Kissing 2019 goodbye
A year of happiness and heartbreak
PERFECT MATCH
Rakino Island provided a spectacular backdrop as All Black superstar Beauden Barrett, 28, said “I do” to his beautiful bride Hannah Laity, 25, in January in front of 180 guests. Beauden confessed he’d never been as nervous before a rugby game as he was for his nuptials, saying of the chartered accountant, “Han was the first girl I took home to my parents and I always said the first one I brought home would be the one I’d marry.y I was dead right.”
BOHEMIAN BRIDE
It was six years to the day after they met that
ShortlandStreet star Ben Barrington, 42, wed his “cool and sexy Westie” bride Kristie Fergus, 39, in March. Surrounded by a lush garden, decorated with flowers and toetoe, he teared up when his make-up artist bride walked down the aisle. “It was just like I imagined,” he said. “I knew I’d be absolutely overwhelmed and fall apart.”
SURPRISE DO
Their 100 guests expected an engagement party but TJ Perenara, 27, and singer Greer Samuel, 28, had different plans – a surprise wedding! Tying the knot in Porirua’s Gear Homestead after a nine-year romance, the rugby player gushed, “It’s been the perfect day. We couldn’t be any happier.”
MONACO’S JOY
Looking like a princess, Charlotte Casiraghi, 33, said “I do” to film producer Dimitri Rassam, 38, in a ceremony just outside of St Remy in Provence, the small town where she was raised by her mother.
POP ROYALTY
It was a fairytale affair for Ellie Goulding, 32, and art dealer Caspar Jopling, 27, who wed in September at Castle Howard in front of 300 guests, including Katy Perry and Princess Beatrice. .
‘I DO’ TIMES TWO!
Justin Bieber, 25, and Hailey Baldwin, 23, celebrated their first wedding anniversary by getting married again. Taking place in South Carolina, an insider said, “It was absolutely magical.”
ALOHA MR & MRS!
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wed longtime partner Lauren Hashian, 35, , in a romantic ceremony in Hawaii. The e highest paid actor in the world, 47, said id of his love, “I was so fortunate to have e fallen in love once. To fall in love again? n? I’m one lucky son of a b****.”
KISS FROM A ROSE
Zac Franich, 30, is a Bachelor no more! During the ceremony, bubbly TV presenter bride Erin Simpson, 37, laughingly asked him if he’d accept her rose, causing Zac to blush – but they were very serious when it came to saying “I do” at St Patrick’s Cathedral. “Now it’s ‘we’ instead of ‘me’,” Zac said. “We were already a team but this provides the glue.”
STAR POWER
In June, JurassicWorld actor Chris Pratt, 40, and Arnie’s daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger, 30, wed in California. The bride said it was the best day of her life, adding, “It was intimate, moving and emotional.”
GoT HITCHED!
After eloping in May, Hollywood golden couple Joe Jonas, 30, and Sophie Turner, 23, wed a second time in the South of France with one of their dogs dressed in his very own suit!
Other brides & grooms
Zoë Kravitz & Karl Glusman Heidi Klum & Tom Kaulitz Idris Elba & Sabrina Dhowre Jude Law & Phillipa Coan Jennifer Lawrence & Cooke
Maroney
HEIR HE IS!
Grinning from ear to ear and running on adrenaline after just two hours’ sleep, Prince Harry, 35, announced that on May 6, his wife the Duchess of Sussex had given birth to baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The next day, Meghan, 38, gushed that Archie “has the greatest temperament in the world”.
A STAR IS BORN
Adorable Frederick John – or Freddie – was born to
Westside stars Antonia Prebble, 35, and Dan Musgrove, 37, in July. After trying to induce labour, doctors decided that the actress needed a Caesarean. “He was lifted out and held up like a little Simba,” Dan recalled. “It was the most amazing moment. We were all crying.”
NEWS BOY!
Giving birth to her first child with partner Jay Blauuw was a rollercoaster for Three newsreader Sam Hayes, 35, but when wee Marlow River Blauuw finally arrived by Caesarean on September 19, Sam was immediately besotted. “I’ve never felt a happiness like it,” she told us.
DISH OF THE DAY!
Gordon Ramsay, 52, and his wife Tana, 44, welcomed their fifth child Oscar on April 4. While the TV chef hasn’t been present for the previous births, this time he was. “I was there and I absolutely s*** my pants,” he said. “I fainted. I literally dropped on the floor.”
BACHELOR BUB
On September 4, BachelorNZ sweethearts Matilda Rice, 29, and Art Green, 31, welcomed sweet Milo Kenneth Green into the world. After a long labour, they had their dream birth at home – despite an earlier power cut. “Taking in Milo’s perfect wee face for the first time was the most indescribable, life-changing experience,” gushed TheFeel
GoodGuide author.
PURE GOLD!
She’s made us guffaw with her off-the-wall TV series AnikaMoaUnleashed – and as if that’s not enough, songbird Anika Moa, 39, made us go weak at the knees when she he introduced us to her and wife Natasha Utting’s daughter Marigold Tui Grace Utting-Moa. Wee Marigold was born in February and inherited her mum’s famous dimples.
LI’L TRICKER!
Political editor Jessica Mutch McKay, 35, and her hipster bodyguard hubby Iain McKay were given a Halloween treat this year – daughter Margaux! The bub was born at 6.58pm, making her, “Just in time for a breaking news banner.”
PRAISE HIS NAME!
Kim Kardashian West, 39, and Kanye West, 42, grew their brood to four with the arrival of son Psalm on May 9. Born via surrogate, Kim announced, “He’s perfect.” She later shared that her boy was almost called Ye, Kanye’s nickname.
Others who popped!
Ricky Martin & Jwan Yosef: son Renn, in October. Amy Schumer & Chris Fischer: son Gene, in May. Jessica Simpson & Eric Johnson: daughter Birdie, in March.
Robin Thicke & April Love Geary: daughter Lola, in February.
Richard Gere and Alejandra Silva: son Alexander, in February.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds: a daughter. Keira Knightley and James Righton, daughter
Delilah, in September.
Life-changing events
CHRISTCHURCH MOSQUE ATTACKS March 15 will forever be etched in our memories as the day the unthinkable happened in Aotearoa – when a peaceful afternoon of prayer at two Christchurch mosques turned into one of the darkest events in our history. Fifty-one people died after a gunman opened fire on hundreds of men, women and children. Said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of those who fell, “They are us. The person who has perpetuated this violence against us is not. There is no place in New Zealand for such acts of extreme and unprecedented violence.”
WHAKAARI/ WHITE ISLAND TRAGEDY New Zealand faced another of its darkest days in history on December 9 when Whakaari/ White Island erupted with 47 people – mostly tourists – on it at the time. While there were stories of incredible heroism, more than a dozen lost their lives in the explosion.
GRETA THUNBERG
At the beginning of 2019, few people had heard of Swedish teen Greta Thunberg. By December, the 16-year-old was a household name, famously chiding world leaders at the United Nations, “How dare you!” in relation to their lack of urgency to combat climate change.