Flooding puts a dampener on Kiwi couple's wedding day

Two years of careful planning went out the window for the Coromandel wedding of Mel and Nathaniel Blomfield.

It was supposed to be a picture perfect wedding - the venue a vineyard nestled at the end of Ohui Road in Opoutere, between the iconic summer towns of Tairua and Whangamata.

Instead, they tied the knot inside the local community hall, marooned by flooded farmland.

Nathaniel Blomfield, who recently announced he's running for Labour in this year's election, was due to marry his fiancee Mel Holmes on Saturday, after two years of planning.

"It was quite a big debate within our little household - which we couldn't leave for flooding - with my fiancee wanting to postpone and me saying we had to forge ahead," he said. "I had to get a few of her friends to help convince her."

It wasn't easy to get the wedding organised despite the floods, but with the help of everyone chipping in, the happy couple were able to pull together a wedding in three days.

- NZ Herald