Two years after pandemic postponement, Dame Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford set to marry

Dame Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford are married, following an intimate ceremony in Hawke's Bay.

After almost five years of engagement, and one cancellation due to a global pandemic, the pair said 'I do' in front of around 50-75 guests on Saturday.

Cheers rang out across the venue as the newly-weds made their way from the ceremony to what looked to be a reception area.

Ardern wore a white, halter neck dress, custom made by fashion designed Juliette Hogan, while Gayford wore a black suit, custom made by Zambesi, with a white shirt and black tie.

Their daughter, Neve, walked down the aisle with her father, wearing a dress made from Ardern's mother's wedding dress.

The couple have remained tight-lipped about the big day, but Stuff understands the ceremony was small - with mostly family, very close friends and a few politicians.

Stuff has chosen not to name the venue.

Preparations were underway on Saturday at the venue, with umbrellas being set up as temperatures soared.

As afternoon approached, guests began to arrive, including former prime minister Chris Hipkins and partner Toni Grace and long-time friend and former deputy prime minister Grant Robertson.

Robertson was dressed for the heat, sporting a t-shirt, shorts and a sailor's hat. Ardern's former press secretary Andrew Campbell arrived just after 1pm, braving the heat in a full suit.

Other guests spotted at the venue included fashion designer Juliette Hogan, chef Peter Gordon, former deputy leader of the Labour Party Kelvin Davis and High Commissioner of New Zealand to Australia Annette King.

Davis said he was feeling good in anticipation of the wedding.

With on-site accomodation, many of the guests stayed overnight, but some have been staying in the townships nearby.

Guests were greeted by a security guard who let them through the venue's gates after identifying them on a list of attendees.

Once at the main building, guests could either walk or take a golf cart to the back of the venue, where it is believed the ceremony was held.

At least three distinct sections had been set up for the wedding, one which looked to be a bar area hidden in the shade of a tree line, a dining area and an area for guests to gather after their arrival.

Staff had spent the morning setting up in the tent where Ardern is believed to be having her reception.

The gates were closed to the public, with ArmourGuard security posted across the grounds. One stood mostly hidden from view at the front gate, questioning workers arriving by car before letting them in.

Members of the public were stopping outside the venue regularly to try and get a peek at the high-profile couple.

After protester presence increased, police arrived at the venue shortly before 1pm.

Local cyclist Eli Anderson had stopped on her morning ride to take a look at the wedding venue. Anderson said she normally goes a different route on Saturday mornings but decided to change it to see what was happening.

When asked if she was surprised the wedding was being held in the Hawke's Bay region, Anderson said she was not, as "this place is sick".

"Look", she said, pointing around at the views, "where else would you have it?"

The couple deserved a great day, she said.

On Friday afternoon, as preparations began, a large white gazebo tent had been erected at the venue, in the middle of a vineyard.

Staff could be seen setting up the area, which had rows of long wooden tables and chairs.

Former Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard, a close friend of the former leader, is also expected to attend, as is Ardern's successor and former prime minister Chris Hipkins.

The weather has turned on for the high-profile wedding, with temperatures expected to soar to almost 30C.

It was a long road for the couple to get to the official ceremony on Saturday with the Covid-19 pandemic putting a stop to their previous wedding plans.

The pair met at the Metro Restaurant Awards event in 2012, with Ardern attending as a guest of model and TV personality Colin Mathura-Jeffree, who had featured on the cover of that month's Metro magazine.

Shortly after first taking office as prime minister in 2017, Ardern announced she was pregnant, and gave birth in 2018 to their first child together, daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.

It was announced in May 2019 that the pair were engaged, after an Easter weekend trip to Mahia, a beach settlement on the North Island's east coast, near Gayford's hometown of Gisborne.

Ardern was then spotted with a diamond while she was at a ceremony in Pike River just a few weeks later.

Wedding plans were set down for the summer of 2022, but the government, led by Ardern, tightened gathering rules due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

After announcing the decision, the then-prime minister said "such is life" and that many other people had suffered much worse effects from the pandemic than a wedding disruption.

"My wedding will not be going ahead, but I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic.

"And to anyone who's caught up in that scenario, I'm so sorry, but we're all so resilient, and I know we understand that we're doing this for one another."

- This story was first published by Stuff