A Family Affair

Is it destiny that drives the greatest love stories? Or fortuitous circumstances? For Camilla Temple and Robbie Dunphy, it was a bit of both that brought about their relationship, a union born at Lake Rotoiti (the site of both of their family’s holiday homes) and one that, looking back now, feels like fate.

"We’ve known each other most of our lives, but met again at the lake one summer," Camilla tells me. “There is a funny story about when Robbie swam from his house to mine to see me, which sounds very romantic,” she pauses, smiling, “but it’s actually really funny because, in reality, he nearly drowned on the way over and what we thought at the time was a Daniel Craig-esque emergence from the water was really him clambering up onto the beach gasping for air.”

It was a similarly sweet misadventure that endeared Camilla to Robbie on their first date, where the latter embarked on a charm offensive by taking Camilla and her siblings on a ride in his Dad’s Riva boat. The excursion quickly turned to custard when the weather packed in and the whole party ended up completely soaked. “All I remember is laughing endlessly and drinking lots of rosé,” Camilla tells me “so there’s a touch of romantic tragedy/comedy about the start of our courtship but we fell deeply in love through it.”

Soon after, Camilla and Robbie found themselves traversing the Tasman every other week to see one another (Robbie was living in Sydney at the time) before finally deciding to settle down in Auckland, where they bought and renovated their first home together in St Mary’s Bay. That was nearly 10 years ago. “We were both in the early-ish stages of our careers [Camilla is an interior designer and Robbie is a software entrepreneur] and our lives were almost entirely work and some play in between, nothing else,” Camilla says

In 2020, however, the pair’s relationship entered a new era when they welcomed their first child, Rupert. “The day we found out Camilla was pregnant was one of the happiest days for us,” Robbie tells me, “I will always remember her standing in the doorway with this enormous grin on her face when I got home from work.” He smiles, “I think we cried together and then walked up the road for a candle lit dinner, just the three of us.”

The year after Rupert’s arrival, Camilla found out she was pregnant with their second child, a daughter, and the couple realised that a more family-friendly home was required for their growing brood. “We bought a 1920s arts and crafts in Herne Bay that was in good shape but hadn’t been touched for 50 years,” Camilla tells me. “Our second renovation was as rewarding as it was stressful… we moved three times over the course of it and Romy was born somewhere in between,” she pauses, “but it was an invaluable experience for us… and we learned a lot about compromise.”

The other major event that happened during their renovation was Robbie’s proposal — an occasion that, fittingly, took the couple back to the lake where it all started. Robbie (in keeping with his penchant for boat-centric romantic gestures) suggested that he and Camilla take a turn in a classic old Albatross with a reputation for unceremoniously breaking down at the worst possible times. Camilla, of course, protested. “I think I called him an idiot,” she tells me, laughing. But his powers of persuasion prevailed, and while out on the water, when Robbie announced that the boat had indeed broken down, Camilla’s vitriol was stopped only by a beautiful ring, hastily produced from the engine bay. “I don’t think I managed to grasp what was happening for about 10 seconds,” she says, “then I burst into tears.”

For Camilla, the vision for a wedding was immediately clear. “I wanted a kind of shabby chic RRL-esque country vineyard wedding,” she tells me. “In particular, I was adamant on getting married in Queenstown at Robbie’s mum’s vineyard in Gibbston Valley, but we wanted to steer clear of any of the stereotypes around that kind of venue.”

The ceremony itself took place under cloudless skies, surrounded by the romantic ruins of Thurlby Domain, just outside Arrowtown. When Camilla emerged at the end of the aisle, wearing a jaw-dropping Emilia Wickstead gown and shrouded in a dramatic, full length veil by Studio Lucy Macdonald, it was perfectly timed to the crescendo of ‘Decades’ by Wilma Archer and Samuel T. Herring, an appropriate moment for the culmination of a love that felt like it had been decades in the making.

That said, Camilla tells me that her most memorable moment of the day was after the vows, when Robbie (impeccably dressed in a Crane Brothers tuxedo) led her to a classic Alfa Romeo convertible. “Driving through the country roads with just him, I had this overwhelming feeling that we were really just starting our lives together,” she says. “That we were bound together forever. My best friend by my side. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

“I had this overwhelming feeling that we were really just starting our lives together, that we were bound together forever. My best friend by my side. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

When it came to the reception, Camilla wanted her guests to enter another world. “I had a dream of the reception being a kind of grassland forest,” she tells me, explaining the amount of detail and construction that went into it. To create the verdant haven she envisioned, every element was purpose-built, transforming one of the vineyard’s warehouses (an otherwise unremarkable space) into a truly spectacular cacophony of florals and greenery. There was even a small candle-lit grotto to one side that had been designated for dancing, music and merriment.

Towards the end of the night, guests were invited to an alfresco dancefloor, where rousing tunes played until the wee hours and disco balls hung from trees set a sparkly scene for the ultimate final act.

It was a wedding that truly represented who Camilla and Robbie are intrinsically, both as individuals and as a couple. The luxurious, carefully-planned details and more serious moments were offset by a sense of brevity, plenty of humour and the kind of authenticity that really spoke to their story. Anyone who knows Camilla and Robbie can see how deeply their love for one another goes. It is romantic in the most lovely, traditional way but it is also imbued with a level of friendship that has grown over time and is underscored by copious amounts of respect.

"Robbie is the kindest, most thoughtful human I have ever come across," Camilla shares. “He treasures family time with me and the kids and always makes sure we are considered before any decision he makes.” She continues, “We genuinely laugh together every single day. Even in the tough moments he makes me smile when I’m trying not to.” She pauses, grinning, “I also find him extremely attractive.”

Robbie, for his part, tells me that he is drawn to Camilla’s ambition and self-confidence, as well as her ability to remain positive in the face of most things. “She is also an ethereal beauty inside and out,” he tells me. “We really are just very much in love.”

Now, with a wedding, a renovation and a couple of children behind them, Camilla and Robbie are enjoying taking stock. “We definitely want to do more travel, maybe have another baby or at least another dog, and we both have some exciting business ideas that we are keen to crack on with,” says Camilla, “but right now we are loving the present.”