US couple marry in Dunedin synagogue

It was a wedding with a difference in Dunedin yesterday.

Rachel Freedenberg (26) and Dieter Leibold, of Burlingame, California, were married in a Jewish ceremony at the Dunedin Synagogue - believed to be the first wedding held at the venue for more than two decades.

The couple, who travelled around the North Island three years ago, said they came to Dunedin as they wanted to marry in the world's southern-most synagogue.

Mrs Leibold had also visited the northern most synagogue, in Alaska.

A copy editor for a Jewish newspaper, Mrs Leibold said she had pre-written a story for today about their wedding day, and was hoping everything would go to plan.

"I am very nervous," she said.

While their immediate family knew of their wedding plans, it would be a surprise to their wider family and friends, she said.

"It is semi-secret."

The couple, who were joined by several members of the local Jewish community, chose the date to mark the beginning of Hanukkah, the festival of lights.

As part of the ceremony the couple shared a drink of wine from a 135-year-old silver goblet, exchanged rings, signed a wedding contract, before Mr Leibold crushed a glass to a chorus of "mazel tov".

The couple stayed at Larnach Castle last night, and planned a trip to Bluff and bungy jumping in Queenstown before returning home after Christmas.

Asked if they would return to Dunedin for their future wedding anniversaries, the couple said they planned to travel to the city to mark their 10th anniversary.

If the pair were nervous before the wedding, spare a thought for their marriage celebrant and president of the Dunedin Jewish congregation, Ruth Groffman, who led her first Jewish wedding.

"It went very well, which is just as well, as I have another Jewish wedding in Wellington next week."