A wedding even Gita couldn’t ruin
Lucy Kenny and James Nissen could be forgiven for getting emotional at their wedding in Golden Bay yesterday – after all, it’s been a long, hard road to get to the celebration
First of all daughter Isla, now nearly 8 months, was born with the serious heart problem, pulmonary artersia. And then, on Wednesday, the Christchurch couple woke up to the news that ex-cyclone Gita had shut down Takaka Hill stranding 70 of their guests – including members of the bridal party, the celebrant and all the alcohol for the big day – on the wrong side of the slips.
‘‘We’ve had 12 months of mayhem with little baby Isla who has had two major heart operations,’’ James said. ‘‘And it keeps on coming.’’
But the plucky couple wouldn’t let stress and weather ruin their big day, so they went into full planning mode to ensure the wedding could go ahead.
There were some ‘‘pretty heavy discussions’’ and James said it was only on Wednesday they decided it was all systems go.
Coordination was carried out via hours on the phone and social media, and by Thursday evening most of the major details had been sorted: the alcohol was purchased in Golden Bay, celebrant Terri Everett from Motueka was shipped in via the boat to Totaranui, and the flowers from their Riwaka florist Suzette Bonar of Event Design hitched a ride with Everett.
Guests found their way around the Takaka Hill closure by arriving by sea and air with James’s mother even finding a way to bring two carloads of home-made baking with her on a barge.
Lucy and James say the lastminute organisations have been hugely stressful, ‘‘but not as stressful as Isla’s heart operations’’.
Little Isla has already had two major operations in her short life, one at three days old and open heart surgery at five months.
The couple got engaged two years ago and chose Golden Bay’s Tata Beach as the perfect spot for their wedding vows because Lucy’s family has been going there for 30 years.
‘‘We just love the place. We’ve come up here every February for a summer holiday.’’
Ahead of yesterday’s celebrations, the couple said they were simply in awe of the help they’d received to make their dream wedding come true and even had time to reflect on the perfect ending to their madcap year.
‘‘We’ve had amazing support from family and friends,’’ Lucy said. ‘‘I think only four people aren’t coming which is pretty incredible.’’
‘‘What will be, will be,’’ James said. ‘‘I kind of think with what we’ve been through we can do anything.’’