{"id":193193,"date":"2016-10-01T21:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-10-01T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/au\/real-weddings\/anna-stephens-new-zealand-wedding\/"},"modified":"2024-03-08T12:11:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T01:11:22","slug":"anna-stephens-new-zealand-wedding","status":"publish","type":"au-real-wedding","link":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/anna-stephens-new-zealand-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"When love gives life: Anna and Stephen’s New Zealand wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

A life-threatening injury – falling from an 18-metre bridge no less – followed not long after this New Zealand couple\u2019s engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Anna Riley and Stephen Knox, aged 35 and 29 respectively, were determined to get married, and it was huge\u00a0motivation that saw Stephen fight so hard to live. In intensive care\u00a0in a Chinese hospital, where the couple were living as expats, Stephen underwent eight lifesaving operations after his fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis included repairing all of his major organs and the rebuilding of his spine and both legs,\u201d explains Anna. \u201cOne of the very first things he said when he was able to talk was that I was not to worry, he was still going to become my husband\u2026<\/span>\u00a0A promise he worked tirelessly, against all odds to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple began planning<\/a> their New Zealand wedding, working to\u00a0ensure Stephen would be at a venue<\/a>\u00a0where he could use his wheelchair. But his fight to walk meant that was no longer a requirement. \u201cIn his mind a [wheelchair] just wasn\u2019t good enough for our wedding, so by January, he had began to walk again,\u201d says the bride.<\/p>\n

They married on April 8, 2015 in the presence of 120 guests. Their ceremony and reception at Vilagrad Winery in Hamilton was described as a \u201cmagical day filled with love and laughter,\u201d by the bride. \u201cThere really are really no words to describe how incredible it was to see my husband standing at the top of the aisle ready to begin our lives together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Dale from\u00a0DC Images<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“I actually wore two wedding dresses<\/a> as I\u00a0knew I would not be able to sit on Stephen’s\u00a0knee in his wheelchair in my original big\u00a0dress,” says Anna.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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“Our wedding day was a reminder of how precious life really is, how important it is to\u00a0celebrate the good times,”\u00a0smiles the bride.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The gorgeous bridesmaids<\/a> wore one shoulder gowns in charcoal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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https:\/\/vimeo.com\/127574993<\/p>\n

Video by Jono Tucker\u00a0Films<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":147892,"parent":0,"template":"","au_real_wedding_category":[6855],"au_real_wedding_tag":[7562,6964,7103,7145,7221,7236],"au_real_wedding_style":[9007],"au_real_wedding_location":[13049,9072],"au_real_wedding_setting":[9020],"au_real_wedding_colour":[10571,10593,10577,10584],"au_real_wedding_competition":[],"class_list":["post-193193","au-real-wedding","type-au-real-wedding","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","au_real_wedding_category-6855","au_real_wedding_tag-dc-images","au_real_wedding_tag-destination-wedding-2","au_real_wedding_tag-new-zealand-wedding","au_real_wedding_tag-real-weddings","au_real_wedding_tag-vineyard-wedding-2","au_real_wedding_tag-white-wedding-2","au_real_wedding_style-elegant","au_real_wedding_location-new-zealand","au_real_wedding_location-overseas","au_real_wedding_setting-winery","au_real_wedding_colour-black-wedding","au_real_wedding_colour-blue-grey-wedding","au_real_wedding_colour-grey-wedding","au_real_wedding_colour-white-wedding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding\/193193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/au-real-wedding"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding\/193193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290147,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding\/193193\/revisions\/290147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_category?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_tag?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_style","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_style?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_location?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_setting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_setting?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_colour","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_colour?post=193193"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_competition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_competition?post=193193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}