It's unbelievable the tacky measures the media take to get a story. On Friday, a joyful David Bain and the long-time love of his life tied the knot, with the good wishes from us all. Christchurch primary school teacher Liz Davies vowed with David in front of 80 family and friends in the grounds of a private vineyard, to spend the rest of their lives together. For someone who was declared to be wrongfully put in jail for 13 years, this is a wonderful occasion indeed. For the public - for now at least, this is all we need to know. But no - for the media, it's not enough. They felt that we needed to be taken through the full story, in detail, right down to the shade of the groom's cream-coloured tie, with waistcoat with white rose. Like it or not, the world has also been informed that the bride wore a veil and a white dress - as brides usually do. Did we really need to know that Mr Bain drove himself to the venue in his own maroon Toyota Surf 4WD, adorned with a lucky horseshoe? Sounds like a pretty normal wedding to me. And did we need to know that the trees under which the service took place were of the sycamore variety? Are we better off with the knowledge that during the blessing, white doves sat in an aviary nearby, while horses grazed in a neighbouring paddock? Apparently so, going by what I've just seen online.
Tacky reportage to the max, but nowhere near as gross as the three helicopters, commissioned by three different news crews that flew overhead. So bad was the noise, the celebrant was forced to stop talking, eventually forcing the bride and groom to move under the cover of an awning. While several of the guests pulled the fingers at the helicopters, Mr Bain took the more gentlemanly approach, simply throwing up his hands in horror at first sight of the media. Good on the happy couple for turning down lucrative - and tempting - women's magazine deals, worth up to $50,000 to cover their big day.
Brian Holden has lived in Rotorua for most of his life and has recently celebrated 10 years' writing And Another Thing.
