Hi, my name is William and I love wordplay as much as the letter W! I have a keyring with the letter W on it and the Number 4 – that’s what the letter is worth in Scrabble, my favourite word game! When myself and my new bride moved into a house in Wollongong we renamed it Wisteria – Wendy’s favourite flower too…..
When I met Wendy way back when, the Wollongong weather was wicked. It was a beautiful sunny day and I knew instantly that she was a keeper. And that was not because she cared for animals like wombats at Symbio Wildlife Park in our neck of the woods! Or the fact that her name – remarkably – started with a W.
Wendy was a caring individual – you could see that right at the start of our welationship (ok I’ll stop there…) – and we dated and fell in love quickly. I knew she’d be the perfect companion and one day a wonderful mother to our kids.
She had laughed on our first date when I called her a wench and this initiated a conversation around my keyring. She called my love affair with the letter W as an obsession, but we both laughed!
Our romance (gee, I want to write womance that really ought to be a Scrabble word) was swift and soon I popped the inevitable question.
“Will You Wed Will?”
She shrieked and called me a Wight Wally!
But then looked deeply into my eyes and said yes, yes, yes. She could not have made me happier – a wonderful woman called Wendy would satisfy my wildest wants!
Then came the discussions about where we would tie the knot. She drew the line at a winter wedding saying that sounded weird! No, she put her foot down on my W obsession and said it must be spring as, in her own wacky words:
“Will, the weather will be wild!”
Gee, I was in love with Miss W as I called her
She rolled those beautiful eyes a bit when I did a Google search for “Wollongong weddings” and though the area is well-known for people getting hitched in the beautiful surroundings our hometown is famous for, nothing quite fit the bill for our dream wedding.
That was when I recalled the experiment of the Whitlam government from my university studies in Urban Planning – Albury – Wodonga.
For those that might not be aware Albury – Wodonga is the broad settlement of twin cities that straddle the Murray River; Albury is in fact in New South Wales and Wodonga is in Wictoria, alright Victoria.
In the early 1970s Whitlam’s government was keen to decentralise the Australian population and encourage people to move into areas apart from major urban centres like Sydney and Melbourne under the fledgling National Urban Growth Centres plan.
The plan was to turn the Albury – Wodonga area into a major city along the lines of European models at the time. Though the area increased in size it was never the unqualified success that Whitlam had planned on but remains to this day a beautiful area of wineries.
That’s when my brain had a wave……Wendy had just wandered off to put the kettle on while we wambled on about why weddings in Wollongong wouldn’t wash.
I entered Weddings Wodonga into the search engine and Wow!
This was surely the answer to my wildest wishes – a wedding in a winery retreat!
Wendy was soon convinced and encouraged by the website we wended our way the following weekend down south.
The folks there had suggested a visit to the winery would be a good idea to help us make up our mind about using the place for our big day.
And they weren’t wrong”
The winery is a stunning location with the kind of views to die for. While it is perfect for winemaking – the Shiraz being a particularly brilliant drop that the area is renowned for – the area is also ideal for weddings.
We were shown to several locations within the vineyard and were informed that they could handle up to 150 guests. Some of the views were grand and expansive while other areas were more intimate, having a more private feel.
Despite our over-the-top personalities we actually fancied a quieter wedding with a few dozen close friends and family to witness our wonderful wedding. Wonga was also a consideration.
The reps said no problem and a plan was formulated. What was great was that the staff there were not prescriptive and really listened to us so that our wedding was exactly according to Will and Wendy’s wishes!
We decided to take advantage of their commercial catering kitchen rather than bring in our own caterers even though that was an option too. We worked on the menu with a chef who promised delectable meals on-site including my favourite starter – Will’s Wol-au-Wans.
They have both outdoor and indoor locations so all tastes are catered for. I cracked that meant we could have a Wet Winter
Wedding after all but backed down when Wendy scowled a little – the rep was none the wiser….
To cut a long story just a tad short, the wedding was all we wished for and now we are waiting for Will junior. We had exclusive use of all areas of the resort that proved perfect for the wedding pictures and was just as memorable for our guests. It was both intimate and exciting as the blurb on the website had promised and satisfied all the pesky wedding rules.
The venue was customised just as we wanted and, of course, included white and purple Wisteria – loads of it.
Incidentally, did you know that Wisteria symbolises romance in most cultures and the Koreans go further thinking that it carries the meaning of devotion that transcends death?
Perfecto!
Yes, it was a wedding from heaven.
Even if Wendy did insist that I say “I do!”
Rather than “I Will”.