand, Katie appreciates the opposite qualities in her partner. “Luc is really calm, caring and thoughtful. Quite grounding for me, which is really nice.”

Close-up image of a bride wearing a pearl necklace.

The couple still shares a love of the outdoors. “We do lots of jet boating, skiing, hiking and camping out,” says Katie.

When they broke up in 2014, there wasn’t a specific reason. “We both just knew it wasn’t working,” Katie recalls. “We got together super young,” says Luc. “We hadn’t seen the world; we hadn’t lived.” When Luc took a job in Te Waiharakeke Blenheim, Katie was working in Ōtautahi Christchurch. The distance and travel proved too much. The young couple separated, but continued to move in similar circles. “We were always good mates,” says Luc.

However, in December 2021 they rekindled their relationship at a mutual friend’s wedding. “Getting back together was kind of surreal,” says Luc. “We knew each other so well, but there were six years of our lives that we didn’t really know about.” They had both travelled and been in other relationships. They had matured and this time, everything fell into place.

The Land Cruiser was borrowed from a friend, who wanted to wash it. “We were like "No, it’s perfect exactly as it is!” laughs Katie.

Luc’s proposal came the following October, within a year of reuniting with Katie. “We get on super well, and it just felt right. It was the right time of our lives,” Luc explains. Katie and Luc were hiking up the Mueller Hut Route in the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. As they drank their coffee and took in the alpine vista, Luc was thinking about the engagement ring he’d hidden in his bag under his personal locator beacon. “As I was wondering how I was going to get the ring out of the case, a helicopter flew over,” Luc recalls. Pretending he was checking his beacon, Luc pulled out a stunning sapphire ring. “I got on one knee, and the rest is history.”

“I was in shock,” says Katie. “I was not expecting it at all.” After bursting out laughing, Katie accepted. Luc and Katie’s twin sister, Sarah, had designed the ring she’d always wanted – a blue stone to match a clear blue day. “There was not a cloud in the sky, and we just sat up there in the sun and had a yarn,” remembers Luc. Then they video-called their families to share the exciting news.

“We both always wanted to get married in the autumn,” Luc says. “My temperature gauge is generally pretty hot. So, I didn’t want a midsummer, super-hot, thirty-degree wedding.”

Blue bridesmaids' dresses and white bride's dress hang in front of a window.

The ombre of blue bridesmaids’ dresses, as well as Katie’s elegant gown, hanging before the ceremony.

Luc and Katie set the wedding date for April 2023, giving themselves only six months to pull everything together with the help of friends and family. Organised, but also happy to go with the flow, Katie and Luc enjoyed the wedding preparations. “I was waiting for the moment that it got stressful,” says Katie, “and it just never happened. We’re not very fussy. We hadn’t imagined our big day – the colours and this and that.”

Nevertheless, blue emerged as the theme colour, with the sapphire ring, the blue bridesmaids’ dresses, the navy corduroy jackets for the groom and his groomsmen and the ever-present clear blue sky. It poured with rain the week before and the week after, but the wedding day was perfect. “No wind, no rain, not a cloud in the sky,” remembers Luc.

Black and white image of a bride stepping across a lawn.

As the newlyweds entered to Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” the emcee asked guests to stand on their chairs and wave their napkins. “It was fun,” laughs Katie.

The wedding was about “good food, good music, and just having all our friends and family there,” says Luc. They had guests gather around the large outdoor firepit. “We just wanted to create a bit of a vibe. We smoked a cigar around it.”

Katie was nervous about the ceremony itself. “It’s all eyes on you, and I’m not really into that kind of thing. We just wanted the party, to be honest,” Katie laughs. “But I actually really enjoyed it.” She and Luc exchanged vows on the front lawn of her parents’ – Chris and Philly Vickers – heritage homestead, which they bought six years ago and lovingly restored back to its former glory. Its English-style gardens appealed to Chris and Philly, who emigrated to Aotearoa from Gloucestershire, England, with their three children in 2002.

Luc’s parents, Tim and Carin Rodwell, added their own touch of family history by providing a special knife to cut the wedding cake. “Luc’s grandparents used the knife for their wedding,” says Katie, “and then Luc’s parents used it for theirs.”

Black and white close-up image of a bride's bouquet

The bouquets came from a florist in Blenheim, while a friend of the family filled the marquee with flowers from her beautiful garden.

Bridal party smiles for a photo against a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser on a tree-lined driveway.

Katie with her bridesmaids. Designing the engagement ring with Luc was the first secret Katie’s twin sister, Sarah, had ever kept from her.

KATIE & LUC
28 April 2023

Bride Katie Vickers, 30, daughter of Philly & Chris Vickers, Wairau Valley
Groom Luc Rodwell, 31, son of Carin & Tim Rodwell, Fairlie
Wedding Location Wairau Valley, Marlborough
Ceremony & Reception Bankhouse Homestead

Celebrant Bill Winter
Photographer Francine Boer Photography
Videographer Black Feather Studio
Bride’s Dress Paperswan Bride
Bridesmaids’ Dresses RUBY
Jewellery Jaime Lucinda Jewellery
Hair Danielle Hall Hairstyling
Makeup By Kendal
Catering The Karaka Kitchen
Cake Cakes by Annie
Flowers Mayflower Studio Florist and family friend Sara Neill

Honeymoon Two weeks in England and Scotland catching up with Katie’s family and friends, then four weeks around Portugal and Greece
Living In Ōtautahi

Newlyweds pose in front of a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser

The newlyweds honeymooned in Europe – their first big trip together. “And we’re still married!” laughs Katie. They passed the travel test with flying colours, visiting the UK, Portugal and the Greek Islands.