The stunning wedding dresses Kiwi celebrities wore on their big day
- Publish Date
- Wednesday, 4 October 2017, 9:30AM
Chelsea Winter, Nicola Robinson Evans and Nadine Higgins. Photos / Facebook, Instagram
As any bride will tell you, finding the perfect wedding dress for their Big Day can be the most stressful of situations.
While there might be a lot of thought put into the outfits of the rest of the bridal party, we all know the most anticipated moment of any wedding (besides the prospect of the open bar) is always – always - "What is/are the bride/s wearing?"
Now imagine, if you will, what the pressure must be like to find that perfect wedding dress when you just so happen to be a bit famous and will likely have your wedding – and your dress – splashed across a magazine for the nation to pore over and critique. That was the exact situation that faced many of these Kiwi celebrity brides.
So with yet another wedding season just around the corner and our inaugural batch of Married at First Sight brides walking down the aisle on our TV sets this week, we check out what the following Kiwi stars opted to wear while getting hitched.
Nadine Higgins
Former Breakfast presenter Nadine Higgins looked positively radiant on her wedding day, dressed in a custom-made ivory gown from designer Jane Yeh.
The broadcaster paired the dress with a traditional, full-length veil which fluttered ever so perfectly in the sea breeze as she walked down the aisle to exchange vows with longtime love, Dan Higgins.
Gemma McCaw
Anticipation was at a fever-pitch around the country when hockey star Gemma Flynn wed former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in Wanaka earlier this year.
And while Richie looked very dapper in his Ermenegildo Zegna suit, all eyes were on his bride.
Gemma had featured in the TV series Say Yes To The Dress as part of her wedding outfit search, however she eventually chose a custom silk gown and hand-beaded veil by Anna Schimmel. She completed the look with Valentino heels and Sutcliffe Jewellery earrings.
The bride told Woman's Day that she absolutely loved her dress.
"I never had the fairytale type of vision in my head, but I knew the look and feel I wanted - classic, timeless and elegant. Once I had the picture in my mind, I explained it to [Schimmel] and she drew it pretty much on the first go."
Honor Carter
But several years before the McCaw nuptials, All Black Dan Carter's wedding to another Black Sticks star, Honor Dillon, was considered one of the biggest celebrity wedding events the country had ever seen.
And this wedding also featured an Anna Schimmel-designed dress, with the bride a picture of elegance in her ivory gown with its cutaway back, subtle floral detailing and two-metre train.
Makere Gibbons
TV presenter Makere Gibbons opted for a custom gown from Hera Couture for her wedding to property developer Kurt Gibbons.
The brocade lace and Swarovski crystal-encrusted dress was paired with a full-length veil, which reportedly made for quite the spectacle in the gale-force winds at the Rippon Vineyard wedding venue.
Mel Homer
Who says you have to wear white on your wedding day?
Mix radio broadcaster and The Cafe co-host Mel Homer went for bold, bright colour on her big day.
And 17 years and three children later, Homer can still fit in that dress to wear to costume parties. Now THAT is impressive.
Nicola Robinson Evans
When it came to choosing a dress for her wedding to celebrity chef Pete Evans, Nicola Robinson had one very important requirement: it needed to be suitable to wear whilst riding a horse.
With the nuptials taking place on the couple's New South Wales farm, Robinson told her Instagram fans, "The only way I was ever going to get to our wedding was by hitching a ride with my four-legged King," and her floaty, kimono-style dress by Spell was perfect for that.
The bride wore her hair wild and free on the big day, completing her look with a veil she made herself.
Kerre McIvor
When she decided to marry her longtime partner Tom McIvor in 2013, broadcaster Kerre McIvor left a few wedding details to the last minute. Like the dress, for one.
In a move that would give most brides heart palpitations, McIvor had her dress made just days out from the wedding.
According to an interview with NZ Women's Weekly, McIvor said designer Tanya Carlson held some fabric up against her on the Tuesday before the wedding and said "What will we do?"
"The poor thing [had] been making beautiful wedding dresses for Olympians who are tall columns of muscle and then I come in and she had to use all her fabulous dressmaking techniques to slim and minimise," McIvor told the magazine.
Carlson also created a false hem on the dress so McIvor could wear towering wedges during the wedding ceremony and for photos, before cutting the hem off, putting on some sandals and dancing the night away.
Siobhan Marshall
When Siobhan Marshall married fellow actor Millen Baird in Fiji last year, she chose a floaty, backless dress designed by Sally Eagle for the big occasion.
And it was a hit with the groom, with Baird telling Woman's Day: "When I saw [Marshall] walking down the aisle, with our song playing in the background, I knew straight away there was no way I was making it through the ceremony dry-eyed.
"She looked so beautiful and I was just so proud of her. Terrified is one way to put it – there were a lot of emotions popping up. I've seen YouTube videos of grooms fainting and I thought, 'I'm going to be added to that list.'"
A month after the wedding, Marshall wore her beautiful gown again in order to attend a Halloween party as a zombie bride. Because you may as well get a few wears out of such an expensive garment, right?
Chelsea Winter
Meanwhile, former MasterChef NZ winner Chelsea Winter turned to Vinka Design for her wedding dress.
And the celebrity cook told Woman's Day she was "chuffed" with husband Mike Bullot's reaction to her strapless gown of Chantilly lace and tulle.
"He was genuinely blown away – not just 'You look beautiful.' It was more like, 'Oh my God, you are phenomenal!' Which is awesome. That's the reaction I wanted."
This article was first published on Spy and is republished here with permission.
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