Jacinda Ardern marries her fiance of five years, Clarke Gayford!
The former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, 43 married her fiance of five years, Clarke Gayford, 47 on Saturday afternoon 13 January 2024. Read to know all the wedding details.
Jacinda Ardern weds her fiance, Clarke Gayford
The former Prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, 43 has finally exchanged wedding vows with her fiance of five years, Clarke Gayford, 47. The wedding was an intimate ceremony at the Hawkes Bay vineyard on the eastern side of New Zealand’s North Island. The weather was sunny with no clouds and a temperature of around 29 degrees Celsius.
The bride wore a Juliette Hogan bridal dress that was custom-made. It was an ivory, sleeveless, cowl-neck halter gown that had a high neckline and low back. It had a long veil and her hairstyle was chignon. While the bridegroom was in a black custom-made suit designed by New Zealand fashion house Zambesi.
There were around 50-75 guests and included the former prime minister-and now opposition leader-Chris Hipkins, the former speaker of parliament Trevor Mallard, who now serves as the ambassador to Ireland, and ex-cabinet minister Annette King, who is currently New Zealand’s ambassador in Canberra.
More about the wedding
The couple’s friend and former deputy prime minister Grant Robertson officiated the ceremony. Jacinda and Clarke share a daughter together who was born when Jacinda was in office. Her name is Neve and she is five years old now. Neve walked down the aisle with her father. She was dressed in an attire that was made out of the fabric of her grandmother Laurell Ardern’s wedding dress.
There was not much fanfare as is typical of weddings in New Zealand that has a small population of around 5 million people. The date and venue of the wedding was an open secret.
The relationship timeline of the couple
The two first met at an awards night in Auckland in 2012. Clarke was hosting the event. And one year later, Clarke had penned a letter to Jacinda who was the local opposition legislator of his region. The letter was to narrate his concern about a proposed national security law. The two met over coffee and started dating. Clarke and Jacinda went for a fishing date after that. Clarke hosts fishing shows on TV.
The couple got engaged in 2019. There was no announcement from the couple and news erupted only after pictures of her with a diamond engagement ring went viral. The earlier date of wedding was January 2022 but they postponed it due to COVID-19 restrictions. She said at that time:
“My wedding won’t be going ahead but I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic,”
“Such is life.”
Jacinda was the Labour Prime Minister from 2017 to January 2023. She resigned against the backdrop of falling popularity of her party following the COVID mandates. She cited exhaustion as the reason for her resignation. And now, opponents of the COVID mandates had protested outside her wedding venue.
Short bio on Clarke Gayford
Clarke Gayford is the fiance -turned husband of Jacinda Ardern. More bio…