Focus: Passengers arriving at Auckland International Airport say their plans have been thrown into disarray after new travel restrictions.
An Auckland couple have been forced to cancel their wedding because they couldn't face getting married without their friends and family who were travelling from overseas to attend.
Ramiro Diaz, 40, and his fiancee Marcela Medel, 35, had 80 guests coming to their backyard wedding on March 28 including 25 guests flying to New Zealand from overseas.
But after the government's announcement yesterday that all people entering the country from overseas had to self-isolate for 14 days, the couple have decided to postpone the wedding. Several couples around the country will be in the same boat and it will raise questions about already-paid deposits and insurance.
Ramiro Diaz and Marcela Medel have cancelled their Auckland wedding until friends and family from South America can attend. Photo / Supplied
Overseas honeymoons will be being cancelled and other vendors will be losing business.
Makeup artists are taking extra precautions too. All 81 of Mecca's stores across Australia and New Zealand will now stop shoppers from booking makeup appointments and beauty lessons as of March 31.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said all mass gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled. Guidelines, expected out before the end of the week, should give certainty for events like large weddings.
Diaz and Medel had their stag and hen parties last weekend, but will now have to wait indefinitely to tie the knot.
They sent an e-video today to their friends in South America updating them about New Zealand's self-isolation rules which had forced them to cancel it.
The couple decided against having the wedding without their overseas guests because it wouldn't be the same.
Diaz, who is from Argentina but has been living in New Zealand for 12 years, met Medel who is from Chile when she arrived in Auckland three years ago to study English.
They have been dating ever since and he popped the question in June last year when they were holidaying in Greece.
Diaz said they had spent Monday afternoon contacting the DJ, caterers and cake maker and said the silver lining was they had all been extremely understanding and have either refunded their money or allowed them to change the date at no additional cost.
Diaz said while they understood the government's reasons, it was still disappointing to have to cancel their wedding after spending so much time planning it. They had yet to set a new date.
He planned to cheer Medel up by cooking her dinner and buying her some flowers.
"She's quite sad."
Diaz said he was now trying to get hold of Air New Zealand to cancel his mum and sister's flights.
Because they had been planning to have the wedding in the garden of their Royal Oak home, he was now hoping there would be a big storm on the day to help them justify cancelling it.
Meanwhile a Kiwi couple flying home for their wedding have arrived early to give them enough time to self-isolate before they tie the knot.
The couple made a last-minute decision on Friday to bring their trip forward by a week and will now have two weeks to self-isolate at their beach house before putting finishing touches on their wedding.
The bride-to-be told the Herald that coming a week earlier was the best thing they could have done and their UK bosses had been very understanding when they told them on Friday they needed to leave the next day.
The New Zealand Government's enforced self-isolation rule for anyone flying into the country also meant they had about 12 friends who probably would not be able to attend their wedding.
This Kiwi couple flying home for their wedding have arrived early to give them enough time to self-isolate before they tie the knot.
After a challenging and stressful few weeks, they were now headed to their holiday home to self isolate and "hopefully show no symptoms" before finalising their wedding plans.
They also had plans to honeymoon in the Maldives before heading back to the UK, but were doubtful that would happen now.
