The couple behind New Zealand’s only botanical rum distillery actually met at sea

Matt Bridge, 46, started New Zealand's only botanical rum distillery, Lunatic & Lover, with his wife Angie Bradley, 44, who also runs an events company, Inspired Custom Events. The couple has two sons – Madoc, 14, and 10-year-old Nye – and live in Auckland's Birkenhead.

MATT: I'm originally from South Wales and got into art college in Cardiff. But when I was 18 I spent a gap year in Hong Kong teaching at Outward Bound and got into sailing. I wasn't keen on art college after that, so spent 15 years skippering boats in the Caribbean, Greece and the Pacific.

That's how I met Angie – in 2001 at the Antigua Yacht Show. She was a stewardess on another boat but all the boats met up for Christmas. I was married at the time, but it was pretty much over. Angie and I were just friends, so I didn't think of her in that way.

But it's hard not to think of Angie – she's got such a presence and is a real force of nature. Angie can walk into a room of strangers and break the ice – she has zero fear, which is a very attractive quality. I'm attracted to personality and character, and she has that in spades. Physically, she's also my type: dark hair and blue eyes.

READ MORE: Mixing business and pleasure has paid off for the couple behind beauty brand, Anihana How TikTok’s ‘Uncle Tics’ Leighton Clarke and partner Olivia Campbell escaped the friend-zone Slow burn: This couple fell in love writing old-fashion love letters

About eight months after we met, I hired Angie on my boat. My marriage had ended and Angie and I got together pretty soon after she arrived. Many boats have rules about crew relationships, but I was the captain, so I got to make the rules! We tried to keep it quiet but a few months later in Greece, all the pretence fell away.

We eventually came back to New Zealand in 2005 because it was time. I knew so many friends who tried to mix families with sailing, and it didn't work. Because there was a marine industry in Auckland, I got a job as a sailmaker.

We'd talked about opening our own rum distillery for years, so we finally took the plunge last year. It's been a big challenge, but we work well together – I look after the product and Angie takes care of marketing and sales. We make the big decisions together, though. There was a t-shirt popular with tourists in the Caribbean that said, "I'm the captain because my wife says I can be" which kind of sums us up!

Angie has an amazing eye for detail and is super organised, which comes from her events background. She's also determined. If she has an idea, she wants it done now! She's a real doer and a hard worker. I'm more laid back, but we have the same values when it comes to life and parenting.

Money isn't a big driver for us. We want to create something and have amazing experiences. Humour is a big part of that – we laugh a lot. Humour and mutual respect is what makes us tick.

ANGIE: I'm a born and bred Birkenhead girl but always wanted to travel – probably because when I was 11 my father died and my mother took my brother and me to live in Africa and the US for two years.

I qualified as a hairdresser but when I was 17 I left NZ and spent 11 years away, living in Australia, Africa, UK and France. While nannying in France, I met some yachties who suggested I'd enjoy crewing on super-yachts so a month later I was doing just that.

I was living my best life being a gypsy and wasn't looking for a relationship at the time. Plus, Matt was married and his ex-wife became my friend. She was the one who asked if I would join Matt's boat when she left.

We got together soon after that. Matt made the first move, but I was a bit shocked – how did that happen? But if felt right. You have to remember our daily reality was most people's romantic honeymoon – staying in beautiful places, drinking champagne as the sun set. It was hard not to fall in love.

When we both realised we wanted off the boats, we moved to Australia for a while where both our parents live, but it didn’t really work for us. I was headhunted back to Auckland and started my own events company 16 years ago.

We hit a bad patch about eight years ago after Nye was born. Matt was travelling all the time with his sailmaking job, and I was stuck at home with the kids and no family support. So we flew Mum over to babysit, and I travelled with Matt to a boat regatta in Sardinia. One of Matt's good friends said, "You'd better put a ring on her!" We laughed it off but later on the dance floor, Matt drunkenly proposed. The next morning, we looked at each and went, what happened last night? Matt said nothing happened, I would never propose like that.

When we got to our boat, everyone started clapping and congratulating us. We were like, I guess we're engaged now! We flew home via Rome where Matt bought a ring and got down on one knee outside the Colosseum to propose properly.

We got married five years ago in an olive grove which reminded us of our time in the Mediterranean but also near a beach because the water is where we met.

Running two businesses and raising two sons is hectic, but we balance each other out. We're total opposites – Matt is super laid back, and I'm an action woman all the way. He's also a great cook which works well because I can't cook!

Your Weekend