The league legend’s wife-to-be hired a witch to ensure good weather for their big day. Photo / Jackson Bright, @jacksonbrightweddings
With a stunning Wānaka location and all their loved ones there to celebrate, including their gorgeous 7-month-old daughter Maya, Warriors star Luke Metcalf and his longtime love Brodie Boyle were looking forward to a picture-perfect day as they finally became Mr and Mrs.
But there was just one thing out of their control – the weather. The beautiful, fine days leading up to their nuptials suddenly turned wild, with the couple waking to rain and overcast skies on the morning of the wedding.
“When I got to the venue before the ceremony, I could see they were setting up inside as well as outside,” recalls Luke, 26.
“I thought, ‘Oh, no, Brodie will have a meltdown!’.”
Smiling, Brodie, 25, adds, “During the week of the wedding, I was constantly messaging our wedding planner about the forecast.
“She told me I needed to calm down, but I was determined to fix it and even hired a weather witch off Etsy to cast a spell!”
Luckily, the weather cleared enough for the couple to have their dream outdoor ceremony at high-end Rippon Hall, with guests soaking up breathtaking views across vineyards to Lake Wānaka and the Southern Alps as Luke and Brodie said “I do”.
As a professional sportsman, Luke is used to extreme pressure, but nerves got the better of him while he was getting ready on the morning of the wedding.
The league star confesses; “I was way more nervous and anxious about getting married than before a football game!”.
Fortunately, among his groomsmen was his childhood friend and fellow league player James Roumanos, who was there when Luke met Brodie a decade ago, when they were both 16, at Sydney’s Cronulla Beach.
The boys had gone for a swim after training and spotted a group of girls James knew from school.
“I asked James who Brodie was, but he said I should probably hold off because she was fiery and the life of the party, while I was calm and relaxed,” laughs Luke, adding that he wasn’t put off.
“I was pretty confident and remember counting down, like, ‘Three, two, one,’ then putting my hand out to Brodie and saying, ‘Hi, I’m Luke.’ She didn’t really want a bar of me at the start, but I wore her down!”
The young couple got engaged in 2023, around the time former Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks player Luke signed with the Warriors.
Brodie had half-jokingly said she didn’t know if she could move to New Zealand without a ring on her finger, but even she was shocked when Luke popped the question in Italy during a romantic European holiday just before they crossed the ditch.
Brodie smiles; “Luke is the most disorganised person and is always losing everything, so I didn’t expect him to get a ring and take it overseas. He hid it in a sock in his backpack all the way to Europe. It was the biggest surprise!”.
The couple initially looked at wedding venues in Australia, but nothing wowed them, until a trip to Wānaka in January 2024, which saw them book Rippon Hall on the spot.
On the day of the wedding, Luke remembers feeling all the emotions as he waited in the magical location for his beautiful bride. He was blown away by his first glimpse as Brodie walked towards him in a stunning gown from The Ivory Room in Sydney, accompanied by her four bridesmaids, who were striking in black dresses.
“She was perfect,” the sports star says simply.
Brodie’s off-white, off-the-shoulder dress with a corseted bodice, flared princess-style skirt and long train was quite heavy, and she admits it was “a mission” to bring it back to New Zealand on her own, with a small baby in tow.
“I was in the early stages of my pregnancy when I first tried the dress on in Sydney and it was 10 times too big by the time I got it back here,” she recalls.
“I took it to Toni at I Sew 4 U alterations and she said, ‘Do you want to be able to breathe or do you want to be snatched?’ I said, ‘Snatched!’.”
Brodie was equally taken with her handsome groom, who was wearing a custom-made, double-breasted black suit he’d spent months designing with Paul Dean from Hugo Boss Sergios in Christchurch.
The couple shared heartfelt vows they had written themselves, guided by their celebrant, Clifford Thompson, a pastor who is also the Warriors’ wellbeing officer.
Luke reveals; “Clifford has done so much for Brodie and I since we arrived in New Zealand, so we knew we wanted him to be involved in our special day”.
After the ceremony, the bridal party and their guests – including league legend Shaun Johnson and his wife, pregnant netball star Kayla, plus nearly a dozen of Luke’s mates from the Warriors and Sharks – moved inside for cocktail hour.
Luke and Brodie managed to grab a quiet moment with Maya before the bridal party snuck off for a fun photo session, then the newlyweds came into the reception with trays of shots.
“We were ready to get the party started!” grins Brodie, adding that the delicious food and packed dancefloor made for “the best day ever”.
Both she and Luke love the Kiwi lifestyle, saying they can see themselves in New Zealand for the long haul after the league star recently signed a two-year extension to his Warriors contract, securing their future here for the next three years.
Brodie shares; “We’d love to buy a house and put some roots down – somewhere we can make our first memories as a family and enjoy the ride of parenthood”.
Becoming a father has changed Luke, she adds.
“Before Maya was born, Luke was 100% about footy, but being a dad has helped him to relax and slow down a lot more. The first thing he does when he comes home is sit down and play with Maya.”
After years of heartbreak for Kiwi fans, Luke is determined to help the home team win their first NRL premiership.
“The Warriors have shown faith in my potential and what I can offer, which is something I definitely want to repay,” he explains.
“From the start, the club has been so welcoming to Brodie and I, and as a nation, New Zealand has adopted me as one of their own. I feel the love every time I walk down the street and have never had a negative interaction with a fan.”
As the flying halfback recalls that chance meeting with Brodie on the beach a decade ago, he can’t believe how far they have come.
“It’s crazy to think we’re married now, with a baby and living in another country,” he enthuses.
“I love how we’ve grown together, and I appreciate everything Brodie does and has sacrificed so I can chase my dreams.”
Credits:
Pictures: Jackson Bright, @jacksonbrightweddings
Hair: Joicy Bridal Hair. Makeup: Kendal Scheurich
Wedding planning: Alexandra Kate
Videography: Zac Dickinson, Flatroc Films