Standing at the altar of Auckland’s St Matthew-in-the-City church, Shortland Street’s Ido Drent is a handsome young man at the height of his star power.
The sought-after heart-throb with the burgeoning career is surrounded by famous faces.
His Shortland Street family, including Amanda Billing, Ben Mitchell, Angela Bloomfield and Brooke Williams, are all beaming from the pews before him. Even dancing sensation Nerida Cortese has pitched in, providing last-minute lessons to help the actor entertain guests with his fancy footwork later in the night.
But this is no glitzy celebrity wedding. Ido (24) is about to marry his fiancé, Amanda Hodges, in the most traditional and spiritual of ceremonies, complete with vows in which he promises to lead the family.
As Mandy makes her way up the aisle on the arm of her father Bill, Ido’s eyes immediately fill with tears. The 23-year-old bride looks perfectly radiant and reminiscent of a 1950s film star in an incredible strapless gown from Spanish design house La Sposa Bridal, with a full-length veil and long train.
As the service begins, a beaming Ido (24) takes Mandy’s hands in his and whispers, “You’re beautiful. I love you,” before the pair turn to face the altar.
For this young couple, who met through Life church five years ago and for whom love only blossomed last year, there’s no doubt that getting married is about much more than just a big, white wedding.
“We’ve done some pre-marriage counselling and a Marriage Works course, and it’s been awesome,” says Ido.
“There are so many simple things that cause people to stumble and which can create hardship, that can almost be skipped by learning from other people’s experiences. It’s been great for us. obviously we’re going to bump our heads sometimes, but now it feels like we’ve got better tools to deal with it.”
The pair, both devoted Pentecostal Christians, wrote their own traditional vows for the ceremony.
Ido told Mandy, “I commit to leading you when I need to lead, and also being led when I need to be led.” And
she declared, “I promise to respect you and acknowledge you as the leader of our home.”
Still fizzing with excitement after the formal part of the day is complete, the newly married Ido gushes about his gorgeous wife. “I’ve thought about this day so many times and then suddenly I was actually standing there.
When Mandy came round the corner I thought, ‘Wow, she’s my bride and this is for real! There’s the woman I love and in this moment we’re going to commit to being together.’ I felt overwhelmed with emotion.
“Then I cried like a child,” laughs the actor, who has never looked so dapper in his blue slim-fit suit, with nude-coloured tie. “But it’s only for one day and you’ve just got to let it flow.”
Mandy, a makeup tutor and artist, grins at her husband and says, “I didn’t feel nervous at all today. My dad’s very sensitive and really emotional and he was crying as we came in. I just couldn’t wait to walk up the aisle and make this incredible decision that we’ve been planning for so long. I felt so confident and excited.
“When we wrote our vows I couldn’t stop crying. But somehow I managed to hold it together on the day. When
I saw Ido, I felt at home. I saw his face and it all made sense.”
The family-oriented pair also arranged for the ceremony to include a special moment of thanks to both sets of parents, Dirk and Carine Drent and Bill and Kitty Hodges, whose strong marriages they hope to model.
But both bride and groom agree the best part of their nuptials was completing their vows and then walking behind the altar to take communion and sign the register. “We were able to talk for the first time,” explains Ido. “I just looked at Mandy and said, ‘Wow, babe, we’re actually married!'”
“We were able to do our secret handshake,” giggles the gorgeous bride.
When the pastor declared them or and ors Drent, Ido and Mandy kissed to huge cheers and wolf whistles from their friends and family.
Champagne and red velvet cupcakes were then passed out as guests mingled in the church.
For Ido, keeping family and loved ones close was a vital element of the day. Next to him during the nuptials was
best man Wykie Etsebeth, a childhood friend who emigrated from South Africa to New Zealand five years after Ido.
“Wykie’s like my brother and I was his best man,” the actor explains. “It was cool to stand by his side as he entered his journey and it’s so cool he’s doing that for me too.
“I’m only who I am today because of my friends and the influence those relationships have had on my life. It’s always good to be reminded that we are hugely indebted to those people. I feel like this is a story that Mandy and I are writing together, but we invite others to please come along for the ride.”
Mandy chimes in, “The theme of our wedding is about story writing because Ido and I always talk about how we want to write an awesome story together. We want to be really intentional with our lives, to always have a plan and a purpose.”
The idea of story writing was reflected in the wedding invitations, which were wrapped with twine to resemble an old-fashioned writing pad, right through to the reception where bound notebooks were placed at each table setting.
The story of Ido and Mandy’s own romance to date was printed on the back of their order of service cards and copies of the same were also rolled into the shape of love hearts and hung from the ceiling above the long rows of tables.
The setting for the reception was an empty warehouse in Auckland city, decked out in an industrial-chic style and illuminated with strings of lights, handmade by Mandy’s parents.
“Mandy’s mum Kitty pretty much put this whole thing together,” smiles Ido, who received a special call from
his parents-in-law that morning offering him last-minute words of encouragement.
As well as sewing the flower girls’ outfits in nude and off-white tones to match the bride and bridesmaids, Kitty baked and decorated the four-tiered red velvet wedding cake for the couple. The dedicated mother-of-the-bride even made a garter for her daughter out of a piece of her own mother’s lace and stitched “I do” in tiny pearls inside.
“She had working bees with her friends to get it all done,” says Mandy.
The wedding feast, prepared by Pearl Harper Catering, consisted of chicken, salmon and a mixture of salads placed on the tables for guests to serve themselves.
“We’re big into community and we wanted people to be sharing and eating together, rather than just having a meal put in front of them,” says Ido.
The adoring newlyweds are still on cloud nine as they declare the day to be perfect, marred only by one tiny hitch.
“I managed to rip my dress right after the ceremony,” laughs a clearly unfazed Mandy. “Luckily there are so many layers that you can’t tell.”
Now, the husband and wife, who have never lived together, will take up residence in the apartment that has previously been Ido’s bachelor pad.
There are no plans to start a family in the immediate future – for now it’s all about settling into the new rhythm
of married life.
“We’re excited about doing the daily grind together and finding enjoyment in that,” says Ido, who is surprising Mandy with a honeymoon to an undisclosed location.
“Being able to fall asleep together at night and wake up together in the morning… all the mundane things become enjoyable when you’re no longer doing them alone.”
Mandy adds, “I’m so happy that we get to spend every day together. We were living independently, but now
we’re coming together and collaborating. I think we’re both pretty awesome separately, but now we’ll be one force.”
Breathing a sigh of contentment at the end of a magical day, Ido declares, “I feel this great sense of relief. We’re married now and it’s awesome. This is just the start for us.”
