Sat 24 Apr 2010 In: Weddings and Civil Unions View at Wayback View at NDHA
Don and Brendon's Civil Union Kaiapoi, December 29, 2007 Although a cliché, I have to say that our Civil Union was the perfect day. Brendon left the planning and organising up to me, and with the help of family and friends we created a very memorable ceremony we still get complimented on today. I proposed to Brendon on Christmas Day 2005 and the planning pretty much escalated from then onwards. With the help of my brother we purchased traditional Munro tartan from Scotland and had our kilts made professionally in Dunedin. Our day was always going to be about celebrating our commitment with friends and family. We dedicated the day to our parents; with mine being married 50 years and Brendon's 30 years, and our first dance was with our Mothers. Once our guests relaxed with our first song “We are Family” we had the dance floor full with everyone up dancing! As Brendon is a trekkie, I chose the Star Trek Enterprise theme song “Faith of the Heart”! Unfortunately he was so nervous and preoccupied with the signing of the paperwork he didn't realise until I pointed it out – he had no idea the stress I went through sourcing that song! We were piped up the aisle by a couple of local Pipers accompanied by our two Newfoundland Dogs, Baxter and Shebear. Other members of our Dog Club created a guard of honour with their Newfies and we used our two classic cars, a 1960 Wolseley 6/99 and a 1976 Ford Cortina 2000e to drive us to the venue, at Bramble Grove in Kaiapoi. Our celebrant Joanne Clark was simply stunning and did a truly remarkable job. We were both a little apprehensive about “that” first kiss, so Joanne came up with the idea that we “kiss” the celebrant. As this broke the ice and with everyone relaxed and laughing, our first kiss meant so much more and was met with cheers and applause! Joanne went on to perform a few songs in the evening, and with Brendon's Dad a Bette Midler fan, he was flawed when she belted out some classics. We went on our “honeymoon” in May 2009 to the UK, visiting family and touring around Wales and Scotland, finishing off with 10 days in the Greek Islands. This was Brendon's first “long haul” holiday and we are now planning our next big trip to a friends wedding in Whistler, Canada stopping off at San Francisco and Las Vegas next April. We are still very much in love and are constantly surrounded by reminders of our big day. It went so quickly and has given our relationship so much more depth. We watch the videos and have framed photos on the walls, and never get bored with sharing our experience with new friends and workmates! Donald Munro and Brendon Williamson. Donald Munro - 24th April 2010