Veronika & Robert - and the nudist beach!

Meet Veronika and Robert.  (They are really, really sweet)

Veronika came here ( from Slovakia) to Sydney to study English. Robert followed her over because life was no good without her. They decided to get married while they were here, and I was lucky enough to do the best bit! I had to hug her almost as soon as I met her. She was utterly delightful, and although there was a little language barrier at times, we got there!

There were some giggles along the way. Lots of them. 

Imagine a couple from overseas, unfamiliar with Sydney's little secrets, who stumble upon a "deserted beach" and decide it would be perfect for their casual holiday wedding. ( On the day they found the beach     - Little CongWong - it was wet and cool) Imagine their surprise to revisit the spot on a  sunny day and find it FULL of nudists! As it was on the wedding day....

Imagine the sight of Robert and Veronika and myself, sitting in a pub beer garden, whilst they give me a beginners (phonetic) lesson in Slovak. Believe me - Cantonese and Mandarin are easy.......

They'd say the words and I would repeat them back, over and over again, until I kind-of sort-of got them right. Why? Because Veronika's mother was at home in Slovakia, thinking of her daughter and had written a letter for her for the big day. It was a long letter. I did my best....

Imagine the poor photographer, Felipe Dorlhiac as he tried to find a safe place to shoot his photos with a minimum of  err appendages in the back ground, and videographer Tedy Sutanto in the same pickle. 

There's something funny about men on nudist beaches. Women are reasonably modest. Men are out there. Right out. And they won't sit down. So every know and again, we would catch one just (deliberately) cruising through the background.

None of it mattered. The guests  - all travellers  - had a beer in their hands and a smile on their faces. The bride slithered into a slinky (blue) g-string that one of the guests brought her as a gift, behind the rocks, and over what she was already wearing - and we laughed a lot. (They may have been laughing at my Slovak, but I was laughing because being there was so gorgeous!)

When Veronika first met me, she started to call me "Our Wedding Angel". Yep, I'll wear that one, too. 

Veronika and Robert xxxxxx

                                                            

Thanks for the lovely photos Felipe!

Sarah & Nick - a winter wedding by the beach!

Oooh! I loved Sarah and Nick! Such lovely, lovely people. 

The soldier and the doctor, who lived in Townsville and decided to have a July wedding. In Sydney. At Balmoral. At 4:30pm. BYO wetsuit for warmth.....Brrrrr

And it was freezing. I think my back went into spasm as I shivered away - and Sarah's very, very kind mum insisted I wrap myself up for the signing - and I  gave in, and did as I was told.

But apart from that, there was nothing I would change about this lovely winter moment. Nothing. It was heartfelt - the warmth was between them and their families - and romantic - without a skerrick of cheese. Which as you know, I love - but only on a cracker - and never at your wedding. I loved that Sarah braved the cold for the ceremony, but that she didn't expect her bridesmaids to - and they wore red velvet dresses and little cream cardigans. Super cute and absolutely practical. That Nick's face absolutely shone at the sight of his Sarah coming down the aisle. And that from the moment we first spoke, they seemed to trust me completely to give them a ceremony much, much better than they had ever expected. So I did!

Proof that Sarah and Nick are truly warm and wonderful people? When we first met - in person - instead of Skype - and I warned them that my 3 year old would be home, and could possibly be feral, they said "no worries". And when he came in, to say hello, absolutely and completely pants-less, they didn't even blink. Not once. xxxxxx

    

                                                      

Simon & Chantel! (For Like Ever!)

Meet Simon and Chantel!  I love them. They are spunky and fun, and determined and easy-going, all at once. They married (with a little help from me) in October 2011, but we first met in February 2010, when they came home from London, for a wedding planning holiday. We met for a chat, and got on really well, and there began months and months of back and forth chatting. They changed their minds about their ceremony venue many times - "close to Boy Charlton Pool, but not cheesy, no Sydney landmarks in the background, good photo locations, something different..." and got disappointed when Chantel would discover something and find it was booked or she had too many guests to fit in it! Finally, they settled upon the Palm House in the Botanic Gardens, because we had a rainy day backup, and lucky we did!

Chantel was a big blogger, and somewhat addicted to the odd twitter rant, so by the time they arrived home from London in April 2011, I felt like I was working with old friends. (Which is such a nice feeling) I was determined to give them way more than they had bargained for. Which, is of course, exactly what they deserved. 

