KEY POINTS:
Floral Ties, purple suits and ever-so-slightly pink champagne all came to the party at Chris Carter's civil union ceremony last night - but a kiss was deemed a little too extravagant.
"Too much," the Minister of Conservation said, smiling. "Wrong generation."
Carter and his partner of 33 years, Peter Kaiser, said that after so long, a ceremony seemed "a bit academic". But the cheer that greeted them as they arrived at the Waitakere City Council gardens suggested otherwise.
"I see it as a celebration of our life together," Kaiser said. "It's 33 years - and the next 33 years as well."
Caterers planned for 200 guests, and the list read like a Labour Party who's who: Helen Clark, Phil Goff, Steve Maharey, David Cunliffe, Ruth Dyson and Bruce Hucker.
Jonathan Hunt and Judith Tizard spoke at the ceremony, and Mahinarangi Tocker and Mika sang. A friend of the couple, Alice Wilson, was the celebrant.
As guests wandered inside for the vows to the sound of conch shells, the rain set in.
Good luck, apparently - every drop is supposed to promise a moment of happiness together.
