The new Mrs Rigoni had already died twice in the burns unit at Concord Hospital, and was not expected to survive the trip from Nowra to the Sydney hospital.

In June 2008 Mrs Rigoni suffered burns to 24 per cent of her body when experienced firefighter Craig Beaumont threw methylated spirits on a dying fire at his Huskisson home.

The burning liquid sprayed over Mrs Rigoni, with a blue flame engulfing her face and neck.

Mr Rigoni, also a professional firefighter, sprang to action and saved her life by using his body to smother the flames on her face, allowing her to breathe without destroying her lungs.

Seconds later he extinguished the rest of the flames and administered first aid, aided by other firefighters at the party.

While the incident left Mrs Rigoni with a long stay in hospital, so many operations she lost count, and permanent scars to much of her body, all of that was forgotten during the wedding at Coolangatta on April 16.

“The whole wedding was just fantastic,” she said.

It presented several challenges, as Mrs Rigoni’s injuries left her unable to stand heat or cold, and unable to be out in the sun because of the risk of scars becoming cancerous.

Having a wedding dress that ensured her scars did not become the main focal point was another challenge.

“I really don’t like my scars at all,” Mrs Rigoni said.

“There’s no wedding dress that’s going to cover scars down the side of your face or on your neck.”

Her new husband took a far more philosophical approach.

“Burns and scarring, that’s all superficial, but the person inside - she’s tough, she’s funny, we have a lot of fun together,” Mr Rigoni said.

“I don’t see the scars any more.”

However Mrs Rigoni was quick to add, “I do, I’m still very conscious of them.”

She said the scars were often painful, and tended to contract when she was not active, making it difficult to move freely.

She had also suffered losses of function in her hands, meaning she often dropped things and was unable to do things many took for granted, such as wash her hair properly.

Despite that, laughter remained a key element of the relationship between the couple.

The second time Mrs Rigoni dropped her wine glass, her husband quipped, “For goodness sake if you don’t like the wine just say so.”

During the wedding he crooned, “Come on baby light my fire”.

However the humour was not always as polite, and when Mr Rigoni first saw his then fiancé in the burns unit at Concord Hospital, he looked at her in a swathe of creams, bandages and tubes and said, “Come on, get off your fat lazy arse and do something.”

While the nurses were shocked, a smile slowly appeared on Mrs Rigoni’s face.

Some of the nurses from the burns unit attended the wedding, saying they were usually invited to see patients buried rather than married.