Society Insider: Summer weddings special – the couples, the venues, the dresses, the guest lists, and more

Shrimpton and O’Keeffe, who are based in Auckland’s beachside suburb of Milford, have been together for more than two years. They announced their engagement in October last year in South Africa.

Ben O’Keeffe and Wilhelmina Shrimpton at their engagement party.

Shrimpton celebrated her bachelorette party last week with 20 girlfriends.

The troop started with a cocktail-making class at St Alice at Viaduct Harbour and ended the night in the private dining room at Otto on K Rd for dinner and a drag show, which the bachelorette starred in.

Wilhelmina Shrimpton with her friends at her bachelorette party.Wilhelmina Shrimpton performing at her bachelorette party.

“I wore two mini dresses by Trish Peng and jewels from the Diamond Shop, which is a nod to what I’ll be wearing on the big day,” Shrimpton told Society Insider.

The night before the nuptials, wedding guests will gather at various locations in Arrowtown.

The big day will take place at three locations at Ayrburn, which has become a favourite hospitality venue for New Zealand’s rich and famous since it opened in December 2023. Zuru billionaire Nick Mowbray celebrated his 40th birthday there in March and Rich List property mogul Steve Owen’s son Matt married professional golfer Laura Hoskin in a black-tie bash in May.

Shrimpton knows Ayrburn well, having worked on PR activations for the hospitality haven, and is currently assisting with the communications for Ayrburn Residences, luxury new-build properties on freehold private sections, which are selling for up to $40 million.

The wedding will take place around the picturesque Mill Creek, and in and around Ayrburn’s restored farm buildings.

The bride is set to wear three different gowns by Trish Peng for the ceremony, reception and afterparty. O’Keeffe will ear an ensemble from Peng’s husband’s label, T. Begg Tailoring.

Peng and Begg will be among the guests, along with a range of Shrimpton’s colleagues from the broadcasting world, including Brooke Dobson, Rachel Smalley, Lloyd Burr and Aziz Al Sa’afin. Also expected are influencer Simone Anderson and her husband Trent Forsyth, jeweller Sera Cruickshank and her fiancé Jamie Foster, and beauty entrepreneur Edna Swart and her husband Reid Stephen.

After the wedding, the newlyweds will spend a few days with their friends Geoff and Justine Ross at Lake Hawea Station.

Wilhelmina Shrimpton and Ben O’Keefe.

Society Insider is told some time will be spent with O’Keefe’s family in Blenheim in the lead-up to Christmas.

Their actual honeymoon kicks off again from January 6 when the couple attend American folk-rockers The Lumineers’ concert at Spark Arena. The first song O’Keefe shared with Shrimpton was by the band.

They will then head to Fiji for some romantic time in the tropics.

In early January, Mikayla Haycock, the talent manager of motor racing superstar Liam Lawson, will marry robotics engineer and Rich List son, Toby Baker. The couple got engaged at the Melbourne Grand Prix in 2024. The wedding will be an intimate event, taking place in Baker’s parents’ backyard with fewer than 100 guests.

Toby Baker and Mikayla Haycock.

Toby’s parents are motoring Rich Listers Grant and Donna Baker. Grant is the executive chairman of Turners Automotive Group and has a reported wealth of more than $130 million.

Famous for having one of the biggest collections of supercars in the country, you can be sure a few will be positioned in the grounds of the Baker Estate, a sprawling palm tree-lined oasis in St Heliers, with expansive views of the Waitematā.

The couple are celebrating their stag and hens’ parties before Christmas, with Baker going go-karting and Haycock planning a refined lunch with her girlfriends.

Liam Lawson is expected to attend the wedding, along with his American partner Hannah St John, who Haycock represents through her agency The Talent Bakery.

Hannah St John and Mikayla Haycock. Photo / Supplied

Fellow motoring Rich Lister Wayne Leach, from Winger Group, and his wife Amanda are also expected to attend.

Haycock’s business is based in Los Angeles, while Baker works out of Silicon Valley.

The pair recently purchased their first house together in Scottsdale, Arizona and have been travelling back and forth for work in California.

The bride will wear two dresses on her big day, the first a custom couture Vivienne Westwood creation and the second a party dress custom-made in Los Angeles. Both of her bridesmaids will wear dresses by NZ designer Caitlin Crisp.

