A Fashionable Wedding
August 1904
‘Considerable interest was manifested in a wedding which took place at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral this afternoon. The contracting parties were Mr Vivian Everard Donald, eldest on of Major Donald Donald of Lansdowne, Masterton, and Miss Blanche Gertrude Mills, second daughter of the Hon. C. H. Mills, Minister for Trade and Customs’. (Pelorus Guardian and Miners’ Advocate, 30 August 1904, p4).
The chancel of St Paul’s was decorated with pot plants and palms and a large bell of white flowers was suspended above where the bride and bridegroom stood. The carriages used for the bridal party were accompanied by coachmen and footmen in the smartest liveries. Blanche’s bridesmaids were her sisters Olive and Grace, and also her husband’s cousin, Ruby Gower. Hugh Morrison was best man, with Mr H. Donald and Carne Bidwill as groomsmen.
The bride’s dress was made of ivory satin, with a transparent lace yoke and draperies of flowered chiffon. The two elder bridesmaids wore white accordion-pleated silks, and softly draped white hats with pink roses at one side. Ruby Gower wore white silk, a Victorian hat and she carried a crook with spray of white blossoms and maiden hair. Mrs Mills wore black merveilleux with white lace and a white chiffon toque, with black motifs on the brim and a white ostrich feather curling over one side. Mrs Donald’s dress was black Irish poplin with white lace and touches of pink. Her small black hat had feathers in it.
The wedding reception was held at the bride’s parents’ house, a ministerial residence on Tinakori Road. Charles Houghton Mills named the house ‘Wairau’ after his constituency. Over 200 guests attended including the premier, Richard Seddon, Mrs Seddon and the Misses Seddon (2), Sir Joseph Ward, Sir William and Lady Russell and Sir William and Lady Steward.
The table in the dining room was decorated with snowdrops and maiden-hair ferns. The wedding cake towered over the other ‘dainty’ refreshments. The speeches were toasted with champagne which had been buried by the groom’s father on the occasion of his birth.
Among the presents were a solid silver tea service gifted by Charles Mills’ colleagues at the Ministry. Richard Seddon gave a large framed photograph of himself and Mrs Seddon, along with a pair of Doulton vases.
Blanche made the majority of her trousseau herself. Her going away dress was navy fabric, opening over white lace with a French sailor hat. As the couple walked down the avenue to the carriage which was to take them on their honeymoon, they were ‘… pelted with violets’.
The wedding part at the Donald-Mills marriage at Wellington. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19040910-0027-02
The bride, Miss Mills, daughter of the Hon. C. H. Mills. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19040910-0027-01.
Ministerial Residence Tinakori Road East, additions and alterations, ground and first floor plans and front elevation and details of doors, Wellington, J. Campbell, scale 8 feet to 1 inch, one drawing and 1 in pencil. Archives New Zealand Item Code R25328381