On a wet Christchurch evening, the sun broke through the clouds in time for an emotional interment service at Avonhead Park Cemetery.
More than 350 people, including families who lost loved ones in last February's devastating earthquake, attended the service on Tuesday, on the eve of the quake's first anniversary.
They were joined by dignitaries, including Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae, Prime Minister John Key, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, ambassadors and local MPs.
ChristChurch Cathedral Bishop Matthews led the service, before Mr Parker unveiled a plaque dedicated to the quake victims.
"Many may think that we gather today because there have been many deaths.
"But, in actual fact, we gather because there were lives celebrated, loved and full of laughter," Bishop Matthews told those gathered at the interment site.
"Those lives were taken from you abruptly and without warning, and yet you hold them dear in your heart. So we gather tonight, not because of death, but because of life and love."
Earlier in the day, the remains of four people who could not be formally identified after Christchurch's earthquake on February 22 last year were laid to rest.
Four of the 185 people who died in the disaster were buried in a single casket in a private ceremony at the Avonhead Cemetery on Tuesday morning.
The unidentified victims were Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch, Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, from the Philippines, Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, from Peru, and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident, who were in the CTV building that collapsed and caught fire.
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