Later in January, multimillionaire businessman and former Black Cap Adam Parore will marry property management director Libby Price, a year after they welcomed their twins Heidi and Elliott.

Adam Parore and Libby Price and their twins Heidi and Elliott in Bali earlier this year.

Parore’s adult children with his former partner Sally Ridge, Astin and Mclane, are expected to attend.

It’s Parore’s second marriage – 11 years ago, he married Miller Rose MacLeod-McGhie, and their wedding graced the cover of a woman’s magazine. The couple split in 2016.

Price tells Society Insider their wedding will be a three-day celebration at their compound in Koutu in the Hokianga.

Libby Price and Adam Parore.

“We are super excited about having our friends to see the Hokianga and be at our property, it’s very unique and special,” she says.

Her recent bachelorette party in a private dining room at the Hilton’s Fish restaurant had a White Lotus theme, with guests dressed in their most colourful outfits. It’s expected the wedding will also be a resort-themed affair.

Libby Price, pictured in white at her bachelorette party at Fish.

Price was in Melbourne last week to pick up her wedding dress but wouldn’t share with Society Insider who the designer is, preferring to keep the reveal for the big day.

Multimillionaire Pals co-founder Mat Croad and his fiancée, creative director Rachel Needham are also set to marry in January, although Needham is keeping tight-lipped about their plans.

Mat Croad and Rachel Needham.

“All I’ll say about the wedding is that it’s coming up soon,” she tells Society Insider. “I’ve been working closely with Trish Peng on custom looks for the day. Stay tuned.”

Society Insider reported the couple, who have been dating for more than four years, got engaged in March, with Croad turning his 40th birthday aboard a superyacht into a surprise proposal for Needham.

Needham and 12 of her girlfriends last week took a large limousine to an Airbnb tucked away on a quiet countryside property in Hunua for a stylish seashells and wedding bells themed bachelorette garden party.

Rachel Needham in the limousine at her bachelorette party.

“I wore two looks,” says Needham. “My day look was a sheer lace maxi dress from Lovers & Friends, paired with a white bodysuit, Alias Mae heels, pearl cluster earrings and a lace Juliet cap style veil.”

Her night look was a satin corset mini dress from Leau with a plain tulle mini veil and a five-layer pearl choker necklace, paired with some opera length lace gloves and sling back satin pumps.

Rachel Needham in her night outfit at her bachelorette party.

Needham’s little sister Grace, who is her maid of honour, and her two bridesmaids, Sarah and Louise, arranged the entire event for her as a surprise.

“They thought of every detail, and it couldn’t have been more perfect,” Needham says.

“Seeing everyone all dressed up and looking gorgeous, getting to spend quality time with everyone and of course getting to dress up as a bride to be, was very special.”

Wedding guests are expected to include Croads’ fellow Mount Maunganui friends and Pals co-founders Nick Marshall and Jay and Anna Reeve. One of Croad’s best friends, Stolen Girlfriend’s Club founder and creative director Marc Moore, is expected to play a role in proceedings. Moore was the ring bearer at Croad’s surprise engagement.

Former Victoria’s Secret model, London-based Kiwi, Jessica Clarke, the co-founder of wellness brand Mother Made, is also expected to attend.

In September, Clarke and her long-term partner, sports agent David Garender, the best friend of David Beckham, announced their engagement.

Clarke recently told her Instagram followers she was bringing Gardner to New Zealand for the first time this summer.

David Seymour and Alexandra Vincent Martelli. Photo / @Radlab

Despite speculation he’ll marry ahead of next year’s election, Deputy Prime Minister and Act Party Leader David Seymour says he has no immediate wedding plans.

Society Insider revealed in February that Seymour and his partner, property dynamo Alexandra Vincent Martelli, had got engaged in California.

“We’re aiming for next summer,” Seymour says of their wedding. “We don’t feel any pressure to marry quickly, we have all the time in the world together.”

Seymour’s Labour leader counterpart, Chris Hipkins, will marry his fiancée, MBIE policy strategist Toni Grace, next summer too, after next year’s election.

Harry Hart and Cartier Lee.

Could a multibillionaire’s wedding round off the summer season this year?

Society Insider has confirmed Nick Mowbray and his fiancée, business entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton, will not marry this summer. That puts the spotlight on billionaire Graham Hart’s son Harry, who became engaged to his Australian heiress partner of more than six years, Cartier Lee, last year on the French Riviera.

