Dame Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford will finally wake up this morning as husband and wife – after marrying in front of friends and loved ones in Hawke’s Bay yesterday.
The former Prime Minister and her TV host partner of almost 10 years will begin married life at the exclusive Craggy Range winery on the outskirts of Havelock North where they exchanged vows before a reception full of laughter, cheering and dancing.
The wedding was originally set to take place in 2022 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The couple and guests partied the night away with those closest to them in a large marquee that was erected on Wednesday on the plush lawns.
Ardern gave a five-minute wedding speech, including nods to friends, close colleagues and family, some of whom had twice travelled great distances to be there for it.
She gave a special shoutout to Craggy Range and head chef Casey MacDonald, who was just about to serve up the main course, before spending roughly a minute talking about her “best friend” and now husband.
Earlier, the wedding was officiated by the couple’s friend and former Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson.
The happy couple’s five-year-old daughter Neve walked up the aisle with her father, wearing a floral wreath in her hair made by Field of Roses and a white dress made of fabric from her grandmother Laurell Ardern’s wedding dress.
Fashion designer Juliette Hogan, who made Ardern’s dress, and her husband were guests. Official images released by the couple yesterday evening showed a smiling Ardern in the ivory sleeveless, cowl neck halter gown featuring a high neckline, cinched waist and low back.
The former PM also wore a long tulle veil, which was clipped into a chignon up-do, created by hairdresser Tane Tomoana who has previously worked on looks for Ardern.
Her shoes were by Mount Maunganui designer Chaos and Harmony and the couple’s wedding rings were designed by New Zealand jewellery designer Zoe and Morgan.
Gayford wore a black Zambesi suit and white shirt, paired with a black tie and a corsage that matched the bridal bouquet on his lapel.
Tomoana revealed on social media that guests dined on paua and snapper sausage rolls after the ceremony.
Two buses – including one featuring Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and partner Toni Grace, former speaker of the House and ex-veteran MP Sir Trevor Mallard and Megan Woods – took some guests to the wedding.
Musicians Marlon Williams, Hollie Smith - Gayford’s ex-partner - and MC Tali were also spotted among guests.
Other political guests included ex-Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis, former MP Dame Annette King and fellow former MP Darren Hughes. Ardern’s former press secretary Andrew Campbell also attended.
Celebrity chef Peter Gordon, along with his partner Alastair Carruthers, arrived by taxi.
Throughout the ceremony – which began around 4pm – cheering could be heard from the roadside outside Craggy Range as Ardern made her way up the aisle.
But they were interrupted by the noise of a small helicopter hired by a member of the Australian paparazzi.
As the helicopter flew over the venue – staying in the air for 59 minutes – Ardern’s bridal party stopped and took shelter under large sun umbrellas.
They only emerged after the helicopter flew away.
After the ceremony, Neve was seen playing with a young boy in a tuxedo and entertaining other guests.
From about 9am, several anti-vax protestors also set up a small protest camp on the boundary of Craggy Range.
Members of the group berated members of the media and played a series of abusive rap songs with X-rated lyrics about Ardern, her former Government, the Covid-19 mandates and lockdowns, and the media.
Police arrived at Craggy Range after they had placed more than 30 large billboards on the stone walls at the front of the vineyard featuring photos and case studies of people who allegedly suffered health impacts due to Covid-19 boosters.
The protesters received a mixed reaction from motorists driving past, with one man slowing down near them and yelling “Get a life, you pack of losers”.
Their antics were the least of Gayford’s concerns in the hours leading up to the ceremony.
The Herald spotted him in the early afternoon casually walking around Craggy Range before he got into his wedding No 1s.
Wearing a hat, sunglasses, shirt and denim shorts, Gayford – who was carrying two bags – looked as relaxed as you could possibly be on your big day.
Tomoana also looked relaxed as he arrived at the venue mid-morning, ahead of styling Ardern’s hair on her wedding day.
Last-minute deliveries started arriving at the venue shortly after 9am.
They included additional security cars from a private company, a generator, and the delivery of non-alcoholic drinks.
A wedding photographer from Felicity Jean Photography entered the venue shortly after 1pm.
Music gear accompanying two musicians, including a bin with the name of Kiwi chart-topping band Fat Freddy’s Drop written on the side of it, arrived after around noon.
And flowers from Field of Roses, a small flower and floral design studio in the Waingake Valley outside Gisborne, were also dropped off.
Ardern and Gayford, 47, began dating in 2014, the year after Gayford, a keen fisherman and host of Fish of the Day and Moving Houses, contacted the then-Labour list MP in 2013 to discuss concerns over legislation going through Parliament.
Ardern, 43, had an internationally respected political career before resigning as Prime Minister early last year.
She gave birth to Neve, while Prime Minister in 2018.
The venue where they wed yesterday was one of several scoped out by wedding planners and security since mid-2023.
The Herald reported yesterday how in the weeks leading up to the event some owners of properties near Craggy Range had been spoken to by security staff about looking out for undesirables in the lead-up to, and on, the couple’s big day.
Security was tight on the day, with numerous security guards stationed around the grounds of Craggy Range.
Uniformed police were also on the scene.
And multiple marked and mufti police cars made circuits on the roads around the rural Hawke’s Bay vineyard during the day.
Once the ceremony was over, guests later convened in the large white marquee which could be seen from the roadside.
There they were served the top-notch food and wine the vineyard is known for.
The vineyard’s restaurant has consistently earned two hats in the Cuisine Good Food Awards.
Its current summer menu features eight offerings, including venison tartare, roasted Hohepa halloumi, pan-fried local fish and glazed lamb shoulder. Wine to match is a further $85.
In the lead-up to their wedding, Ardern and Gayford holidayed at a family bach in Tairua, on the Coromandel peninsula, before travelling to Gisborne, where Ardern was seen last weekend.
The former Prime Minister then arrived in Hawke’s Bay.
On Wednesday, she was spotted with a group of about 12 other women at Hastings Distillers, a boutique bar that offers tastings of its award-winning gins and liqueurs.
The group was seen by an NZME source seated near the back of the venue behind long, navy-blue velvet curtains.
It’s understood they then dined at a Hastings restaurant.
Yesterday’s wedding was a case of second-time lucky for Ardern and Gayford.
After getting engaged in 2019, the pair were meant to get married in January 2022 at the exclusive farm homestead at Nick’s Head Station, 25km south of Gisborne.
Grammy Award-winning singer Lorde was understood to have been lined up to entertain the guests at the very private ceremony at the luxury rural real estate owned by American hedge fund billionaire John Griffin.
British pop star Ed Sheeran has also previously expressed an interest in performing at Ardern’s wedding, but he is currently preparing for a gig in the Middle East on Monday.
The forecast for today in Hawke’s Bay is a perfect one for the newly married couple to enjoy the outdoors at their stunning wedding base, with a high of 33C.
Craggy Range is block-booked on Sunday – the Herald understands by the wedding party – so they are likely to be toasting their first full day of marriage with numerous glasses of award-winning wine and food.
David Seymour, Emma Higgins, Andrew Hoggard, Grant McCallum, Phil Duncan, Cheyne Gillooly.