Hi there, I found this on Papers Past - might help fill in a few gaps for you?

Wedding.
j -HESSON? BARRETT. The Presbyterian Church at Levin was fairly well filled yesterday afternoon to witness the. marriage of Mr John Hesson, of Southland, youngest I son of Mrs Jas. Hesson, to Miss Hilda .Annie, youngest daughter of Mrs Barratt, of Levin, and the late Mr F. Bar. rett, both formerly of Grey town North. Wine Ttev. Bawden Harris performed the ceremony. The bride was charmingly attired .in a soft satin gown with handsome pearl trimming, over a bodice of fine net and lace, with the usual veil and orange blossoms and shower bouquet. She was given away by her brother, Mr Norman Barrett, of Foxton, and Mr W. L. Kemp ton, a cousin, acted as Best man. Mass Elsie Barrett, sister of the bride, was .diiief bridesmaid, and wore a pretty lace dress with, black net hat relieved with pink; and Miss Etva Oldifeild, of Feilding, and Miss N.yla Nation, of Ngaio, cousins of. the bride, flore silk coat frodke, with black crope-de-chene hats, each-carrying bout qnets of spring flowers. The beautiful bouquets were'the gifts of Miss Prouse. The church was prettily decorated by Miss Whitaker and Mrs T. Devine presided at the organ, playing the Wedding March at tlio conclusion of tljo ceremony. The bridegroom's presents to the bridesmaids were, to the ohief bridesmaid, a gold chain and pendant, to the others gold brooches. The ceremony at the church being over can's conveyed the party to the photographer's, after which ther? was a large gathering at Williams's tea rooms, where fully seventy persons sat down' to a dainty spread. The chair was taken by Mr W. C. Nation, grandfather of the bride. As usual the first toast was "The Bride and Bridegroom," proposed in a neat little speech by the Be v. Bawden Harris. The bridegroom responded. Mr Tom Brown proposed the health, of the three bridesmaids?Miss Elsie Barrett, the bride's sister. Miss Eva Oldfeild, of Feilding, and Miss Nada Nation, of Ngaio, cousins of the bride. Mr Walter Kempton of Grey town North, as bestman, replied on their behalf. Mr J. K. Hornblow, of Foxton, proposed the health of the bride's mother, and referred to his acquaintance with the Nation family even to four generations. On behalf of Mrs Barratt, her father replied,. The Rev. Bawden Harris proposed the toast of "The boys at the front," where Mrs Barratt had two sons, and he spoke feelingly of the boys belonging to New Zealand families who were in the fighting line. The chairman followed up Site rev. gentleman's remarks and the toast ended with cheers for the absent ones; Mr Nation proposed "The Guests" and divided his remarks between the young people, the more advanced in life and. those who were well on in years and near the close of their earthly career. To this toast Mr M. Fosella responded as one of the early settlers of this district. All the toasts were drunk with musical honours. The bride was the recipient of a splendid lot of useful and valuable presents, among them being a beautiful cake from her, uncle, Mr O. C. Nation, of Ohakune. As the newly married couple were desirous of going to Wellington by t'lite 4.30 train there was a quick farewell and they were treated to showers of rice arid confetti. At the railway station they were stormed with fresh showers and even attacked in the waiting carriages by about forty of their friends. As the train moved, off the departing couple were given three hearty cheers and it was very evident that' the" bride had 'become very popular during her residence in Levin. Her travelling dress was a grey tailor-made costume arid she wore a small grey hat lined with pink satin and trimmed with pin'k posies.
Horowhenua Chronicle , 12 September 1918, Page 2

Hello again, I've had time to have a closer look and I think that my first post is the generation before your grandmother. Here is another extract from Papers Past that might be more helpful.
WEDDING

BARRETT?LAWLOR

The wedding took place at St. Mary of the Angels Church on Saturday of Miss Ruth Josephine Lawlor, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Lawlor. of Hawker Street, to Sergeant G. W. Barrett (Wellington Second Battalion), only son of Mr. and Mrs. P. P. Barrett, of Mulgrave Street. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Father Stewart, S.M.. who also said the Nuptial Mass.

