Everyone expected ex-muso turned primary school teacher Adam McLean to sing to his wife Cayley at their wedding … but he didn’t.
The 29-year-old from Mount Maunganui had something else in mind.
As the reception speeches drew to a close, Adam got up to say his part. It was clear the Kiwi groom could not express how much he loved his bride in a speech. Luckily, he had pulled something together earlier, with the help of his mates.
By the time it was finished, many guests were in tears.
“I knew I’d struggle to say the nice things … because I get emotional,” said Adam. So he let the song do the talking.
The pair had met seven and a half years ago, back when Adam worked a lot of bars as a musician, doing gigs and covers and Cayley would request quite a few songs.
After stints overseas, the couple returned to New Zealand in November – just a month before the wedding.
Cayley had no idea what her husband-to-be was planning. Adam had told his bride-to-be that he wasn’t going to sing to her at the wedding because he didn’t want the added pressure and wanted to enjoy the day.
With a little help and enouragement from friends (Adam said “I made three of my mate’s girlfriends cry, so I was onto a winner”), he recorded, edited and organised the screening of Choose With You.
The clip shows footage of the Mt Maunganui couple enjoying the outdoors and their six months in South America, as well as shots of Adam singing in the studio. He later added footage of the wedding into a full video available on YouTube.