Kirstie Stanway's CARNIVAL OF LOVE

The Sky Sport presenter married partner Gareth Thorne in a three-day festival full of fun

- Kelly Bertrand

Standing at the altar, looking into the eyes of her very-soon-to-be husband as she reads her wedding vows, sports presenter Kirstie Stanway can’t quite believe the magnitude of the moment.

Finally tying the knot with the partner she met eight years ago, Gareth Thorne, it’s an occasion filled with love and celebration… until, in the couple’s typical fashion, it’s overtaken by competition.

“I totally won the vows,” Kirstie laughs to Woman’s Day just moments after becoming Mrs Stanway-Thorne in Central Otago’s gorgeous Gibbston Valley.

“Yeah, only because you completely ignored the word limit our celebrant gave us,” grins Gareth, a freelance TV director.

On cue, in the middle of her vows – in which she promised to always partake in silly games, to keep Gareth “on his toes” and to love him endlessly – a packet of CC’s corn chips arrives at the altar.

“I promise to keep fuelling your chip addiction, no matter where in the world I have to locate your favourite brand from because they’re discontinued in New Zealand,” Kirstie, 30, says to peals of laughter from their 75 guests and surprised delight from her groom.

“Ah, well,” Gareth, 37, says later. “What’s a wedding day without a little competitiveness?”

It’s a stunning day in Queenstown as Kirstie and Gareth – or “Kirst and GT” as they’re known to friends – prepare for their non-traditional festivities on the back lawn of Gareth’s mum’s house, Vintner’s Cottage.