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Home / Entertainment

Kiwi meet-cutes: How these star newlyweds first met

NZ Herald
14 Mar, 2019 09:40 PM6 mins to read

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We look back at how these Kiwi newlyweds first met. Photos / Instagram

We look back at how these Kiwi newlyweds first met. Photos / Instagram

As we near the end of another summer of Kiwi celebrity weddings, we look back and discover how all of these love stories began.

Ben Barrington and Kristie Fergus

Shortland Street star Ben Barrington married his long-time love Kristie Fergus this month – six years to the day since the couple first met.

And, as it transpires, they met in the most Kiwi way possible – drunk in a bar.

"In the tradition of Kiwi matchmaking, you get hammered and hope," Barrington joked to Woman's Day magazine about the night he met his future wife.

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The couple has previously said their connection was instant from the moment they locked eyes on each other.

View this post on Instagram

That day when all my dreams came true. Thank you for marrying me @benjbarrington Our amazing 📷's by @timkellynadineellen

A post shared by k r i s t i e 🍂 f e r g u s (@kferg_12) on Mar 9, 2019 at 4:31pm PST

TJ and Greer Perenara

All Black TJ Perenara and his fiancee Greer Samuel pulled off quite the surprise in January when they told guests at their "engagement party" that they were all actually about to attend a wedding instead.

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Perenara and Samuel exchanged vows in a ceremony at Porirua's Gear Homestead nine years after they met at a Halloween party.

On that fateful night, Perenara had been driving around with friends before spotting another mate outside a house party. Perenara was told to head inside for the Halloween celebrations, where he found Samuel - dressed as a bride.

She must have made quite the impression. Perenara later told Woman's Day that as he left the party that evening, he turned to his friend and said: "I'm going to marry that girl one day."

View this post on Instagram

Love Yourz ❤️

A post shared by Tj Perenara (@tj_perenara) on Mar 1, 2019 at 7:29pm PST

Beauden and Hannah Barrett

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Perenara's All Blacks teammate Beauden Barrett also got hitched in January, marrying long-time girlfriend, accountant Hannah Laity, in a ceremony on Auckland's Rakino Island.

The couple had met five years earlier on a date set up by a mutual friend.

Barrett later said it was initially awkward, because Laity's friends happened to be sitting outside the Wellington bar they were meeting at, but by the end of the evening, the duo were already well on their way to becoming the 'Beaudannah' we know and love today.

View this post on Instagram

I’ve been lucky to have had some amazing experiences and moments in my life but this day tops everything. So proud to call you my wife @hannahlaity 😍💍

A post shared by Beauden Barrett (@beaudenbarrett) on Jan 27, 2019 at 12:00am PST

Art Green and Matilda Rice

If you don't know how Art Green and Matilda Rice met, then where have you been?

The couple famously met during the first season of The Bachelor NZ, where Rice saw off 20 other bachelorettes to win Art's heart.

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"It's always been you," Green told Rice during the show's finale.

Four years after their reality TV romance began, the couple walked down the aisle in a beachside ceremony on Auckland's Waiheke Island. And they had a little surprise for their guests, too, informing them that Rice already had a baby on board!

View this post on Instagram

15•02•19 ❤️ Surrounded by everyone we love, we became The Greens! And so special to have our first baby be a part of it in my tummy 👶🏼💍 Thank you @danellebohane for capturing our day so beautifully, I can’t WAIT to share all the incredible photos! Dress: @trishpeng Flowers: @thelittleflowershop822 #13weekspregnant #aweekmarriedandnotsickofmeyet

A post shared by Matilda Green (@matootles) on Feb 23, 2019 at 11:53am PST

Beulah Koale and Georgia Otene

Kiwi actor and Hawaii Five-0 star Beulah Koale met his wife Georgia Otene at Auckland's Round the Bays event in 2013 – but had it not been for some social media detective work on Otene's part, the couple may not have wound up together.

With the couple too shy to talk to each other at that first meeting, Otene went and tracked Koale down using Facebook.

Six years and twin sons later, the Hawaii-based couple returned to New Zealand in January to walk down the aisle at Kauri Bay Boomrock.

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View this post on Instagram

❤️

A post shared by Beulah Koale (@beulahkoale) on Feb 14, 2019 at 3:01pm PST

Melissa Davies and Caspar Green

Newshub presenter Melissa Davies married her sweetheart, Caspar Green, this year after meeting him at a pub quiz in London four years ago.

Davies met Green towards the end of her stint as Three's Europe correspondent, so the pair did a couple of years of a long-distance relationship before both winding up in Auckland.

Their pub quiz meet cute played a big part in their Waiheke Island wedding, with tables set up with pub quiz names – and a surprise pub quiz for their guests!

View this post on Instagram

The aisle: I was so excited walking up it, I forgot to walk slowly.. and so excited afterwards, I danced my way back. Magical day with @caspargreenuk Captured beautifully by @libbyrobinsonphoto —- + ❤️ to @anna.schimmel @agnes_hart @workingstylenz @nzhairmakeup @tdaltonstylist @kaygregory4 @waihekeflowercompany @rachelsimpsonshoes @mudbrick_nz #popthequiztion

A post shared by Melissa Chan-Green (Davies) (@melchangreen) on Mar 2, 2019 at 12:05am PST

Ardie and Saskia Savea

Also getting married over the summer were All Black Ardie Savea and his childhood sweetheart, Saskia Hartmann-Hechenberger.

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The pair tied the knot in Fiji in December after nearly a decade together, having first met when they were both still in high school.

Ardie says he saw Saskia at Reading Cinemas in Wellington's Courtenay Place – and then enlisted his cousin to ask for her number.

The teenagers eventually began a relationship that saw them support each other through a stellar rugby career (Ardie) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Saskia).

The couple referenced their relationship's beginnings through their choice of song as Saskia walked down the aisle at their wedding.

They chose the Ed Sheeran song, Perfect, which features the line, "We were just kids when we fell in love."

Perfect, indeed.

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View this post on Instagram

Mr & Mrs Savea • 20.12.18 ❤️

A post shared by Ardie Savea (@ardiesavea) on Jan 6, 2019 at 11:53am PST

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