A Wedding in Kaikoura

Well the day had finally arrived. The reason we were in Kaikoura was for the wedding of my niece Rachel to her best friend of ten years Ken. They had met at university in Christchurch and often spent time in Kaikoura. As the lady at the bank told me many young people come and fall in love with Kaikoura
so have their wedding here.

The day didn't dawn very bright but as with all weddings nothing is going to stop it.
It was held in the grounds of the Dover Cottage on the clifftop garden overlooking the Kaikoura bay.

The Minister, Rev Margaret Schrader, a long time family friend, shared happily with my father, the grandfather of the bride, while we waited for the bride to arrive.

The groom, Ken, and his men also waited trying to be relaxed and not seem nervous.

Finally the bride, her father Peter and the bridesmaids arrived.

Rebekah, Rachel's sister, had come from Sweden to be one of the bridesmaids. A special something in itself as she doesn't get home to New Zealand very often.

And finally the bride and her father walked down the aisle to met her husband to be.

It was a special service where the bride and groom had both written their own vows.

The driftwood arch was made by the grooms family on the day.

Rings were exchanged and then ...

They were husband and wife.

The Unity Sand Ceremony

I had not seen this before but it is wonderful to watch.

After the exchange of rings, the officiant explains the meaning of the Unity Ceremony.

The sand is used to symbolize the uniting of the bride and groom. Their separate lives are symbolized by two vials of different coloured sand.  The Bride and Groom then come together, and pour into one vial, the two individual vials of sand. Their flowing together symbolizes the joining of the couple as they share their first experience of unity as husband and wife. The newly formed union is represented by the intertwined pattern of sand created by the couple. This symbol is then a keepsake of their wedding day.

Rachel had a jar of black sand from the beaches of New Plymouth and Ken had a vase of golden/white sand from the beaches at Gisborne. 


They took it in turns to pour a little of the sand from their own vase into the larger vase in the middle of the table.

As we watched we saw a pattern emerging as the layers grew.

The central vase will remain a cherished keepsake of their wedding day with its unique sand design.

All that was needed then, was the signing of the register and it was official.

And then finially the clouds lifted and the sun shone through.

The bridesmaids in blue

Close-up of the gown

Father and mother of the bride

XY Ford Falcon Stationwagon (the grooms)

The reception was held at the Kaikoura racecourse and the couple had spent months dreaming of what they wanted and then getting everything together to make a truly special beach themed room for us all.












The colours including the cake were all in the blue of the bridesmaids dresses, the white of the bride and the brown of the grooms suit.

For the wedding favour we each were given a wine glass to take home with their names, the date and place of their wedding.