The most memorable weddings of 2024

Stranger Things star Millie married not once but twice this year. The actor, 20, first said “I do” to model Jake, 22 – the son of rocker Jon Bon Jovi, 62 – in a low-key private ceremony in May. They followed it up with a big, fat Italian wedding in Tuscany in September. “When I met Jake, I just felt I could be loud,” shares Millie. “He embraced that and encouraged that. And I fell in love with myself while being with him.” 

No acting was needed when Shortland Street star Courtenay, 30, married Chris, 32, earlier this year. The pair, who met 10 years earlier when they worked at the same Auckland bar, tied the knot at Mahurangi West, North of Auckland. The only hitch was when they had to move their ceremony indoors due to the rain.

Media mogul Rupert, 93, got hitched for the fifth time to retired molecular biologist Elena, 67. The wedding was held at his vineyard estate in Bel Air, Los Angeles, and the bride wore a gown designed by London-based Kiwi designer Emilia Wickstead. Last year, Rupert was briefly engaged to dental hygienist Ann Lesley Smith, 66, after suddenly divorcing Jerry Hall, 68, in 2022 after six years of marriage.

They met as co-stars on Mary Queen of Scots and kept their relationship under wraps. Irish actor Saoirse, 30, and Slow Horses star Jack, 34, didn’t announce their nuptials, but it’s since been confirmed they wed in a private ceremony in Scotland in July. A month later, Saoirse flashed her gold wedding ring on the red carpet.

Eddie, 63, wed Paige, 45, in July. The Nutty Professor star and his Australian bride chose the Caribbean Island of Anguilla for their big day. The pair share children Izzy, eight, and Max, five – and the comedian also has eight other kids from previous relationships, including five with his first wife Nicole Mitchell, 56, and one with former Spice Girl Mel B, 49.

They were engaged for six years, during which time they endured a devastating house fire, and welcomed two sons, Freddie and Gus. On March 2, Kiwi actors Antonia, 40, and Dan, 41, finally got hitched on Waiheke Island.

“It felt so big and so significant, and my emotions felt very close to the surface,” said Antonia. “I was tearful, but when I saw Dan smiling at me, I just felt so happy.” The pair fell in love on the set of Westside and, says Antonia, “One of the things I love most about Dan is that we can be silly together.”

It was a case of I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do when ABBA superstar Björn, 79, wed his girlfriend of two years Christina, 52, in September. The pair
tied the knot in Copenhagen with just close friends and family by their side. Married to ABBA bandmate Agnetha Fältskog for seven years and sharing two children, they divorced in 1979. Björn ended his second marriage to music journalist Lena Kallersjö, 75, around the time he met Christina.

Sparks flew when Brayden and Georgina met at the gym in 2021. Southern Steel netballer Georgina, 26, and Southland Sharks basketballer Brayden, 25, exchanged vows in Bali in August. “I was thinking how beautiful everyone looked and how happy I was to see B standing there looking handsome,” British-born Georgina said of their big day. “And she looked gorgeous as I knew she would,” says Brayden.