British couple say 'I do' on Māori waka
04 Mar 2010
Newly-weds Gaynor Halpin and Barry Grounds went to extraordinary lengths to make their wedding day something special - they flew 19,000km (12,000 miles) to say "I do" in a traditional Māori waka (canoe).
Along with the marriage, history was in the making as a group of Māori warriors paddled the pair out onto a Christchurch river on 18 February for New Zealand's - and possibly the world's - first waka wedding.
With rain gently falling from above - usually seen as evidence of a Māori blessing - Gaynor (32) and Barry (38) from Whitstable, Kent, were married by a wedding celebrant while their guests watched from the river bank.
And, as the long carved canoe slipped through the water, their wedding planner and photographer Donna Dohi waded knee-deep into the water to capture the unique ceremony.
Traditional Māori welcome
The slow flowing Styx River, which winds its way through a conservation area on the outskirts of Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island, was the location for the unusual wedding.
As the bride and groom arrived at the park, seven Māori warriors greeted them with a traditional welcome powhiri and haka challenge on the riverbank before they were guided onto the waiting waka.
After the ceremony, and a glass of bubbly to celebrate, the warriors demonstrated their paddling skills - powering through the water while their chants and the bride's laughter echoed across the water.
That was "a really special moment" for Donna Dohi, who had spent eight months organising the event.
Wedding experience
The New Zealand wedding completed an international hat trick for the newlyweds who met in England seven-and-half years ago, and got engaged in the French Alps four years ago.
Back in the UK after a two-week holiday in New Zealand, Barry Grounds said they'd chosen their Māori wedding experience because they wanted something different.
Before their wedding, neither of the couple had had any contact with the Māori culture.
"We chose New Zealand as our wedding location as I fell in love with the country when I visited in 2003," Grounds said. "As for the waka wedding that just appealed to us when we were looking for ideas as it was something very unusual."
"Our wedding day was amazing and we were so pleased we decided on the whole waka / Māori ceremony."
Along with seven friends and Gaynor's son, the couple spent 14 days touring New Zealand's South Island in campervans, sight-seeing and kayaking several white-water rivers.
NZ dream weddings
The wedding ceremony and waka were arranged by New Zealand Dream Weddings, and Katoro Waka Heritage Journeys. Both companies are owned and operated by Christchurch Māori families.
Waka owner Jimi Brennan said it was the first ever waka wedding in Christchurch and possibly a first for the world.
Often couples would travel by waka to their wedding venue but would disembark to have their ceremony on dry ground, Brennan said.
Wedding planner Donna Dohi, whose clients come from all over the world to be married in New Zealand, said she was "over the moon" about how the wedding had turned out.
Dohi said she was keen to offer more weddings based around the Māori culture, and already had another one organised for a little red and white carved Māori church that belonged to her whanau (family).
More information:
New Zealand's season of romance
Christchurch - Canterbury region
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
