Strangers tie the knot in radio promotion

By MATTHEW TORBIT

Reality radio hit New Zealand as two complete strangers married in a radio station promotion in Auckland yesterday.

Steve Veix, from Timaru, married Kersha Taylor, from Christchurch, after The Edge radio station matched the pair in a competition.

The couple met for the first time at the altar at Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland yesterday morning.

After the wedding Ms Taylor, a 26-year-old IT specialist, said, "I feel totally happy because he has met all of my expectations ... and Steve's just a lovely, lovely guy."

Ms Taylor, admitted her new husband was "a bit of a spunk" and would have chatted him up if she saw him in a bar.

"Everything has worked out pretty well. We had so many people worried if we would be attracted to each other, but we definitely are," Ms Taylor said.

Mr Veix, a 27 year-old Government employee, said there was an immediate attraction between the pair.

He admitted standing at the altar waiting to see his wife-to-be for the first time was the most nerve-racking experience of his life.

"It's been a huge day."

In the competition, called "Two Strangers and a Wedding", the radio station's audience voted Mr Veix to be the groom from a pool of around 100 prospective husbands.

"We then went to the girls and asked, 'Right, who wants to be Steve's bride?"' said The Edge marketing manager Darryl Paton.

"We had about 250 girls apply, which we cut down to 10 finalists."

The groom's family and friends interviewed the finalists and elected their candidate to marry the groom.



Ms Taylor said she spent three days agonising whether to enter the on-air competition.

"I had a sleepless night about it and then I thought, 'I've just got to do it'."

The couple leave for their nine-day honeymoon in Port Douglas, Queensland, today.

Four years ago Zane Nicholl and Paula Stockwell, who attended yesterday's wedding, tied the knot in a similar promotion on The Edge.

After four years the couple are happily married with a son and are expecting another baby next year. "Everything is going along tickety-boo," said Mr Nicholl.

He said that after four years of marriage he could not imagine himself to be any happier than he is now.

"Seeing someone go through it again and willing to make it go makes Paula and I really happy.

"It was definitely different being on the other side and seeing their reactions.

"Everyone got the warm fuzzies and it was a nice moment to see them together."

The Edge publicist Vanessa Hughes was unsure of the couple's living arrangements once they return from their honeymoon.

The promotion had not been successful anywhere else in the world. "I believe it's been tried in Australia and Britain and it's disintegrated at the altar."