The bride, who was given away by her father, was dressed in a trained gown of magnolia satin with matching veil and orange blossoms. She car-

ried a sheaf of pink carnations, rosebuds, and gladioli. The bridesmaid was Miss Elsie Barrett, sister of the bridegroom, and she wore cyclamen georgette with tulle veil, and a bouquet of gladioli and carnations. The best man was Mr. Peter Lawlor, brother of the bride. -Miss Eileen Dennehy. cousin of the bride, played the Wedding March as the couple entered and left the church, and also accompanied the singing of two sacred solos rendered by Miss Nella Plimmer and Mr, E J. Healy. A reception was held in the morning at the Empire Hotel. An interesting toast was that of Mrs. H. E. Lawlor, grandmother of the bride, who celebrates her eighty-filth birthday in a few days. The newly-married couple left by car for a tour of the north.
Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 123, 27 May 1941, Page 4

Hi - and nice to meet you! We are cousins! I am Jennifer the eldest daughter of George Barrett your grandmother's brother. I have a thought that you may have met George, and Elizabeth my sister at your grandmother's funeral a few years ago. George of course passed away nearly three years ago and Elizabeth sadly and way too young, on April 1 this year..
Every time we siblings get together we talk long and seriously about doing something about researching the Barrett Family Tree. Unfortunately have yet done anything about it.
I have memories of your great grandmother and great grandfather and their large old boarding house at the bottom of Mulgrave Street on the site of the current National Archives building. I believe they also had a prior boarding house in Thorndon which had been. A private hospital. I don't ever remember visiting this house but last time I was in Thorndon some years ago it was still in existence. I always understood from Dad (George) that the boarding house business was largely run by your great grandmother.
However I can give you some info. As I have copies of your great grandparent's marriage registration and of your great grandmothers birth certificate -
Phillip Patrick Barrett (a Seaman) and Elsie May Ryderberg were married at St Mary Of the Angels in Wellington on Dec. 28 1910. Philip was born in Christchurch - his parents being Joseph Thomas Barrett (a Carpenter) and Margaret Cecelia Barrett (nee Duffy).
Elsie May was born in Paddington, Sydney and her parents were George William Ryderberg (Bricklayer) and Henryetta Ryderberg (nee Evans).
Elsie May was born on Dec. 10 1886.
George William Ryderberg and Henrietta Evans were married on Dec. 30 1885 at Kelson. Henrietta was born in Bathurst.
I don't have birth dates for these two but George was 26 and was born in Liverpool NSW and Henrietta was 22 when they married.
I think/hope I've got that all right and that its of some help.
Do you live in the greater Wellington area? - I'm in Waikanae. If you would like to meet up and have a chat and see if we can fill in some gaps for each other just let me know.
Cheers.

Hi Jenross/Jennifer.
Thank you so much for this information! Yes, I live in Lower Hutt, where my mother, Ann and sister, Renee still live. I sadly only met George the once at Nana Elsie's funeral several years back and also Liz. My mother, step-father and I came to Liz's funeral to pay our respects. I think my mother Ann keeps in contact with Ceal's son from Invercargill(?)(his name evades me) who had come up for the funeral too.
I was told that Nana's mother was from Oz so what you've just provided seems to fit.
I would like to connect and try my best to fill in gaps for you; I've only just started dabbling in the geneology stuff only this past year, so may not have much (and there's only so far you can go before you start spending money on these things, of which I don't have much of!).
I have Saturdays off work and work Sundays. If ok with you,I could ask Ann/mum to come with me and we can have a good ol' chinwag. Just let me know. Great to reconnect again :)
Michelle

Hi Michelle
Glad I could provide a little bit of help! I do remember your mother Ann from wAy back but haven't had anything to do with her for years.
It would be great if we could all meet up and try and fill in some more gaps/memories for each other. Would you like to come up here or would you prefer if we met somewhere in between? I am retired of course so I can fit in with whatever works best for you and Ann. I think I will probably be going to Emma's (my granddaughter) Cheer competitions in Porirua this coming Saturday and I'll be away from 4 - 13 September. just let me know some dates that work for you and we'll go from there. Jenny'.

Hi Michelle
Glad I could provide a little bit of help! I do remember your mother Ann from wAy back but haven't had anything to do with her for years.
It would be great if we could all meet up and try and fill in some more gaps/memories for each other. Would you like to come up here or would you prefer if we met somewhere in between? I am retired of course so I can fit in with whatever works best for you and Ann. I think I will probably be going to Emma's (my granddaughter) Cheer competitions in Porirua this coming Saturday and I'll be away from 4 - 13 September. just let me know some dates that work for you and we'll go from there. Jenny'.

Hi Michelle
Glad I could provide a little bit of help! I do remember your mother Ann from wAy back but haven't had anything to do with her for years.
It would be great if we could all meet up and try and fill in some more gaps/memories for each other. Would you like to come up here or would you prefer if we met somewhere in between? I am retired of course so I can fit in with whatever works best for you and Ann. I think I will probably be going to Emma's (my granddaughter) Cheer competitions in Porirua this coming Saturday and I'll be away from 4 - 13 September. just let me know some dates that work for you and we'll go from there. Jenny'.