Teigan and Alex Mckinnon’s beautiful wedding
THERE WASN’T A DRY EYE TO BE SEEN WHEN ALEX GOT OUT OF HIS WHEELCHAIR TO DECLARE HIS LOVE!
When Alex Mckinnon defied the odds, got up from his wheelchair and stood throughout his wedding, even the tough men of the NRL wiped away tears.
But beautiful bride Teigan Power – Alex’s former teen sweetheart, partner of six years, soulmate and constant cheer squad – was perhaps most moved, as the happy couple finally tied the knot.
‘I was pretty shocked to tell you the truth, I couldn’t believe Alex stood for all that time,’ says the brand-new Mrs Mckinnon, smiling. ‘It was lovely to be able to look him in the eye, rather than looking down at him in his wheelchair. It just made the ceremony that much more intimate. We started crying every time we caught each other’s eye. It was beautiful.’
It’s three-and-a-half years since the former Newcastle
Knights forward was critically injured on the football field at Melbourne’s AAMI Park – his neck broken by a crunching tackle that shattered his career and left him a quadriplegic.
After the accident, steadfast Teigan watched and waited while her boyfriend lay in an induced coma for three days, teetering between life and death as his damaged body battled pneumonia at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.
But brave Alex was determined to survive – so determined that he proposed to Teigan only weeks after his horrifying accident in March 2014, and proudly announced their engagement with an Instagram photo from his hospital bed.
‘She’d been begging me to do it for about a year, so I thought I should,’ jokes the laconic groom, who proudly made primary schoolteacher Teigan his wife at Peppers Creek Chapel in NSW’S scenic Hunter Valley.
And she was even impatient on the big day, arriving 15 minutes early for their 4pm wedding ceremony attended by 120 family and friends, including the couple’s best mates Brisbane Broncos captain Darius Boyd and his stunning wife, Kayla.
‘Teigan and her bridesmaids got there before some of the guests, so she had to do a few laps around the area until everyone was ready,’ grins
25-year-old Alex, who later took her for a surprise spin around the dance floor at the start of their Barrel Room reception.
The 23-year-old bride was radiant in a white ‘princess’ dress from Pallas Couture, with a long tulle veil pinned to her hair. In keeping with tradition, her gown was new, her garter was blue and for something old and something borrowed, she wore a Saint Mary Mackillop medal once owned by her beloved late grandmother, Jill.
Matron of honour Abbey Power and bridesmaids Kayla Boyd, Abbey Bates and Kelly Turner were glamorous in blush lace by designer Manning Cartell. But cute flower girl Willow Boyd, two, stole the show with 16-month-old pageboy Dante Gagai, who insisted on riding his scooter down the aisle.
‘He nearly cleaned me up at the end,’ laughs joker Alex, whose vows included a pledge to make Teigan have lunch at recess every day ‘so she doesn’t get too angry!’
And Teigan promised she would learn to accept her new husband’s ‘footy obsession’ – and not to yell when she’s hungry!
Tears flowed as the couple swapped wedding bands from Nicholas Haywood Jewellery Concierge – brushed rose gold for Alex, white gold with five diamonds for Teigan – and were pronounced man and wife by celebrant Jules Amidy
After a sit-down meal and the cutting of a spectacular three-tier wedding cake from Hello Naomi in Newcastle, it was time to party late into the night.
‘It was just such a good time,’ says Alex, who took Teigan for a pre-wedding honeymoon in New York earlier this year. ‘And you know, I wasn’t nervous at all. The closer it got to the wedding, the better it was. So many things could have gone
wrong, but it was all perfect.’
‘I was pretty shocked to tell you the truth, I couldn’t believe Alex stood for all that time’