ALL BLACK SAM’S WANAKA WEDDING
It wasn’t the bride with butterflies
Some things are just meant to be,” says All Black legend Sam Cane, looking down at his shiny new wedding ring as he embraces his beautiful new wife Harriet.
Standing quite literally on top of the world on Roy’s Peak, with glorious Lake Wanaka sparkling below and the still snowcapped mountains rising magnificently in the distance, the new Mr and Mrs Cane are taking a few quiet moments together as husband and wife after their breathtakingly beautiful wedding – and the delightfully down-to-earth duo still can’t quite believe they’re married.
“It’s already been an amazing day,” smiles Harriet. “Today is all about us – our
marriage, our relationship.”
Adds Sam, “Harriet just looks so beautiful. Watching her walk down that aisle … I was blown away.”
And “blown away” might just be the perfect choice of words for the pair’s gorgeous lakeside ceremony, which has been meticulously planned for months, but is being threatened by bad weather.
However, Sam is adamant nothing will put a dampener on their special day, which comes four years after the pair first met, as their celebrant Liz Maluschnig tells where all great love stories start – a bar in Hamilton.
Since then, the Chiefs captain and the kindergarten teacher have been through it all – graduations, World Cups, adopting their fur baby Willow, overseas adventures and Sam’s struggles with injury, including the terrifying broken neck he suffered at the end of 2018.
But today is all about celebrating the couple’s unique love, one that’s anchored in humour, heart – and heaps of competitiveness!
It’s 2.30pm on their wedding day and an anxious Sam, 27, is keen to get things moving. However, as Woman’s Day catches up with him just half an hour before he and Harriet, 23, are due to tie the knot, he’s glancing nervously out Rippon’s reception room window. Rain is pelting down into an already overflowing lake, with more dark clouds swirling ominously above the mountains, and a fierce wind is whipping through the trees.
“Hopefully it clears up a bit!” he says, taking a sip of champagne as he looks towards the stormy lake.
But just as the decision is about to be made to shift the stunning set-up inside, and with minutes until Harriet’s arrival with her bridesmaids, Brianna Stewart, Sarah Allen and Alex Bell, the rain finally stops, and a relieved Sam ushers the 100 gathered friends and family down to the cliff edge to await his beautiful bride.
“Like I say, some things are meant to be!” he says with a laugh, gesturing up to the now beaming sun.
But his relief is short-lived. As he waits with groomsmen Josh Curry, Shane Cleaver and Brad Kendall, all decked out in dapper Working Style suits, the jitters begin to set in.
“I was so nervous nervous, I had butterflies – nothing like a rugby game,” he admits. “I wasn’t expecting that!”
High on the hill above, Harriet – an absolute vision in a custom sweetheart neck, silk and tulle Pallas Couture ivory gown, complete with cathedral-length veil – is also starting to feel the nerves.
“I almost held it together until I got to the top of the aisle and I saw Sam standing there – I was so chill before,” the bride exclaims. “But that’s definitely when they kicked in.”
Traditionally a few minutes late, Florence + the Machine’s hit tune “You’ve Got the Love” begins, and Harriet’s bridesmaids carefully make their way down the hill.
As the song morphs into Odesza’s remix of Hayden James’ “Something about You”, the bride, on the arm of her dad Andrew, walks towards her handsome groom.
Sam is furiously blinking back tears as Harriet gets closer – not that it’s fooling his All Black teammates Angus Ta’avao and Anton Lienert-Brown. “Yup, there he goes,” they laugh.
“I almost let a few tears out!” Sam confesses later with a laugh. “I don’t even have words to say how gorgeous Hattie looked.”
Finally, Harriet reaches Sam, and after welcoming their guests, Liz turns to the soon-to-be husband and wife.
“This is the day that memories are made of,” she says, before inviting the pair to light a candle in memory of loved ones who are no longer here.
Sam’s sisters Sjaan and Lia then begin their reading, which they helpfully customised to suit their brother and his new wife.
“In love, the little things are the big things,” begins Sjaan. ”It’s spotting Harriet’s face in a sea of people at a rugby game.
“Love is following through on bets – like wearing high heels with activewear to the supermarket – and making up after the tension that board games bring. It’s unconditional love that gathers in the whole family.”
Adds Lia, “It is establishing a relationship where the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and obligation is reciprocal.
It’s a home filled with love, laughter, good food and your precious Willow bear. It’s not only marrying your right partner – it’s a commitment to being the right partner.
“Harriet, welcome to a lifetime of saying Cane with a C – we love you both.”
Finally, it’s time for the deeply personal – and funny – vows, which the pair wrote themselves. “It was important for us to do that,” tells Harriet. “I mean, I’m not great with words, and I was pretty chuffed that I got a few words to rhyme!”
Nodding, Sam adds, “Yeah, we spent a bit of time getting it right.”
Begins Harriet, “Sam, we seem to agree on many things in life – such as our dislike of cats, but our obsession with dogs and, of course, my forever favourite peanut butter smoothie. But most of all, once I realised that you’d hold my hand even when it’s sweaty, I knew then and there you were very much the one for me.
“I love how you throw your head back when you’re in fits laughing, and that when you concentrate you breathe so
loud that everyone around you can hear you, except you. But most of all, I love the way you look at me every time you walk in the door.
“I promise to at least try to put my stubbornness to one side and admit you were right about something, even though I find it hard to say. I promise to be true to you, have fun with you, challenge you and constantly frustrate you.
“I can’t promise you that I’ll be perfect or that life will be easy, but I promise you my love for you will never fade.”
Then Sam promises Harriet, his best friend, to be a loving and caring husband, who’ll “let Willow snuggle with me so you can get the best night’s sleep, and make the best coffee I can”.
“You mean the world to me,” he says. “You look so incredibly beautiful and you always do, but today I’m absolutely blown away. I can’t believe I’m about to lock you down for good.
“The first time I met you, it was your gorgeous smile and laugh I fell in love with – quickly followed by those long brown legs! As I got to know you more, it was your sense of humour and funloving attitude.
“I love how thoughtful and caring you are, and how you continuously challenge me and my thinking. I love how incredibly strong and brave you are without even knowing it.
“And when it comes to board games, I promise to let you win more than you lose!”
With the vows completed and the rings from Culet exchanged – a platinum band with diamonds for Harriet, and silver and rose gold for Sam – the pair are finally pronounced husband and wife to a huge cheer from loved ones.
But now, with the formalities of the day over and the sun setting over the glorious lake and mountains, the newlyweds are making sure they take time to celebrate their love on their special day before returning to their sumptuous reception at Rippon.
Explains Sam, “Tomorrow is about everyone else – we’re having a big barbecue – but we really wanted to take a few moments for just us two.
“Marriage won’t change a lot for us, really, but we wanted to celebrate our love and commitment to each other. We’re so happy to be married – what a feeling!”
‘ Most of all, I love the way you look at me every time you walk in the door’