She had a beer. So what.

Taranaki's beer-drinking bride Katrina Hayman is bemused by controversy that has erupted after a photo of her drinking a beer at the Taranaki Bride of the Year competition was published in the Taranaki Daily News yesterday.

Organisers have called for an apology, many callers have expressed their displeasure and online commentators have slammed the photo as "disgusting".

But the woman at the centre of the "outrage" can't understand what the fuss is about.

"I mean that is just the type of person I am. I don't like to portray myself as someone I am not. A lot of females drink beer and it's just I felt more comfortable having a beer than having a wine," Hayman said.

Not only did she love the photo and accompanying story, she had received nothing but support from her friends, family and husband.

She said no-one would have said anything if she had been sipping a glass of wine but she did not conform to a stereotype.

"So what if I enjoy a Tui over drinking wine and I haven't hurt anybody doing that. Only a lot of jealous people would be negative, at the end of the day we are meant to be ourselves," she commented about the story online.

Regardless of Hayman's response, Taranaki Bride of the Year co-convener Lynn Gilbert-Smith wrote a letter to the Daily News to express her hope the editor would apologise to all involved.

"As I am sure many would have preferred to have seen a photo on the front page of the winning bride of the year, rather than a free commercial for Tui."

On the competition's Facebook page, Karley Maetzig said everyone at her work had "discussed what a terrible way it was to portray the event in the paper. Why was the beautiful winner Dayna not on the front page?"

On the Daily News website one person, who had obviously attended the event, called the photograph "disgusting".

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