Love is in air with cash gifts

It was a "gorgeous" wedding for Dean and Lorraine Crafar.

Crockery was off a Hawke's Bay couple's wedding gift list.

Instead they asked guests to donate to the Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust.

Lorraine and Dean Crafar raised more than $2000 for the charitable trust, which runs the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter.

A long-time supporter of the trust, Mrs Crafar said: "This is a cause that we both feel passionately about and by making a donation on our special day, our guests have helped to make a gift to our community.

"I have two boys who ride motorbikes, so I think maybe one day they'll need [the trust]."

Guests were delighted by Dean and Lorraine's request on their wedding invitations. Photo / Facebook

Her new husband had been behind her idea "100 per cent".

"At our stage of life we don't need microwave ovens or crockery," Mr Crafar said. "It's a good cause, one never knows when you, or your friends or your family, might need their help."

Guests had been "delighted" to see the request on the couple's wedding invitations. "We had a lot of people say what a good idea was, but there was no pressure," Mr Crafar said.

"It actually made things easier as they did not have to ponder on their choice of a wedding present."

He said most of their 100 guests at the February wedding made a contribution, but it was the consideration of the donation that was important.

Last month the newlyweds took morning tea and the funds to the trust's Orchard Rd Hangar to present the money to full-time crewman Geoff Taylor.

Mr Taylor was very grateful for their "fabulous donation".

Each year the Rescue Helicopter Crew completes more than 300 lifesaving missions. The service is free of charge and available 24/7 to the community, but costs $2.2 million each year to operate.