Kate and Jess Lawrence. (Photo: Fredrik Larsson) The winners of a Gay Ski Week Winter Wedding promotion, a trainee pilot cum restaurateur and a pre-school teacher, have tied the knot in Queenstown. Yesterday afternoon Jess Lawrence and Kate McClenahan from Newcastle, New South Wales, were married in front of a dozen family and friends on the bank of the scenic Shotover river just minutes from Queenstown. The pair say they had been planning to get married within the next year or so and had already picked Queenstown as their favourite location. "It was exactly what we wanted... even the helicopter ride and having the wedding photographs taken with a mountain backdrop," says Lawrence. Drawn as winners at the last minute when the original winners of the competition had to pull out due to family problems, Lawrence and McClenahan, who took Lawrence as their married surname, had only a few days to rally family and friends and get to Queenstown for the ceremony. "We're just so lucky that a dozen guests in all, including immediate family, an auntie and cousins and several friends from Newcastle were able to get across to Queenstown at such short notice!" says Kate Lawrence. As marriage licenses take three days to become available after the application is lodged at a registry office the couple were able to enjoy Queenstown's attractions for a few days with all the organising being taken care of by local wedding planners. This afternoon they are jetting back to Australia, describing their opportunity to get married, even if their union is not yet recognised by the Australian government, as "an amazing privilege."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 14th September 2013 - 10:16am