THE POWER’S OUT!
The bride almost missed her big day
As Patricia Hughes walked down the aisle to marry her groom at Hamilton’s water-logged Woodside Estate, the blushing bride looked around at her rows of guests standing damp-footed in the lawn, clutching umbrellas.
Ahead, her six beloved bridesmaids were also sheltering their freshly pinned curls under transparent brollies.
It wasn’t what Patricia, 31, had imagined for her dream summer wedding, held beside a small, private Waikato lake. But it was simply a relief that the facilities manager was there at all to pledge “I do” to her groom, Welsh----
born plumber Liam, 29. Her mud-stained veil is a reminder of that day’s dramatic wind storm, which saw the Aucklander almost miss her nuptials.
Like more than 2000 homes in the North Island, Patricia’s accommodation lost electricity that morning.
She remembers, “My bridesmaids had just finished with their hair and make-up, then it was my turn when, all of a sudden, the power went out! My mum and sister were staying 10 minutes up the road, so my hairdresser threw me in her car and quickly drove me there, over fallen tree branches and past fire trucks. All I wanted was to get there.”
Patricia eventually arrived at the beautiful,
bush-clad venue almost an hour after the ceremony was scheduled to begin. She and Liam, who met four years earlier, were able to become husband and wife following the groom’s romantic proposal in New York’s Central Park in 2016.
With many of their guests visiting from the UK, Patricia tells, “Liam’s family joked about bringing the bad weather over with them for the wedding.
“I was disappointed we didn’t get to have group photos because of the rain and that the guests didn’t get to use the outdoor games we’d purchased, but it was still an amazing day. We just had to adapt to the weather and have our moment.”