They had to plan a wedding in three days. And then, broadcast it live on TV
Francesca Avent and Tobias Gilsenan have put off their marriage. First, it was the earthquake. Then, they had a son. And, well, life got in the way.
"It has been a very interesting week," says Francesca Avent, giving possibly the biggest understatement of the week.
On Tuesday, Fran and her fiancé Toby Gilsenan were sitting in their Rangiora home as another normal week cranked on. And now, they are getting married on live television after three days' notice.
The pair arrived in Auckland on Friday morning. Fran was whisked away, she didn't have a dress yet. Toby was worse for wear, off the back of a last-minute Thursday night stag do and a week without sleep.
The pair are getting married in The Project studio. There is plenty of wine out the back.
It's understandable that the pair are so sleep deprived. They've had to plan their own wedding in three days. On Monday, neither of them had any clue they would be getting married live on television at the end of the week.
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Holding a last-minute wedding in a different city is – to the surprise of no one – tricky. And to make matters even harder they'll be tying the knot live on television.
Avent's parents won't be able to make it. Some other close family and friends have also had to pull out. Like the royal wedding itself, she jokes that the guest list has become a bit of a drama. Her father had tried to come, but had to say no because of health concerns.
Although their wedding has be fairly unconventional and stress packed, Avent says her excitment about finally getting married outweighs all of that.
Their wedding will be broadcast live.
"I've been jumping around the lounge... My mum screamed, laughed and cried. It's been really lovely how many people have been excited, or they think we're just mental," she says.
"I am definitely nuts for doing this," she adds.
It has been a whole 10 years since Gilsenan proposed to his soon-to-be wife, Avent. She says this live television wedding seemed to come about because of fate.
Francesca Avent and Tobias Gilsenan are to be married, live on Three's The Project.
And had that ad never come on, calling for pairs to be married on television, then she doesn't know how much longer they would have waited. Probably many more years yet, her soon to be husband Gilsenan says.
Friday night is Gilsenan and Avent's second attempt at marriage. In 2012, they had it all planned. A wedding chapel was booked in Christchurch, but the earthquakes destroyed it.
"Over the years, a lot of our friend have got together after us and been already married. There's been a lot of pressure to get married," he says.
The Project put out a call for couples wanting to be married live on television. They chose Toby and Fran.
And now, there's a lot of pressure not to muck up.
Gilsenan has only just written his vows, and they're a mouthful as he'll need to deliver on live television.
"I haven't been sleeping much," he says, estimating he's had about one night of rest thanks to sleeping pills and camomile tea.
All going well, the couple will finally wed on The Project Friday night.
It will be, Gilsenan hopes, a fairytale chapter to his high school crush story. A one-sided crush, at the start. One in which he admits calling his soon-to-be wife to ask her out on a date, only to find she was with her then boyfriend.
"Oh, I'm nervous. Nervous and excited," he admits in the hours beforehand. "Can you tell?"
- Stuff
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