Happy Anniversary

Eighteen years ago I married my Husband, Steve, at Boydtown NSW. We chose the Seahorse Inn as our place to wed because we had had some special moments there in the past. On the day of our wedding the Inn was closed for renovations, but they kindly opened a room for us to get ready in and allowed us to use their grounds for the ceremony.  It was really nice to have the place to ourselves.

Steve and I chose to have a quiet wedding ceremony. We both came from fairly big families so a traditional wedding would have been a reasonably big deal.  We wanted a wedding that would mean something very personal and special to us. We didn't want to please others or conform to convention.

So.... we eloped.

Well, almost eloped.

At the time Steve was living in Bombala and I was living in Canberra.  We saw each other on the weekends, with mainly me, driving down to Bombala for the weekend. This arrangement continued for a while after we were married.

We planned our wedding in secret. This was in the days before everyone had mobile phones. So when we invited our parents down to Bombala for the weekend, we had them at our mercy. I came down in my parents car and we drove through snow.  It was a slightly magical experience being driven through the snow knowing that I was getting married the next day. Also knowing that my parents had no idea that they were transporting their daughter on the day before her marriage. The snow felt like a good omen to me.
 Both sets of parents knew that we had a big announcement, and they were right! I was pregnant with our first baby and we had a very strong relationship, so an engagement announcement was not to be unexpected. What was unexpected was the announcement that came next.

We made dinner on Friday night for our guests and then made the big announcement:

"we are getting married.......tomorrow"

No mobile phones, so no way to let the rest of the family know.  No need for us to worry about gate crashers.

On Saturday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland with a soft coating of snow on the ground. Although Bombala has altitude and is cold, snow is not such a common occurrence. We got all dressed up and headed down to the coast to the Sea Horse Inn at Boydtown.  It was a rainy day, but that didn't bother us a bit.  The rain seemed to bring out the beautiful colours in the gardens.
My father complained about the lack of warning as he felt a little lacking in suitable clothes for a wedding. That didn't bother us a bit either.

My mum was my 'bridesmaid/matron of honour' and Steve's dad was his best man. They were also the witnesses on our wedding certificate. Steve's mum and my dad were given some readings to read out as part of the ceremony. Steve's grand mother was there too. Just the seven of us ( is that a lucky number?) making it very small, very personal and very special.

After the ceremony we adjourned to the Eden Fisherman's Club for lunch and a cake.

Steve and I spent the night at Bumblebrook cottage in Candelo, a farmstay B and B.

Then it was back to life and back to work. We always joke that we spent our honeymoon with other people. On the Monday I went to Long Beach on a camp with my year 3/4 class from Yarralumla Primary School. Steve was at a course in Sydney.