Navar Herbert was diagnosed with a terminal cancer in October last year and before he died he wanted to marry his sweetheart of three years, Maia Falwasser.
A week before his death he asked to be taken to the mall so he could pick out an engagement ring for Maia.
He proposed to her when he got home.
The 22-year-old and father to a baby boy was near death from rhabdomyosarcoma - an aggressive and highly-malignant form of cancer which had spread to his brain.
Within a few days the community, his friends and family, as well as the local rugby club helped pull the wedding together.
On the morning of the wedding he woke up and told his mum Vanessa, "Today's the day I die."
His mother replied: "No you're not, because your brothers coming home and you're getting married at 4pm."
Just hours after Navar's wedding he lost his battle with cancer.
Vanessa told the NZ Herald even though her son was struggling and visibily ill, he was still able to express feeling to Maia when she walked up the aisle.
His first words to Maia were, "Hello my wife, hello my baby. I love you."
"Even though he couldn't really see her he was like 'whoa'," Vanessa said.
"He knew what was happening and that it was what he and Maia had wanted for a long time.
"You don't like seeing your son suffering ... If he could've stood and said the vows it would've been amazing, but he was in a wheelchair.
"The wedding was beautiful. It's just sad, it would've been nice if he wasn't so sick," she said.
His friends and family performed an emotional haka after they tied the knot.
His mum told the NZ Herald Maia was doing alright.
Maia wrote a message on Navar's GoFundMe page, which has currently raised almost $100,000 to bring him home from Australia to New Zealand to be buried.
"Today my heart is heavy and sad, I lost my best friend, husband and the father to our son. I feel absolutely showered in LOVE by friends and family, this is a hard time, however I do find my strength and refuge in everybody's support," she wrote.
"He has impacted so many people near and far, and he will always be in our memories and have a special place in our hearts," she writes.
He will be buried at Kotahitanga Marae on Tuesday which is his son Kyrie's first birthday.
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