Vines of the Yarra Valley Wedding – Simone & David’s Wedding

It was an exciting autumn day when Simone and David said “I Do” in their Vines of the Yarra Valley Wedding.

Their story is a modern fairytale.  It began with a ‘swipe right’ on Tinder and quickly showed promise, growing to become a loving partnership that was celebrated in their Vines of the Yarra Valley wedding.

From early morning until late into the night, this Vines of the Yarra Valley wedding was the result of lots of thoughtful preparation.  Simone was stunning in her Stella York gown from Fairytale Bridal, with Pearly Hair Stylist and Glamour Makeup Artistry by Emma putting final touches on her look.

Debbie O’Neil was the amazing florist responsible for the white and green bridal bouquets and floral arrangements, and Simone’s bridesmaids wore burgundy Forever New dresses that created the perfect contrast.  David and his sidekicks looked handsome in their Zac Mens suits, adding to the wedding’s classic style.

I am no stranger to officiating weddings at Vines of the Yarra Valley.  Living only ten minutes from the venue, they also have me listed as a preferred supplier.

The connection shared by this lovely couple was apparent throughout the day and confirmed with their heartfelt vows. 

As can sometimes happen in autumn, the sky clouded with the threat of rain, but we managed to successfully make it through the ceremony and take advantage of the divine views before the drizzle began.  At this point we moved the signing of the register indoors.  Fortunately, we went with the flow and had the petal toss recessional before the signing, so that it could happen outdoors.  This was an important element for the newlyweds.

We can’t continue without mentioning the sweet flower girl, Isabelle, who undoubtedly stole the show on numerous occasions.

Photography and videography were covered by the ever-professional Mike and Amy Photographers.  There are so many wonderful photos and video clips that Simone and David will have no trouble recalling wedding details for years to come.

Joining guests at the reception, the happy couple let their hair down and continued to enjoy the special day. Something Borrowed Duo kept the party going with fantastic entertainment throughout the evening.

I feel so grateful to have been part of Simone and David’s big day.  I wish them every happiness for the journey ahead.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Hawes!

Take a look at Vines of the Yarra Valley’s blog post with their fav 99 Celebrants in Melbourne, featuring yours truly!

 I also make a feature in their sister venue, Vogue Ballroom’s blog with their top 10 Celebrants in Melbourne!

Simone and David’s Love Story

Simone and David met where many modern-day couples find a partner these days, swiping right on tinder. Although after getting to know each other they realised they had lived just streets away from each other their whole lives, worked across the road from each other, went to schools near each other and also caught the same bus home together.

Simone’s first impression of David was how nice he was and how easily they got along because of so many similar interests and values. When David first saw Simone his first impression was shock, in a good way of course. He couldn’t believe that someone so attractive wanted to go on a date with him. But he soon realised she also had a beautiful heart and was an admirable person. David noticed straight away that she put a lot of trust into him and that made him feel very comfortable for a shy guy.

Their first date was to Lysterfield Lake. David picked up Simone and brought his dog with him. He sat around the corner for 30 minutes waiting to pick her up and nearly left a few times as he was that nervous.

It was a great date though. They sat for hours talking about each other, their interests, each other’s family history and their love for animals and sport. In these early stages of dating, the first thing Simone was impressed by was how David wanted to introduce her to his family and meet her family and friends.  Most of all how, it was how much he already cared about her. What impressed David about Simone the most was the respect and trust she gave him from the very start; she opened her heart to him early on it was clear she was such a friendly and compassionate person. David also opened up about being a Type 1 Diabetic and, from that day on, she has always made sure he’s ok.

David proposed in Narooma. A couple of days in, Simone had a good feeling that it might happen; she sensed something was up with David. After lunch, they visited Narooma’s most famous attractions, the glass house rocks and the Australian rock. After taking a wrong turn into a cemetery, they finally made it to the beach with a very sweaty and nervous Dave, not unlike their first date.

Before Simone knew it, Dave was down on one knee, shaking, asking her to marry him to which she replied yes. To calm the nerves, they went back to share a bottle of wine and some fish and chips by the water.

Simone describes Dave as loyal, caring and passionate. David is her rock in life, he is such a hard worker and never; complains even at tough times, he’s always thinking positively and striving to be the very best he can be. David has taught her to be more relaxed and enjoy life for what it is and to love who she is and what she’s achieved in life.

Dave describes Simone as loyal, brave and beautiful. He loves that Simone makes him feel like the happiest person in the world, she has the best heart and he’s just so grateful that to spend the rest of his life with her. She is funny, passionate and compassionate. He loves the way she loves him, the way she makes him laugh and smile and the way she supports him. David appreciates how she embraced the diabetes and helped him through it all with lollies and blood tests. She is his best friend, his rock, his world and he loves that today she’ll become his wife. Simone has taught him to love and trust, express himself, be confident and to enjoy the little things in life.

Simone and Dave love spending time together; going to the footy, walks with the dogs, road trips, adventures, drinking wine and working around their home together are some of their favourite pastimes. In continuing their relationship in marriage they know that respect, love and honesty will be extremely important as well as exciting adventures. Simone can’t wait to call Dave her husband when talking to others, and for Dave, today is the day he gets to marry his princess, calling Simone his wife and other half. They look forward to making their families proud, raise a happy, healthy and close family of their own and seeing where life takes them as husband and wife.

The Vows 

David

Simone, it means the world to me, to be standing here today. I’m so lucky that I’m able to take my best friend’s hand in marriage and call you my wife. 

Your smile and presence immediately puts me at ease and it always brightens my day. I love your quirkiness, I love your laugh and I love the care and support you give to me. I’m so proud of everything that you have achieved and I love that you just never give up. I’ve loved all our little adventures, all our fun holidays and weekends at the football.  

You’ve made me the person I always wanted to be and I can’t imagine my life without you. 

In return I promise to always support you and be there to put a smile on your face. I promise to give you all the words when they are needed and the silence when they are not. I promise to love you unconditionally and to care for you and our families. I promise to keep getting you the blanket in the middle of the night when you’re cold and I’m in the middle of the best sleep ever. I promise to always protect you from the littlest of spiders that I have to somehow kill when I can’t even see them. I promise I’ll keep stopping what I’m doing so I can watch you crazily run around the house with Buckely. I promise I’ll always encourage you and have your back and, lastly, I promise that when we are old and grey and reflect on our lives together that I will still love you as much as I do today. 

I will always laugh with you, cry with you, trust you and throughout all that life will bring us I’ll always cherish every moment, As one lifetime with you could never be enough. I love that I get to always live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.

You are my world, my boo, my love and now my beautiful wife. 

I love you Monie.

Simone 

David, you are always happy and adventurous and strong! I love you because you love your family and friends just as fiercely as I love mine. I love that your family has become mine and my family has become yours. You are my soul mate and even though we don’t go for the same football team I am so happy we are on the same team! 

You have taught me so many great values in life and helped me to become who I am today so for that I promise to always listen to you, learn from you, laugh with you, cry with you, value our differences just as much as our common ground, to share your journey with type 1 diabetes even if that means waking up during the night to feed you lollies but only if I can have one too. 

I don’t know if this counts, but I can basically promise to evenly distribute my cuddle time between you and our fur baby Buckley. 

I promise to love you, to be your best friend, to respect and support you, to be patient with you, to work together with you to achieve our goals and to share my life with you forever. 

You are the love of my life and you make me happier than I could have ever imagined and more loved than I ever thought was possible.

I’m so lucky you’re mine and I look forward to our next chapter in life together as husband and wife, I love you forever.