Cones symbol of couple’s red-letter day
In true earthquake style, Gillian and Doug Mackinnon walked into their red zone reception through a procession of road cones.
The couple wed on Saturday, and held their reception at Gillian’s parents’ severely damaged Kaiapoi house.
Stepfather Robbie Robertson said the Courtenay Dr property, first damaged in the September 2010 quake, was ‘‘a little island’’ in the town’s red zone.
‘‘There are just two homes with inhabitants in this block,’’ he said. ‘‘We are living with an everwidening crack right across the kitchen floor. The house is 106 millimetres higher on one side than the other. It’s a bulldozer job.’’
However, the wonky ground did nothing to dampen spirits on the day.
The newlyweds had been crossing paths for 20 years, but only became a couple when they met at church less than six months ago.
‘‘I was the girl he was looking at 20 years ago and he was the man I was looking at,’’ Gillian Mackinnon said.
‘‘He took me to the Warehouse and told me to choose a ring. Then he got down on bended knee and asked me to marry him. People around us were cheering and whooping. It’s just been a dream.’’
Planning the wedding over the past few weeks had been hectic, Robertson said.
The Waimakariri District Council lent the couple the road cones, and friends had ‘‘worked their butts off to get everything organised.’’