Recollections their relationship got off to a rocky start, but when annabel langbein married ted hewetson, the day certainly made up for it

Ted and I met as teenagers – I was a wild possum trapper and Ted [Hewetson] was a farmer. When I first spotted him I was poaching on his farm in Gisborne – I thought I was on a reserve. I heard a horse approaching and its rider sounded cross, yelling out about ‘bloody possum trappers’. I scarpered up a big puriri tree and hid. The horse and its owner came closer, finally stopping right under my tree. I was too scared to move but I peeped down to see who it was, and nearly fell off my perch – this guy was so good looking! He didn’t see me, so after he left I carried on my way. A few months later I moved into a flat in Gisborne. One day this tall, skinny dude turned up and in a flash I recognised him. It transpired Ted was my flatmate’s brother. It was love at first sight, but did take me a couple of years to confess that I had been the possum trapper.

We were engaged in Buenos Aires in 1987. Ted proposed very romantically at lunch one day. I actually declined, saying, ‘Why would we want to get married? Isn’t it fine like this?’ But he was persistent and got down on one knee twice more that day. The third time I agreed – by then it was about 10pm! The next day he bought an amazing emerald engagement ring.

We had been engaged for four years when I got pregnant, and Ted was adamant we should get married before the baby arrived. We decided we wanted a small wedding; there were 23 of us, which was perfect! We married on June 30, 1991 and had our ceremony at Wellington’s Old St Paul’s.

I had bought about 1.5 metres of handmade Spanish cream lace when I was younger, thinking it might be nice for a wedding gown one day, but my increasing size meant the dress I’d planned had to become a jacket! I also had a satin skirt, cream shoes and huge earrings. Ted had some beautiful suits made in Buenos Aires, including a dinner suit, which he wore.

The worst hitch of the day was that I’d failed to organise a hairdresser. I wanted my hair in loose curls tucked onto my head. On the wedding morning I found myself at my mum’s salon, getting the most awful hair of the century. I came home in tears and stood in the shower for half an hour trying to get it to drop out of its huge bouffy state. I wasn’t very successful, as you can see from the photos.

Our photographer was a friend of a friend, and my dad, who was a keen gardener, organised the flowers. He bought about 300 meconopsis orchids at the market and I’ll never forget him coming home with his whole car full of these beautiful blooms.

Arriving at the church was memorable. The route there was closed due to roadworks, so I got there 40 minutes late, feeling really stressed. I came through the doors of the cathedral to the Bridal Chorus and there didn’t seem to be anyone there. I started to walk down the aisle, then heard laughter coming from the front – our guests had been playing charades in the choir pews!

I cried when I walked up the aisle on my dad’s arm. I felt so lucky to be starting this new chapter with the most wonderful partner in the world.

We held our reception at our family home in Karori. My parents had a beautiful garden, but the weather was horrid so we stayed inside and converted the entire house into a series of rooms to eat and party in. Ted had also booked the top floor suite at a Wellington waterfront hotel and we had a fabulous party there with our friends after the reception.

We’d definitely get a ‘ fail’ for our honeymoon, which was a night in a very unattractive low-ceilinged motel, on the way back to Auckland. We’ve since made up for it with some wonderfully romantic holidays.

If I could have our wedding day again, I’d slow it all down – it happened so fast!

For those set to walk down the aisle, remember kindness and integrity are qualities that can’t be manufactured. If the person you are marrying is someone who shares the same values, who you respect and love, and who you won’t grow out of, you have a fighting chance. Be kind to each other, enjoy little moments and laugh a lot.