Hawke's Bay woman first to marry partner outside court in registry wedding

Celebrant, Sharon Sanson (second left) with newly married couple, Teresa (third right) and Ben Hall. Photo / Supplied

It would have been easy to mistake Teresa Koko and Ben Hall's wedding for a small, family gathering.

Wearing a hoodie and jeans, in less than 10 minutes, and after little more than a week of preparation, the couple were married.

But their simple, and affordable registry wedding was the first of its kind in the region.

On July 1, the law changed to allow local celebrants to do registry weddings in a couple's home, in the celebrant's home, or in another venue.

No longer is it restricted to the dreary and sterile confines of a court.

Their celebrant, Sharon Sanson, has been in the industry for nearly six years and said the change made it "a lot nicer".

"It just means that families who don't want big weddings and can't afford them, it gives them more of a chance to actually have something a little bit nicer."

Teresa, who is originally from Hawke's Bay, said they had no intentions to "go big".

"It's just another day - a piece of paper."

The couple have been together for 14 years, and have three children from previous relationships, and nine-year-old daughter, Kauri, together.

They have often talked about getting married, but it wasn't until a week before, that they decided to go ahead.

With Ben's parents and Kauri in tow, they travelled from Taupo for the occasion.

"All the family and friends are [in Taupo] and we didn't want everyone coming. They would never expect it."

Department of Internal Affairs Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Jeff Montgomery, said weddings can be quite a distraction for Court staff as they are often only called on to do them three or four times a year.

"This change will allow Court staff to focus on their day-to-day activities."

Montgomery said about a quarter of the country's 20,000 marriages and civil unions are registry ceremonies and half of all weddings are conducted by independent celebrants, with the remainder carried out by organisations like churches.

Court staff conduct about 1000 registry ceremonies a year in smaller centres around New Zealand.

The cost of the wedding will remain at $90, with the money going directly to the independent celebrant, instead of the Ministry of Justice.

There are more than 80 Independent Celebrants in the Hawkes Bay. Details are available at https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz/