Cynthia & James, 24th May 2019

Reflections

22 May

Written By No7 Healesville

For Cynthia and James, their two year friendship, blossomed into a beautiful and loving, lifelong partnership.

Their wedding day embraced faith and tradition, and celebrated friends and family coming together.

How did you meet?

Cynthia

We met through mutual friends at church. James’s housemate Ben was a good friend of mine and one fine Sunday, he brought James to church, and that’s when we first met. After that Sunday, he tagged along to many gatherings, and eventually we got to know each other more. It was not till after being friends for 2 years that we realised we actually had feelings for each other.

Any funny dating stories?

James

On the first date, I thought it would be a great idea to cook steak on a hot summer's day (like 38 degrees hot!) in his apartment kitchen. When Cynthia walked through the door, my small apartment was filled with the haze of burnt steak. After sweating through an overcooked steak dinner in a non air conditioned apartment, I managed to save the day with a homemade chocolate cake.

What was it about Stones of the Yarra Valley that made you choose us?

It was just breathtaking when we first saw the venue. In fact, James was in San Fransisco working and we had FaceTimed him in. Even then, he was completely in love with it from what he could see through the screen. The iconic tree amongst the vineyards, the beautiful chapel, and just the overall serenity of the venue won us over. Not forgetting the lovely reception of Michaela when she took us on the tour. We just knew that this would be the perfect venue.

How would you describe your wedding day?

Everything we wanted and more. It was just a beautiful day of celebration with our loved ones in a beautiful venue like Stones. It actually rained in the morning of our wedding day, but just before the wedding, the sun came out, the skies cleared, and we had the most beautiful sunset after the ceremony. Everything was perfect - the weather, the venue, the food and the wine, the music, the company. Can’t believe we’re saying this but we would do it all over again despite the stresses of planning a wedding!

What did you think would be your favourite part of the day? What did it end up being?

We thought the wedding ceremony would have been our favourite part, and it definitely ended up being that as our favourite part of the day. All our friends and family witnessing our love and commitment to each other. The Chapel was our favourite part of the venue. And having the ceremony in there just made it so special - every angle was filled with love and peace. We remembered standing at the altar, and looking out through the stained glass and seeing the beautiful scenery outside which just made it extra special.

Were there any traditions that were important to incorporate?

It was really important for us to represent our Christian faith through our wedding - being able to sing songs of worship in the Chapel with our friend playing on the grand piano made it all the better. We also incorporated a Tea Ceremony as part of the reception to symbolise the Chinese tradition of showing respect to our elders and welcoming James into the family.

If you could have your day again, is there anything that you would do differently?

No, everything was perfect. :)

Is there any advice that you would give to couples who are currently planning their weddings?

Thinking about what is most important to you both in having a wedding first - anything outside of that is not worth stressing about. Often you get influenced by seeing what a wedding could be like with all the social media. But what will make your wedding perfect is focusing on the things that matter. On a practical note, using the preferred vendors of your venue does help make it a lot easier.

What does marriage mean to you?

Marriage to us is the ultimate expression of love. An unconditional love that requires sacrifice, forgiveness and good old fashioned communication that is rewarded with intimacy, joy and happiness.

Tell us a little about what life is like now...

Cynthia

Life is great! (maybe we are still in the honeymoon phase). We went to the Greek islands for our honeymoon and had the best time, swimming on the beach and eating delicious Greek food, surrounded by blue and white backgrounds. We are getting used to each others’ routines –

James

Cynthia is the clean freak in the relationship and also the better cook, but I’m catching up. We are on the hunt for a house but for now we are really happy in our apartment in lockdown due to COVID-19, bingeing on Netflix shows on our favourite couch that we bought since getting married!