Dan Carter pulls off secret wedding

Dan Carter and Honor Dillon in 2009. Photo by <i>The New Zealand Herald</i>.
Dan Carter and Honor Dillon in 2009. Photo by <i>The New Zealand Herald</i>.
They went to extreme lengths to prevent media and the public getting a look-in, and yesterday sporting royalty Dan Carter and Honor Dillon managed to pull off the wedding of the year shrouded in secrecy.

The All Black star and former Black Sticks hockey player are understood to have married in a ceremony at 4pm in front of family and friends, including A-list sporting celebrities, under mostly clear skies at the exclusive Lake Timara Lodge, just outside Blenheim.

An aerobatic display prevented other aircraft from providing passengers with a bird's-eye view. The air space was reopened to air traffic from 5.30pm.

Exclusive rights to the wedding coverage - believed to have cost $50,000 - were bought by a women's magazine. Publisher ACP Media cautioned other media about coverage.

Roads around the lodge closed from 2pm, to ensure no-one could get close enough to take a look, and neighbours were asked not to allow onlookers on to their properties.

The wedding glamour was briefly on show around 3pm as many of the guests boarded buses with tinted windows in central Blenheim for a 10-minute journey to the lodge.

The men were impeccably dressed in suits and ties, while the women wore a range of brightly coloured dresses, hats and fascinators.

Among those travelling on the buses were World Cup-winning former All Black coach Graham Henry and his wife, Raewyn, and former All Black Leon MacDonald and his wife, Hayley.

All Black captain Richie McCaw, hobbling on crutches after an operation on his foot, went by car from a Blenheim motel to the wedding.

Guests had been mostly unwilling to comment on the wedding after being asked to keep details secret. Honor Dillon's uncle, Richard Dillon, told the Herald that the invitation did not even disclose the venue. He was predicting a "joyous" occasion.

 

 

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