Pictures: Natalie Waugh Photographer
It doesn’t get more picture-perfect – from the brilliant blue sky and stunning Mt Taranaki looming over the luxury venue, to the impeccable styling and gorgeous flowers, it was a beautiful day for Silver Ferns superstar Kelly Jury to marry the love of her life, Cameron Jackson.
One would never know that they arranged the entire celebration in just two weeks. Let alone that it was mostly from the United Kingdom, where the netballer was away playing for New Zealand.
With family being more important than an elaborate wedding, Kelly, 27, says the couple hastily pulled together the ceremony to ensure her beloved grandfather Graeme Walter was around to attend.
“I honestly don’t know how we managed to do it,” Kelly tells Woman’s Day after her dream nuptials. “We had planned to get married this December, but my grandfather was really sick over the Christmas period and things were looking a bit touch-and-go.
“I had to leave for a Silver Ferns tour to England. After a week over there, with Poppa being settled, we decided to lock in the 5th of February, so the wedding planning began very quickly!”
With the help of Kelly’s mum Robyn and Cam’s mother Suzie in Aotearoa, hindered only slightly by the 12-hour time difference, the athlete began to map out her big day.
While Mum and Dad scoped out the venue, Platinum Lodge & Spa in Kelly’s Taranaki hometown of Stratford, she booked a photographer and caterer. “It really helped that we were getting married on a Monday – they were all available!” laughs Kelly.
Then everything else began to fall into place.
Kelly even managed to have a dress made thanks to the help of a Jackson family friend, Christine Bell. Christine whipped up a beautifully simple halter-neck gown that fit Kelly’s 1.96m frame perfectly.
“We initially imagined that it would end up being a bit of a backyard wedding because of the short notice, but it turned out to be a fully catered, proper wedding for 60 people,” says Kelly. “And honestly, if we’d had two years to plan it instead of two weeks, it couldn’t have been any better.”
Adds Cam, 26, “The only thing that would have been different is the amount of people we had. It was just immediate family and close friends.”
And for guest of honour Graeme, who passed away peacefully on 25 March, it was the most special day.
“I was so, so happy about that,” smiles Kelly. “He was a witness as well, along with Cam’s grandmother Averil.”
Walking down the aisle, Kelly says she wasn’t even nervous – she hadn’t been for the entire day. “I just felt that everything was meant to be and everything was perfect. We’re very laid-back people. A lot of friends did comment that the wedding was ‘the most Kelly and Cam thing ever’!”
The pair first met in 2017 at a bar in Hamilton, where Kelly was based while playing for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
“Kelly had been to a Peking Duck concert with her friends when I saw her,” Cam recalls, grinning at the memory.
“He came over and asked me for my autograph,” she laughs. “Which was very weird for me at the time because I didn’t think I was that well-known!”
Cam admits, “It was more of a pick-up line, to be fair!”
Despite their initial meet-cute, Kelly and chartered accountant Cam didn’t go on a date until 18 months later. After bumping into each other again, they figured it must be fate.
However, the pair faced a tough long-distance stint when Kelly switched allegiance to the Central Pulse and had to move to Wellington.
“It was a year that we lived apart. Until Cam got a job at Wellington Airport, where he’s head of transport,” Kelly tells. “But COVID kind of broke it up. I was able to get up to Morrinsville, Cam’s hometown, to do lockdown together.
“We definitely preferred life without long-distance. The goodbyes were always hard, but we both had goals we wanted to achieve. That was really important to us.”
Nods Cam, “At the time, it was the best thing for us.”
And last August, with lockdowns, long distance and every other obstacle behind them, Cam finally popped the question during a romantic trip to Fiji. He proposed with a stunning diamond that Kelly could choose to make into any ring she liked.
“It was such a smart idea,” says Kelly. “He didn’t want to have the pressure of picking the ring himself and I loved having free rein over what I could choose.”
Cam adds, “I knew I wanted to marry Kelly for a while.
After I moved in with her in Wellington, spending all that time with her made me sure. The thing I love most about Kelly is that she’s so easy-going. Nothing is ever a problem – she’s never angry and she’s always bubbly.”
“Aww, that’s so nice!” Kelly, exclaims, laughing. “We’re very similar people, and Cam’s so kind and caring. He would do anything for anyone, especially me! He keeps me grounded and he’s very honest, which is what I love. My job can be really stressful and demanding, but he’s the most incredible partner to have supporting me through it. It’s also a bonus that he’s taller than me!
“We always knew that we’d found the right person in each other and that we wanted to build a future together, so we were always going to end up engaged and married.”
And it was on that glorious day in February that the couple finally became Mr and Mrs Jackson in a relaxed, informal ceremony that thrilled their 60 guests. They followed their self-penned vows with a sumptuous dinner from caterers Smok’n Comrades, then danced and enjoyed a few drinks under the stars.
“I’d only written my vows two days before and Cam had done his that morning,” says Kelly.
“But they were very similar – a bit of humour and not too soppy, which is very us. I also managed to track down my great-grandfather’s violin to be played while I walked down the aisle. I surprised my nana with it just before the ceremony. The last time she’d heard it played was in the early ’80s, by her father.”
“Then it was time to party!” grins Cam. “It’s a good thing the weather was so good. The one contingency we didn’t really have was a plan B in case it rained.”
And while it’s been a few months since they tied the knot, not much has changed, apart from the name on the back of Kelly’s netball dress!
“It took a bit of time to get used to. I had to be reminded the other day when I was signing netballs to remember to use my new signature,” says Kelly, who last month was honoured with Netball New Zealand’s top prize, the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award, for the second year in a row.
“But aside from that, we’re still the same as we always have been. That’s exactly how we want it to be.”
Credentials
Pictures: Natalie Waugh Photographer.
Hair: Gemma Hughes.
Makeup: Georgia Patterson.
Rings: Polished Diamonds.
Suits: Harry’s Surf & Street, Morrinsville.
Flowers: Nicci Goodin Designer Florist.
Cake: Kerri Dickson.
Violinist: Beth Haveswood.
Videography: Scott Anderson Visuals.
