Bindi Irwin says her family and friends "encouraged" her to get married despite being unable to attend due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 21-year-old conservationist and her husband Chandler Powell had to change their "entire wedding" earlier this year when the global health crisis meant they were unable to invite any guests, and Bindi has now said she received plenty of "love and support" from those who were supposed to attend.
Posting a picture on Instagram which was taken on her wedding day in April, she wrote: "This moment. My favourite wedding day photograph. This isn’t the fairytale image capturing the ‘perfect’ wedding day feeling. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. This picture was taken after we had to change our entire wedding. We decided not to have wedding guests due to the global crisis for everyone’s health and safety. Our family and friends couldn’t be there to celebrate with us. However, they all encouraged us to continue on and get married. From their love and support, we felt love win. (sic)"
And Bindi also claimed that even her scaled back wedding didn’t go to plan, as paparazzi flew over her home in Australia Zoo, and she was forced to move to a different part of the zoo to continue the ceremony.
She added: "On our wedding day we were finally about to get married and the paparazzi flew over us in a helicopter scaring our wildlife. We had to leave our stunning wedding venue on the African Savannah for their safety. I said goodbye to the place I had dreamed of getting married for so many years.
"At that moment I remembered the filming barn where I’d spent much of my life with my family working on ‘Crocodile Hunter’ and ‘Bindi The Jungle Girl’. I knew we could make it work and our zoo crew helped us to move everything inside. I watched love win. (sic)"
When things became too overwhelming, Bindi credits her husband Chandler with reminding her "love always wins".
Concluding her lengthy caption, she wrote: "At one point I sat on a chair in the corner doing my best not to think about how overwhelming things seemed. I missed the people who couldn’t be there, my dad, Chandler’s family, our dear friends, my family.
"Chandler stopped what he was doing and sat next to me. I asked him to list me happy things. He proceeded to remind me that love ALWAYS wins. That’s when this picture was taken.
"Despite everything, we got married and I’ll forever be grateful. Sure, things weren’t perfect but that’s life. Life is messy and beautiful and meant to be felt. We were overcoming great obstacles to prove that unconditional love is the most important foundation. Our wedding day wasn’t what we planned but it was an extraordinary starting point for our marriage to bloom. (sic)"