Level 2 wedding gets 10 out of 10
One Kiwi couple’s pals pulled off a ‘‘technical marvel’’ to let them get married in front of all their friends and family during level 2 – without breaking any rules.
Aucklanders Steve Austin, 46, and Heidi Crawford, 39, wanted to get married, the first for either of them, on May 16, 2020, the third anniversary of the start of their relationship. Thanks to New Zealand moving into level 2, they were able to – but it was hardly the bash they had planned.
What was going to be a gathering of more than 100 people on Crawford’s mother’s farm north of Auckland, featuring portaloos and multiple gazebos, became a 10-person affair on the front lawn of the couple’s Epsom home at 6pm on Saturday, with distant loved ones streaming via Facebook live and Zoom.
Far from putting a damper on things, however, Austin said their level 2 ceremony was ‘‘completely unique in such a wonderful way’’.
‘‘For me it was perfect,’’ said Crawford, who was delighted they could go ahead with the wedding on their special date.
‘‘My face hurts from grinning.’’ Operating under level 2 regulations, which stipulate gatherings of no more than 10 people, the Austin-Crawford ceremony included the couple, their celebrant (a last-minute ringin as theirs would have had to travel from Waikato), two witnesses, a photographer, Crawford’s mother, father and stepmother, and the ‘‘technical guy’’ – a friend who ran the Facebook livestream and Zoom stream.
The last is important because it’s the way the couple’s friends and Austin’s family, who live in Christchurch, were able to join the wedding.
‘‘Even though we were only able to have 10 people, my dad was still able to be here to walk me down the aisle. For me that was pretty special,’’ Crawford said.
Austin’s parents were ‘‘a little bit sad not to be there, but were enthusiastically supporting us, and they were going to be very present as part of the Zoom call.’’
Austin’s father even gave a ‘‘virtual toast’’ over Zoom at the end of the ceremony.
But while there was a glass of bubbles for the guests, Austin and Crawford had cake alone.
They were planning a big party at some point down the line.
‘‘We may wind up doing that for our first wedding anniversary because we don’t know what’s happening with Covid,’’ said Crawford.
They saw the wedding and reception as quite distinct.
‘‘The wedding ceremony is for us, about us,’’ Crawford said.
‘‘This is the date that we chose, we want to take this step and do this thing. The reception is for everyone else.’’
Before the pandemic hit, she said, ‘‘we had talked about going to the registry office and getting married, but we recognised that for our parents it’s a big deal’’.
‘‘Our friends and family, they want to celebrate with us.’’
The couple had been lucky not to lose any money in cancelling the big bash, they said.
They had bought a number of
things, such as gazebos and booze, that could be held over until the eventual reception, and hire companies had returned their deposits.
One of Crawford’s few regrets was that the wedding dress her mother was making wasn’t ready in time for Saturday’s ceremony – with her locked down in Auckland and her mother in Rodney, Crawford was unable to have the necessary fittings. They would have formal photos in a month or so, and Crawford would wear her dress to the party.