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Sebastian and Jeff
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PHOTOS: NATALIE BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff
AND SebastianWALLERAWANG
COMMITMENT, COMMUNITY AND CLASS –JEFF AND SEBASTIAN’S WALLERAWANG WEDDING HAD IT ALL!
Jeff Thurlow and Sebastian Caruso have lived and worked in many of Australia’s capital cities and regional centres but for the past nine years have happily called Hartley home. After meeting on a blind date back in 2006, they became inseparable and some 12 years later were finally able to combine their love of classic elegance and Hollywood glamour to create their perfect wedding.
Celebrating community was always going to play a part in the couple’s wedding. “Jeff and I have lived in the local area for just over nine years, in which time we have become an integral part of the community and have made many friends,” Sebastian explains.
“Our wedding was not only a celebration of our love and commitment to each other but also a celebration of our life here in the Hartley/Lithgow area and all the friends we have made, who were all present at our wedding.”
They always wanted to marry locally and luckily the pair found just the venue. “We stumbled across the Black Gold Motel in Wallerawang last year when we went to the motel’s Crib Room Restaurant for Jeff’s birthday,” says Sebastian. “We were so impressed with the location, food and service that as soon as the legislation supporting marriage equality was passed, we immediately booked it for our wedding.”
The Black Gold Motel, located in the old Wallerawang Primary School, is steeped in history and has undergone extensive restoration work by its current owners, Robert and Linda Cluff. “It was important to us to be married in our local area as we have had such happy years living here and thought it was a great opportunity to showcase the area to our family and friends,” says Jeff.
The couple engaged local stylist Rhonda Collins of Rhonda Collins Events to transform one of the dining rooms at the Black Gold Motel into a classic-style chapel, complete with beautiful flower arrangements, white chairs and a white aisle runner for the pair to walk down.
“Rhonda captured our personalities so well – classic for Sebastian and Hollywood for me,” says Jeff. “She even designed and made an arbour especially for our wedding.”
The ceremony was conducted by Orange-based civil celebrant Simon Price, who both Jeff and Sebastian have known for some time. “We were honoured to have such a great friend marry us,” says Sebastian. “Simon was great to work with and we were able to include many personal, local, cultural and spiritual elements in the ceremony, such as an acknowledgement of country, traditional prayers and poems, recognition of our spirituality (our wedding day fell on Palm Sunday) and aspects of my Italian culture, including a candle ceremony whereby a member of each family lights a candle and together light the candle of marriage and unity.” In addition, lighted candles paid tribute to Sebastian’s Dad and Jeff’s Mum, who have both passed away.
The bridal party included the couple’s nieces, Holly Wollstein and Lucy Lever, as flower girls and nephew Harry Lever as page boy. “Holly and Lucy wore ’50s-style dresses made to order in Portland from local dressmaker Evelyn Staff. They were a beautiful navy dupion silk, finished off with a cream sash,” recalls Sebastian.
Harry was dressed to impress in “hipster gear” from Next and H&M, and showed off his self-taught musical talent at the reception with a piano rendition of one of the couple’s favourite Carpenters songs, Close to You.
While Jeff chose a traditional white-gold wedding ring from Prouds The Jewellers in Lithgow, Sebastian’s wedding ring, made by Craig Hill Jeweller of Lawson, reflected family ties. “Craig made my wedding ring to complement a ring my Mum gave my late Dad when they were courting in Italy,” he explains. “Mum and Dad would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year, so it was special to have Dad’s ring as part of my wedding-ring set.”
The attention to detail even extended to the ring cushion, which was commissioned locally. “It was made by local designers Tom and Sandy Fullerton of Fullerton Design, who are wonderful friends of ours,” says Jeff .
A total of 130 guests from far and wide joined the couple to celebrate their special day. The reception was also held at the Crib Room Restaurant at the Black Gold Motel. “Rhonda Collins styled both the ceremony and the reception with the same black-and-white theme.
“Jeff is a huge fan of the classic Hollywood actresses such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Greta Garbo, so it was only fi tting that each table was named after an actress,” Sebastian explains. “Guests at each table were asked to research their allocated actress so they could participate in a little trivia game, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.”
Guests at the ‘Judy Garland’ table exceeded all expectations when they performed a surprise fl ash-mob rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, actions and all!
Sebastian’s sister Giovanna Lever and brother-in-law Ben Lever kept guests entertained as MCs, reading telegrams and ensuring the speeches were short, sharp and spread across the reception.
“Jeff and I were so happy to fi nally share our love and commitment through marriage in front of our friends and family. It was great to see people from all diff erent aspects of our life – lifelong friends, local friends and work – come together on our special day. We chose to have a morning wedding followed by a long lunch, as it refl ects the people we are. We both love a good long lunch with friends and family. It was a cool, crisp day that was relaxing and lots of fun.”
In lieu of gifts, the couple requested guests donate to Parkinson’s Australia or Dementia Australia through specifi c fundraising pages they had set up. “We were blown away by the generosity; over $4000 was raised to support further research to fi nd cures,” says Jeff .
And what of the wait for marriage equality? Sebastian says it’s only ever been about love: “This was emphasised by our choice for the processional song – Lauren Hagney of Momentum sang What the World Needs Now… is love, sweet love as we walked down the aisle. Marriage equality is about love.” BML
STYLE FILE
CEREMONY & RECEPTION Black Gold Motel, Wallerawang CELEBRANT Simon Price Celebrancy, Orange GROOMS’ SUITS Blowes Clothing, Bathurst, worn with Florsheim Shoes (also purchased from Blowes Clothing) FLOWER-GIRL DRESSES Made by Evelyn Staff , Portland GROOMING Tough Grind Barbers, Lithgow HAIR & MAKEUP Natalie Lincoln, Hartley WEDDING RINGS Sebastian’s ring was purchased from Craig Hill Jeweller, Lawson, and Jeff ’s from Prouds The Jewellers, Lithgow RING BEARER CUSHION Fullerton Designs, Lithgow JEWELLERY Prouds The Jewellers, Lithgow STYLIST Rhonda Collins Events, Lithgow FLOWERS Bouquets by Design, Lithgow CAKE Kathy Potts and Jamie’s Cake Decorating, Wallerawang CATERING Crib Room Restaurant, Black Gold Motel STATIONERY CW Print, Lithgow WEDDING FAVOURS The Fudge Shop, Darling Harbour CEREMONY & RECEPTION MUSIC Momentum, featuring Dave Webb and Lauren Hagney PHOTOS Natalie Bailey Photographer
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