Wedding bliss by the dozens

Softballers Nathan Nukunuku and Katrina Stockford will tie the knot on December 12, 2012. Photo / Neville Marriner

When Black Sox softballer Nathan Nukunuku proposed to his pro-playing girlfriend Katrina Stockford they knew the wedding date instantly.

The elite sports couple will tie the knot on Wednesday - 12.12.12, the last triple date of the century.

"We both wear the number 12 when we are playing for the New Zealand team or our club sides, so we thought we should do it on that day," Nukunuku said.

A Wednesday wedding was difficult to organise, he said, because family and friends had to get time off work.

The couple - who welcomed baby Raika into the world in September - met through Softball NZ two years ago when Stockford was playing for the White Sox and Nukunuku for the Black Sox.

Last year they spent time apart while Nukunuku, 32, played semi-professional in Japan and Stockford, 24, played professionally 9000km away in Italy.

But distance made their hearts grow fonder and Nukunuku proposed during that time.

Last October, the couple were sitting in a ferris wheel overlooking a Japanese amusement park when Nukunuku got on to one knee. "She had no idea, she just cried," he said.

About 170 guests will join them at Otaki Beach before celebrating at the Cosmopolitan Club in Levin, where Stockford's family live.

Stockford will forgo her dedication to the colour white for just one day to wear a strapless, ivory A-line dress.

"I'm feeling a bit nervous but I know this is right for me," Stockford said.

Both played in the National Fastpitch Championships this week, and Nukunuku hoped to be named in the Black Sox team to be announced today.

Other events on Dec 12

• The sixth annual World Hoop Day
• I Have a Dream graduation at Eden Park, Auckland
• The Concert for Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden in New York
• Divine healers at the Tamaki Yacht Club will mark the start of 2000 years of peace
• Official opening of Doha International Airport in Qatar