I loved their big day. I loved that Chantel kept great humour, and laughed about it, as their way down the aisle was delayed by her mother's broken shoe. I loved that Simon warned me that he would probably be the blubberer, and he did - a little. I loved that even though they did their homework and we worked on the ceremony together, I could tell that hearing it, for the first time still caught them by surprise. I loved that they trusted me to do my thing, without question. 

Chantel looked beautiful. Really beautiful. Simon was dapper and cool. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were friendly and delightful. The mums hugged me. Everyone hugged me.

There is nothing about this moment that I would change - and these two will always be very, very special to me. Fact. (Shame it's over, really)

Chantel thinks I look cheeky in this shot.....

Ok, so maybe I got a little carried away with photos, but Chantel sent me a ton, and much-adored Brisbane photographer Jonas Peterson did a great job, so why not share!

Gerald & Judy .....in the Rose Gardens

When Gerald first contacted me about his September wedding to Judy, he told me that some of his best friends were one of my all-time favourite couples - Mark & Kweeyin, who I married in my first year of being a celebrant. I was so excited at the chance to help some of their friends - and to see them again.

I love a reunion! Everything was so easy in the lead up to the big day, though they did leave everything to the last minute ( They weren't the first to have me worried, and no doubt, they won't be the last, either!) Judy kept worrying about the weather, but Gerald wasn't worried about anything. He was going to marry the girl he had waited ten years for. Nothing would have wiped the big smiles off his face. Nothing!

As it was, the weather was a little iffy on the day and we decided to err on the side of caution and bring the ceremony undercover to the pavilion, which is such handy back-up of the Rose Gardens. So the smattering of rain didn't bother us at all - and everything else was beautiful. Judy looked absolutely stunning - all modern and traditional at the same time in off-white lace with bit of a fish tail. Gerald and the boys were every bit the gentlemen. 

It was simple. It was heartfelt and it was just lovely to be surrounded by such delightful people. Did I get my reunion? Yes!  I did. Hugs all round!

Thanks to Pepper Image for these photos. They were speedy too  I looooove photographers who give me photos soon after the ceremony. Love it! Wish there were more.......

The day I married my father! ( No, no, not like that!)

So, my father calls me into his office - at the end of September - and he says to me "Robbie, what Fridays do you have free in November", and I said to him "only the 25th!" He replied, "I'll take it. I'll get married on that day", and with that quick conversation, he handed the entire thing over to me. The planning. The organising. The guest list. Everything. Aaaah! In almost any other month of the year, this would have been a big job, but in November, it was a huge job.

So I called in my dream team. My friends..... Amy Chan to do all the hair and makeup for the bride and bridesmaids - and ever so kindly, she did me over too. Thanks Amy! xxxxxx And the delightful and super-talented Elaine Chew of Butterfly Philosophy for all the gorgeous flowers. I knew she would just know what I wanted, without me having to think about it. And Milena Dekic, sweet gorgeous photographer extraordinaire of I Love Wednesdays to capture it all. With me in charge of the ceremony  - and everything else - we had it under control.
We planned to do the ceremony overlooking the water at Drummoyne. We planned for a sunshiny day  - (of course we did) - but we got the wettest week we had had in ages. Torrential rain, for the whole day - except - miraculously - the 30 minutes or so we needed for a midday ceremony. It sprinkled a little, but only a little....
It wasn't the easiest ceremony to write. Dad isn't what you'd call romantic. Lily is very quiet. We had 60 guests that I knew - or who at least knew who I was. It had to be good. I had to get it right. It had to be believable. And once I got started, I really quite enjoyed it. Dad had to do as I told him - for once. I was able to get them all laughing - him too. And I got to see the reactions of all of them - because none of them really knew I had it in me! ( That was fun!)
As soon as the ceremony was over and poor Milena had stood as high on her toes as she possibly could to get a photo of everyone together, we raced back upstairs to the restaurant for what turned out to be a really great afternoon, on a really dark, unbelievably wet afternoon.

And all day, I had to keep reminding myself not to say the following "I married my father, today!" For obvious reasons.

thank you , thank you lovely Milena Dekic of http://www.ilovewednesdays.com/ for taking such lovely photos of   my Dad's wedding!