The Local - tlnews.com.au
Congratulations 5
Italia, Italia (and some history) at a wondrous wedding Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Peter Krotiris.
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OVE and history combined in a spectacular and beautiful way at a recent wedding at Lavandula.
Forebears of the bride, say her family, are linked to the Eureka Stockade rebellion, while a road in the district carries her husband’s name. To add to the picture, the couple met in The Hague while doing internships with the UN, became friends and got together in Melbourne the following year. So 150 people, including 18 from abroad, watched the sunset union of journalist Grace Jennings-Edquist and lawyer Ben Cerini. About three days were spent setting up a big marquee, while outside hay bales decorated with calico and olive sprigs echoed Italy. As Grace’s father, lawyer Chris Edquist said, Lavandula was especially appropriate because of how the discovery of gold in Victoria, with the rich diggings at Daylesford, led to the arrival of a group of Swiss Italians, including the Tinettis, who built the original stone farm house at what is now the lavender farm and whose descendants live up the road. Grace, 27, is descended from Sam Lord who was at the Eureka Stockade with Raffaello Carboni whose little book, at first thought to be inaccurate, was reprinted four times in 30 years and is seen as central to a turning point in Australia’s history. One of the inner committee in the uprising, Carboni was absent when the soldiers attacked but was one of 12 charged with high treason, then acquitted since no jury would convict them. Grace’s husband Ben, also 27, is linked to the area as a descendant of Giuseppe Cerini, whose ancestor
Guiseppe gives his name to a road in Wheatsheaf (fortunately such names were kept, unlike those said to have been replaced by numbered streets because of wartime patriotic fervour in Hepburn). Ben’s great-uncle, Father Charlie Cerini, was well known in Daylesford. Grace is senior editor with the popular Mamamia website and Ben works in construction and infrastructure law in the Sydney office of the international firm Holman Fenwick Willan. Grace wore a lace and tulle fishtail dress by Pronovias, which she had altered to become strapless. The veil was Vera Wang. She found “sparkly gold shoes” in New York. She bought her bridesmaids’ ivory lace dresses off-the-rack on a whim in Sydney, then paired them with eclectic Alannah Hill belts. Fourteen relatives, including two flowergirls,
came from the US, two from London and one from Malaysia. Gary Thomas of Spade to Blade marked his Italian heritage with dishes such as bullboar sausages. Baker Boys Band provided the music, while the florist was Arnie Way from Flowers in a Vase, Woodend. Grace’s father, Chris Edquist, sits on the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and her mother, Dr Gael Jennings, is an award-winning journalist and a senior lecturer at the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne. Topping off their joyous day, Grace, Ben, mates and relos kicked on at the Old Hepburn Hotel. The couple will honeymoon in Europe in June.
Dr Shelley L Beer Chinese Medicine
2/12 Albert St, Daylesford. Community Open Group Acupuncture (drop ins welcome) Tuesday 2pm -5.30pm, Thursday 9.30am - noon. Express needling on chairs at the SAME time as others $30 (cash) or bookings of four $5 off each. Private consultations still by appointment Tues – Sat. 0417 036 153 www.tcmconsultancy.com