"It was devastating, to be honest," Mr Macrae told NZME. News Service.
Family members were disappointed by the turn of events as a lot of them had purchased return tickets, he said.
"We still want to get the blessing and that done because that's what we've been looking forward to and all. It's celebrating bringing two families together."
Several people had suggested the couple get married in New Zealand instead - which Mr Macrae said could be on the cards.
Mr Macrae today detailed the couple's numerous attempts to marry in Wales.
He said they had initially planned a traditional church ceremony in July, but Mr Macrae's application for a marriage settlement visa was turned down because the couple did not have the required 62,000 pounds ($129,400) in savings.
"It was a little bit mindboggling to be honest," he said.
"I don't think I know anyone with that amount of cash in the bank."
He then applied for a special visitor marriage visa, which would have allowed him to remain in the UK for six months - but this was also rejected.
Ms Roberts told the Daily Mail: "In April we discovered that the visa had been rejected because Immigration thought Gareth would overstay after six months. We were gobsmacked."
The couple then decided to settle on the blessing, rather than a legal wedding.
But despite having plenty of evidence to prove they were not planning to marry legally, and that Mr Macrae was not planning to stay in the country after the blessing, he was deported.
Ms Roberts told the Daily Mail: "He had all the documents with him: a letter off his boss saying he had to return to work in New Zealand, a return ticket, a letter from the minister at the chapel saying we were having a blessing not a wedding, bank statements showing that we had over 30,000 pounds in savings."
Mr Macrae said the decision to deport him ahead of the blessing was "pretty gutwrenching".
"They'd already let me in for a couple of days, then to be told 'oh yeah, you're gone' - it was devastating to be honest with you," he said.
The fact New Zealand was a Commonwealth country made the deportation difficult to deal with for Mr Macrae.
"We've got the Union Jack in the corner of our flag, it goes without saying doesn't it," he said.
He had lived, worked and played rugby in Wales previously and had even learned to speak the language during his relationship with Ms Roberts, who he described as a "proud Welsh woman".
Ms Roberts told NZME. News Service it had been "really tough" and "pretty heart-breaking", but she's now aware they aren't alone in their struggles.
"It's incredible the amount of support we've had ... a lot of people have been in contact which is fantastic and I think it's really important that we raise awareness of the difficulties some cross-border couples have over trying to come into this country," she said.
"I think its pretty disgraceful to be honest. I don't see what the problem is if people just want to live together and have a happy family life."
She said she loved New Zealand, but had always been set on having her wedding in her small home town of Llanuwchllyn.
"Every girl dreams of their wedding day, and [for me] it's always been at home, at the chapel where me and my eight brothers and sister were all baptised," she said.
"If things don't turn out the way we'd hoped, we'd have to re-think, I'd have to go back [to New Zealand]."
The couple remains determined to tie the knot, despite the setbacks.
Mr Macrae said their next move would be to seek advice from an immigration expert in the hopes the blessing ceremony could still go ahead in July.
"You can't control love, can you?"
