AN AUSTRALIAN dairy farmer and bride have caused a media storm after ditching their wedding guests during the reception to lend a hand with a difficult calving.

Jess Laws and her now husband Ben, tied the knot on Saturday, April 24 on their farm in Gorae near Portland, Victoria.

After having to reschedule the wedding due to Covid-19 restrictions, the couple rebooked for April, despite knowing it would coincide with calving.

Holstein cow Fleyas Jacot Drama, lived up to her name by giving birth to her heifer calf during the wedding reception. Just after the speeches had concluded, the bride was asked for help in the calving shed and she quickly hot footed it in her beautiful wedding dress to help with the new calf.

In the days leading up to the wedding, the couple had been concerned about the first time-calver who was three days overdue and had been checking her ever three hours. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Laws said that with a name like Drama, it was only fitting that she was born during their wedding.

“I actually had a couple of close friends who are experienced dairy farmers who were keeping an eye on her during the night. They did the hard work, by the time I managed to extricate myself from the reception, the calf had just been born and I went straight in to check she was breathing, grabbed a towel and tried to dry the calf off.”

The new born calf has been named Olivine Rager Destiny and cow and calf are healthy. She said that she has been born into a well-known breeding line across the Holstein world, and was named after her great great grandmother, also a Destiny.

In all the commotion she didn’t think twice about the fact her wedding dress was ruined in the process.

“As soon as I got a got tap on shoulder saying 'we need help', I didn’t have a second thought for wedding guests or the dress, I couldn’t care less. I had to get to the dairy, to make sure mum and calf were okay.

“My dress is beyond repair. It is pretty damaged and torn but I kept it on for the rest of the wedding reception. At the end of the day, it is only a dress.”