Philippa & David, Friday 7th May 2010

Reflections

8 May

Written By No7 Healesville

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Today marks a very special day for Philippa and David, it’s been ten years since the couple tied the knot with family and friends at Stones of the Yarra Valley.

Over the course of ten years, they have become parents to two wonderful little boys, travelled to some of the worlds most beautiful corners including France, Italy, and Czech Republic and living life to it’s fullest.

Traditionally, Philippa and David would come to Stones of the Yarra Valley, once just the two of them, now with the four of them, to celebrate their wedding anniversary - very sweet!

HOW DID YOU MEET?

We met thanks to two close friends. We were introduced to each other at their wedding where I was bridesmaid and Dave was videographer. It was a brief introduction and we didn’t say more than hello to each other! From that day my best friend and her new husband made a point of mentioning their awesome friend Dave every chance they got. This went on for a year until they decided to send Dave’s phone number to me to finally get the match making in motion. I didn’t feel brave enough to call him but I did hold onto his number. A couple of months later my friends asked if I would mind if they gave Dave my phone number. I said I guess that’s only fair because I already have his! He rang shortly after and we organised our first proper meeting.

Any funny first date stories?

We met for a coffee, not wanting to commit to a long first (almost blind) date, but it ended up lasting three hours! At the end of the coffee catch up Dave asked if I’d like to go out again and we organised dinner and a movie a few days later. We call this night out our first official date and the first catch up a meeting! It was only a day after Dave’s birthday so I offered to shout him the movie ticket. When I handed over my movie card I was told that the movie special was buy one get the second ticket for just one dollar!

What’s one thing you wish you knew before you started planning?

When it comes to wedding planning, there are a lot of big things to get organised as soon as you can. What we didn’t realise was the huge number of little, but important things, that you need to plan, especially as you get to the final week and days before the event.

What made you choose Stones of the Yarra Valley?

Our hearts were set on a venue with picturesque surrounds. We also wanted the convenience of having the ceremony and reception in the one place. Stones of the Yarra Valley ticked all of these boxes. We fell in love with the venue on entering the stunning tree lined driveway and getting that first glimpse of the chapel. We were drawn to the barn with its big picture windows, exposed wood pillars, high ceiling and the spectacular view, and the beautiful chapel with enough space for all our family and friends. Stones of the Yarra Valley was the first venue we visited and nothing else hit the mark after that!

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

The part we thought would be our favourite of the day was the reception in The Barn. Focusing on the big party afterwards definitely helped calm the nerves that we thought we’d feel in anticipation of the ceremony and all the emotions that go with it. We loved the whole day from start to finish! It was just perfect. One little thing that we didn’t expect to enjoy so much was our photo session, hanging out with our bridal party and just having a lot of laughs together. We also had a little time to stop and debrief about the ceremony and just take it all in before the busy reception began. But in the end, we both still say we loved the reception the most. The food, the venue, the music, our family and friends. All supported by a wonderful team from Stones. From David: Watching my bride walk down the aisle was mind-blowing for want of a better word. An explosion of joy and happiness seeing this amazing woman looking beyond incredible, walking down that aisle to become my wife was brilliant.

Did you scrap any wedding traditions? If so, why?

I chose not to toss the bouquet, because as a guest, I never really enjoyed this part of a wedding!

What was your first dance song and why?

Our first dance was to ‘How Sweet It Is’, by Michael Buble. I think we needed an upbeat song to suit our choreographed dance routine! Plus we both love Buble! We had a lot of fun doing several weeks of practice with a dance teacher that had previously worked on Dancing with the Stars. We have great memories of dancing an impressive number (with a few miss-steps), but a recently found video may have shown otherwise.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We were lucky enough to travel to Europe, including France, Italy, and Czech Republic. It was almost 5 weeks of incredible cities, beautiful vistas and fantastic food! Europe in Spring was truly spectacular.

What does marriage mean to you?

For me, marriage means becoming family with the one I love, respect and trust. It is choosing to be present for that person day after day and committing to bring joy to their life in ways no one else can.

Where are you now? Living, career, family?

We are happy living in the suburbs of Melbourne and we have two amazing boys. I’m at home full time with one boy in Kinder and the other in Primary School. Dave has a fulfilling career working in IT.