Tears Of Joy Shortly Bride's Emotional Day

Panic before her dream wedding.

Bem-vindo à Nova Zelândia! For actress Emily Robins, these surprise words from her dad Danny, who learnt a little Portuguese especially for her wedding, were the perfect salute to her new life with Brazilian husband Vanderson Pires.

“He memorised how to say ‘Welcome to New Zealand’ for Vanderson’s best friend and his wife,” the former Shortland Street star tells, speaking of the guests who travelled here for 16 hours to attend the couple’s ceremony. “She started crying, she was so touched by it!”

But the sweet gesture wasn’t the only cause for waterworks as the proud father-of-thebride took to the stage at the reception. Just weeks earlier, the Aucklander’s life, and the chance to walk his girl down the aisle, was threatened by a massive brain aneurysm that doctors said cause most people to “die on the spot”.

Suddenly, 29-year-old actress and law student Emily, her mum Susan and her sister Megan found themselves swapping cake tastings and suit fittings for waiting rooms and terrifying talks.

Emily – who played rich-girl receptionist Claire Solomon on Shorty and PR girl Toni van Asch on Filthy Rich – recalls, “The surgeons were saying, ‘We don’t know what his speech or physical mechanics will be like.’ When you’re in that situation, everything else becomes so trivial and all that matters is they pull through.”