As a dazzling Laura Daniel made her way down the aisle to the tune of Jason Derulo’s It Girl, her dashing husband-to-be Joseph Moore couldn’t wipe the huge grin from his face. Quoting from the comedy Borat, he recalls, “My first thought was, ‘Wa-wa-wee-wa!’ I didn’t know what to think. She looked incredible – stunning!”
Familiar faces from Jono And Ben, 7 Days and Funny Girls, the lovebirds – known together as comedy duo Two Hearts – married on 30 December 2022 at Nadia Lim’s Royalburn Farm in the Crown Ranges near Arrowtown.
A-list guests, including Hilary Barry, Rose Matafeo, Chris Parker, Brynley Stent, Tom Sainsbury and Hayley Sproull, descended on the Queenstown-Lakes District for three fun-filled days of festivities.
Laura laughs, “We seriously considered eloping because we felt huge pressure to have this amazing wedding!”
The blooming gorgeous bride gets a cuddle from Rose.
Fortunately, the spectacular day went off without a hitch – and Laura, 32, and Joseph, 34, are now Zooming in to chat about it from Australia after sell-out gigs at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. By the time you read this, they’ll have performed in Wellington. And this week, it’s Auckland’s turn to see their show Til Death Do Us Hearts, which they describe as “an intimate evening of songs about love, life and maintaining a successful relationship with your co-worker”.
But back to the wedding… The fun-loving couple wanted their big day to be full of excitement and surprises for everyone, so it started with a laugh-a-minute bus ride to the venue, featuring some of their favourite pop songs and hilarious mock commentary from a voiceover artist who introduces the fireworks at Disneyland. Joseph jokes he spent “five times longer” on this part of the wedding than he did his vows!
Former Seven Sharp reporter Laura has stayed good friends with Nadia ever since the 2019 season of Dancing With The Stars and says the MasterChef judge’s farm, with its stunning views out to Lake Wakatipu, made for a “special” venue.
She adds, “I went to Nadia’s the night before and they’ve got a little apartment I stayed in. Nadia was heavily pregnant at the time, but she still made me dinner, which was so cute!”
Laughing, Joseph jokes, “It was just a My Food Bag.”
The bride with pregnant pal Nadia and her husband Carlos Bagrie.
The ceremony was sweet and simple – the only real tradition they followed was Laura spending the night apart from her groom. She explains, “We spend our lives so deeply intertwined. This was the one thing we could do to be like, ‘OK, let’s build this up!'”
Being reunited at the altar was a powerful moment. An uncharacteristically serious Joseph says, “We’re always going to treasure that memory.” They both get emotional recalling groomsmen Paul Williams (Taskmaster NZ) and Nic Sampson (The Brokenwood Mysteries) bursting into tears. Joseph adds, “I really like that we made a lot of our friends cry to a Jason Derulo song!”
True to their nature, a few details were left to the last minute. Joseph says, “I remember I emailed the suit makers, ‘Hello, I’d like one wedding suit please,’ and they replied, ‘When’s your wedding?’ When I told them it was in a month, they were like, ‘But we have to make it in Italy!'” Fortunately, it arrived three days before they left for Queenstown.
The bridal party (from left): Alice Harbourne, Simone Nathan,
Steph Badham, Eli Matthewson, Brynley Stent and Zara Cormack.
Similarly, Laura says, “We both wrote our vows the night before the wedding.” She’d sought help from newlywed comedian Chris, who told her, “The vows will just come to you.” She says she and Joseph often have to write jokes under pressure for work, adding, “That’s when our best stuff comes out!”
The reception was under a huge tent decorated with fairy lights and flowers. There were games, speeches, drinks and
a vegetarian dinner. As for the first dance, Laura says, “We didn’t do a big, choreographed number, which a few people were expecting, but we did a cute sway side to side.”
The party went on into the early hours of the morning, with dancing, singing and a saxophonist playing alongside the DJ. “It was really going off!” Laura exclaims delightedly.
And then it was round two of partying the next day for New Year’s Eve, with the newlyweds heading off on honeymoon to Hawaii. “It rocked – I had the best time!” declares Laura, prompting Joseph to ask, “The honeymoon or the wedding?”
“Both!” Laura quickly chirps, adding that Disneyland was also on the itinerary – a visit that inspired a song in Til Death Do Us Hearts, which is part of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.
The newlyweds honeymooned in Disneyland.
The pair first performed as a duo, but just as friends, back in 2017, with the final song in their act being about how they would never end up together. Now they’re performing in Aotearoa for the first time as husband and wife, although they insist not much has changed.
“We’re still renting with a flatmate and our lives are still very much the same, but it’s nice to call him my husband now and to celebrate the milestones,” says Laura.
Joseph agrees, explaining that the main reason for them getting married was to create “memories of such a special day with family and friends”.
“The lead-up to the wedding was so stressful,” adds Laura. “We thought, ‘What are we doing?!’ But then we had the wedding and were like, ‘Hell, yeah, that was absolutely worth it!'”
Clearly still besotted with each other, Laura and Joseph pause when asked what’s coming up for them.
Laura is pensive. “I guess we’re in a phase of deciding what to do next with our lives,” she reflects, adding that sell-out Aussie shows and one of their videos going viral in Europe have made moving overseas a temptation. International audiences are very vocal, tells Laura.
You can see their love for real in Til Death Do Us Hearts.
“It’s crazy performing in Australia and the UK – there’s so much appetite for Kiwi comedy!” Of course, their “adopted son” Martin, a cat, will be a factor in the decision.
In the meantime, however, they’re excited for local audiences to experience their “first hour as a happily married couple” in Til Death Do Us Hearts. After all, Laura says her biggest reason for tying the knot was so they could “shout about our love from the rooftops” – and they’ll be doing just that on stage!
Til Death Do Us Hearts is on Tuesday to Saturday at Auckland’s Q Theatre. For more info and tickets, visit comedyfestival.co.nz.
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