TJ and Greer's Surprise Backyard Wedding with Custom Village Goldsmith Rings

What was seemingly an engagement party for rugby player TJ Perenara and fiancée Greer Samuel turned into a carefully planned surprise wedding! Combining his beloved late grandfather's ring into his own new band added a special sentiment to TJ and Greer's big day, where they were married with a pair of Village Goldsmith wedding rings, an engagement ring and a set of custom engraved cufflinks.

All photo credits: TJ Perenara and Greer Samuel

The Engagement Proposal

"After eight years, Greer knew her answer, but she still wasn't convinced the sportsman was serious. "She just kept saying, 'You're joking,'" TJ laughs, shaking his head. "well, I thought he was pranking me at first!" says Greer. "The ring was made by The Village Goldsmith, who make all of the Hurricanes' ring, like the ones they get for 50 games and 100 games. I thought he was using his Hurricanes ring for a laugh." 

- Woman's Day

TJ celebrated his happiness by sharing the moment "When you ask your best friend to marry you and she says yes xx @greer_louise". Greer responded with her own celebratory post; "That look when your best friend asks you to marry him and you say YES!" 

The Village Goldsmith was honoured to have worked with the lovely couple to create their custom bespoke engagement ring.

It was TJ’s job to choose the perfect centre stone for Greer. To get it just right, he had to think about her style and what would complement her personality. Once he had chosen the centrepiece, our team of designers worked with TJ to create concepts and designs for the engagement ring. 

After their engagement was official, the couple came back in store so Greer could complete the customisation process alongside TJ, meaning the finished design of the engagement ring would become a truly bespoke and special piece that combined both TJ and Greer's input. 

"Massive thank you to Ian, Colleen and the team at @thevillagegoldsmith for the beautiful work they have done on my fiancée’s engagement ring."

"My darling did so well in choosing a beautiful centrepiece for my engagement ring, and did the smartest thing ever by letting me design my own band. Not only do I have something gorgeous to look at, but I know that I had input in the finished product along with him which makes it just that little bit more special. Thank you so much to the team at @thevillagegoldsmith who made the process so easy, especially Ian & Col! The fact someone put every stone in and crafted this piece by hand is just amazing. I am so so grateful, they definitely know their stuff, so if you’re planning on popping the question, head in to see their lovely team."

The Wedding

TJ and Greer's family and friends attended what they thought was a romantic engagement party at Gear Homestead, but TJ and Greer had one very big surprise planned... The couple announced they had actually gathered their nearest and dearest together for their wedding celebration featuring a ‘backyard barbeque’ theme, starting an hour after everyone arrived!

Crafting TJ's Ring

The Village Goldsmith had the pleasure of working with TJ and Greer to create not only their perfect engagement and wedding rings, but we were also given the opportunity to craft TJ's wedding ring in a very special way.

TJ and his cousin asked The Village Goldsmith to split their beloved late grandfather's wedding ring down the middle, so that each of them could have half. The idea was to use each half of the ring and combine it with a new ring. Eventually over time, when the new shine of the metal fades, the difference of the two metals, new and old, will start to show and TJ will be able to see his wedding ring within his grandfather’s. 

Having his wedding ring crafted using his late grandfather's wedding ring brought even more sentiment to an already very special moment. As well as this, TJ also wore a pair of cufflinks from The Village Goldsmith custom engraved with his and Greer's initials for the big day. 

"'Today has been an amazing day - it was just us. It's been the perfect day. We just couldn't be any happier."

 - Woman's Day

Our warmest congratulations to TJ and Greer from the team at The Village Goldsmith. Thank you for allowing us to share in your journey from the engagement to wedding, we wish you all the best for your future together!