The Harts are well set up to host an extravagant wedding, with their superyachts, the family compounds on Waiheke Island and Tara Iti Golf Club, where Harry is a shareholder, as well as the Hart family’s Glendowie clifftop estate, valued at more than $50m. Watch this space.

Party People of the Week

The ASB Classic Countdown

An exclusive group of celebrities, sponsors and media guests gathered at The Mezzanine at The Cloud on Thursday for First Serve, a party to kick off the countdown to the ASB Classic.

The event was hosted by Jordan Vandermade, who is returning to the ASB Classic as on-court MC in 2026. Speeches came from Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, tournament director Nicolas Lamperin and Tennis Auckland CEO Rohan West.

The evening featured a series of exciting announcements, including the news that Swiss great Stan Wawrinka will play in the men’s tournament, and a number of improvements to the facilities at the Stanley St arena.

Guests included actor Vinnie Bennett, former Breakfast host Jenny-May Clarkson, 1News reporter Jenny Suo, The Hits hosts Matty McLean and Ben Boyce, Flava’s Azura Lane, influencers Hannah Koumakis, Elise Marić, and Kennedy Anderson, and man-about-town Colin Mathura-Jeffree.

Libby-Jane and Jenny-May Clarkson, and Jordan Vandermade at First Serve at The Mezzanine at The Cloud. Photo / Tim Marshall Zion Dayal, Vinnie Bennett and Te Waiarangi Ratana. Photo / Tim Marshall Kennedy Anderson and Oliver Tyack. Photo / Tim Marshall Tracy Magan and Kristy Austin. Photo / Tim Marshall Myara Flint and Sonia Brodrick. Photo / Tim Marshall Colin Mathura-Jeffree. Photo / Tim Marshall Elise and Lianne Marić. Photo / Tim Marshall Jasmine Kim. Photo / Tim Marshall Kate Jones and Antonia Aimer. Photo / Tim Marshall Molly Littlejohn and Christopher Connolly. Photo / Tim Marshall Rohan West. Photo / Tim Marshall Matthew and Imogen Gibbs and Ryan Teece. Photo / Tim Marshall Damian Alexander, Laura Haden and Reuben Wiremu. Photo / Tim Marshall

Two Dudes Mochella Party

Men’s Skincare brand Two Dudes and activewear label LSKD have officially made Movember history, celebrating an extraordinary month of fundraising with a high-energy Mochella party in Auckland last Saturday night at Kenko Studios in Eden Terrace.

The campaign brought together thousands of New Zealanders who moved, donated, ran, shaved, or grew a mo in support of mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Two Dudes co-founders Tomas Tappin and Michael McRae took the stage to present a $125,000 cheque to Movember Aotearoa Indigenous Partnerships Manager, Chris Graham. By the end of November, their fundraising was more than $145,000, the biggest donation to the charity in New Zealand history.

Headlining the celebration was Jupiter Project’s Gavin Correia and Marty Rich, who brought the crowd to life with a full-energy DJ set, supported by DJ Ben Parkes.

Guests included Two Dudes head of charity, Allesha Arrowsmith; influencer Rebekah Banks; property developer Michael Bartlett; Atlas Studios managing director, Omer Hazer and PĀMU jewellery founder Alicia Haszard.

Tomas Tappin, Chris Graham, Alesha Arrowsmith and Michael McRae. Photo / Trent Hall Justin Powell, Vicky Taiaroa and Michael Bartlett. Photo / Trent Hall Krysana Hanley and Omer Hazer. Photo / Trent Hall Jupiter Project’s Gavin Correia and Marty Rich. Photo / Trent Hall Ben Parkes and Tess Woolcock. Photo / Trent Hall Alicia Haszard and Chelsea Kawana. Photo / Trent Hall Brittanee Foliaki and Rebekah Banks. Photo / Trent Hall Ani Joshi, Badhan Mali and Elijah Tremain. Photo / Trent Hall Joash Fahitua and Tauvaga Siolo. Photo / Trent HallJamie McDowell, Chelsea Hoskin and Cameron Boot. Photo / Trent Hall Josh Torres and Jake Finlayson. Photo / Trent Hall Maria Walsh and Matthew O’Keeffe. Photo / Trent Hall

Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.