NZ matchmaker's Disney dream

By JASON COLLIE

New Zealander Lisa Simpson makes sure that it's not only children whose dreams come true at Disneyland.

Simpson oversees the big day for about 500 couples a year as Disneyland's Fairytale Weddings try to set all those prospective Cinderellas and Prince Charmings on their way to living happily ever after.

It does not always work out. "I hate getting Christmas cards years later signed by only one of them," Simpson says. But she is happy with the way the wedding service has expanded over her 12 years with Disney.

Although couples can go to extreme lengths - Cinderella's crystal coach, top hats, bridal caps with mouse ears, and Mickey and Minnie calling in to the reception - Simpson says it is surprising how restrained most couples are. "The majority of brides do not want to be Snow White or Cinderella," she says.

"They are just Samantha and John. It's their dream to be married at Disneyland, but they do not want something that somebody can make a joke of. It's just the setting."

But she has seen her share of over-the-top bashes, far exceeding one recent reception where Mickey led the dancing guests in the YMCA. "The funniest thing I have had was somebody who was having 60 guests, Mickey and Minnie at the reception. Then somebody said to the bride that the only thing missing was the Seven Dwarfs.

"We said we could get them. She wanted them to carry her train, which she said was 25ft long.

"It turned out to be only 6ft long and the dwarfs were all inching along behind her. That was somebody who went to the extreme and it was a fun thing."

After 12 years in the United States, Simpson's accent sounds like a mix of Boston and New York. There's a hint of Kiwi, although couples are spared wishes of "widdid bluss."

She moved to America after the Wellington weather became too much for her husband. Though she she is quite happy there, she is staunchly Kiwi - evident by the Team New Zealand licence-plate surround on her car.