Regarding pre 1880 marriages in NZ, it's already been pointed out that the parents of the parties aren't included on certificates, but in my research I've sometimes had success finding newspaper marriage notices. The information on these is extremely variable but sometimes I've struck gold, such as the groom was the "third son of ---- ---- of County Antrim, Ireland", which is information I wouldn't have even found on a post 1880 marriage certificate. Almost always parental information in newspaper marriage notices will be limited to fathers of each party, and often only the bride's father. I would always advise tracking down newspaper notices for any pre 1880 NZ marriage. Papers Past, of course, is the way to find these.
