Couple ready to celebrate their big day in style

Abigail Hartevelt | 5th February 2010

Many hours of campaigning for votes has paid off for Rotorua couple Lisa McMillan and Kevin Stanbra.

They have won the $50,000 My Big Fat Valentine's Day wedding - with all the trimmings.

The couple were competing against another Rotorua couple, Darryl Salter and Tina Holmes, for votes for the competition, which was being run by Classic Hits 97.5FM in conjunction with Rotorua business The Wedding Guy.

The two couples had the most votes as of Friday last week out of five couples who had entered.

Yesterday morning Ms McMillan and Mr Stanbra were told they had won the competition after getting 70 per cent of the almost 3000 votes since Friday.

Their campaign included giving out fliers at Rotorua's annual Lakeside concert on Saturday, visiting bars around town, including one bar where they got talking to a group of women who, ironically, were having a divorce party.

"They wished us all the best," Mr Stanbra said.

The couple were ecstatic but were now wondering how busy the next 10 days would be in the lead-up to their wedding at Hamurana Lodge.

Ms McMillan and Mr Stanbra, who have been together for 10 years, were also relieved they would not now have to have a $500 wedding - an event which would have been planned by their families who were getting sick of waiting for them to tie the knot.

The couple were still having trouble believing they had won the lavish affair.

"Who wins a $50,000 wedding? It's just bizarre," Mr Stanbra said.

He was now hoping his father, who is having a major operation next week, would be able to make the wedding.

Ms McMillan said having their family and friends there was important, as was taking the name of her husband-to-be.

At least 15 businesses, mostly from Rotorua, will provide the key aspects of the wedding, including the wedding and reception venue, accommodation, wedding gown, suit hire, photography, video, cars, rings, flowers, wedding planning and money.

Meanwhile, Mr Salter and Ms Holmes will receive a free wedding but on a much smaller scale. The Wedding Guy's Peter Duncan was to take the wedding while the radio station was seeking sponsorship from other businesses to pay for other features of the occasion.