Simon + Nataliya Proof 2

Simon + Nataliya

Simon + Nataliya FEBRUARY 5, 2022 T H E M I S S I O N E S TAT E , H A W K E S B AY

Words from our celebrant A big welcome to Nataliya & Simon’s friends and family, i.e those that made the cut thanks to covid restrictions. It has been a ver y stressful and frustrating process getting here but we finally made it to tying the knot between these two.

We are here today to celebrate the love and commitment between Nataliya and Simon and par ticipate in the union of two people that are ver y beautifully matched and make an absolutely lovely couple.

I have known these two for quite some time and have watched their relationship blossom over the last 5, almost 6 years. Simon hit the jackpot when he met this gorgeous woman that looks like a Vogue model and Nataliya was definitely the missing piece in Si’s life.

Simon’s vows I promise to respect, admire and appreciate you for who you are, as well as the person you wish to become, especially if that’s a golfer.

I vow to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when life seems hard, when our love is simple and when our love is an effor t.

I vow to protect you from cockroaches and moths at all times.

I promise to grow with you and build with you a better life each day as we learn from each other and to cherish ever y day together with you.

Nataliya’s vows I promise to always surprise you, challenge you, and amaze you. Even if that means taking up a spor t that I shared no interest in, just to spend more time with you.

I vow to love you more after each win, each laugh, and when the time comes when I’m good enough to play golf with you.

I promise to show you ever y day how lucky I am to have you in my life.

I promise to love you, in sickness and in health, in good and in bad times. That’s the easiest promise I’ve ever made because vowing to love you was something I decided when I first met you.

I promise to be your par tner, half of a team, working towards the same goal. A birdie...

I mean happiness together.

Brem’s speech It was indeed at a race track that I first met Nataliya. Colin and I were at Hampton Downs at a track day when Simon arrived with Nataliya to introduce her to me. I could tell Simon was ver y fond of Nataliya, because that day he gave her almost more attention than he did our race car. Over the next few years Nataliya joined us at many race tracks around New Zealand and Australia and became par t of our family.

We have had many great overseas holidays and fun times together.

Nataliya, both Linda and I welcome you as Simon’s wife to our family and wish you a lifetime of happiness together.

Simon on behalf of mum and I, we would like to tell you how proud of you we are and how much joy you have brought to us both as you have grown from the little prem baby to to the successful young man getting married today. We look forward to many more happy times together as you and Nataliya enjoy life together and raise a family of your own.

Kevin’s speech Nataliya has been honing her wedding-planning skills through work over the last months. She’s had a number of contingencies and options available to ensure that this wedding actually went ahead. This tells me 2 things – firstly how talented she is at her role in terms of being able to plan events intricately and work with a huge number of changing parameters and secondly and most impor tantly, it’s really about how strong Nataliya and Simon’s desire to actually get married is. There have been a number of obstacles that have been put in the way of this wedding that would have challenged most people and even led to our Prime Minister cancelling her own wedding that haven’t deterred Simon and Nataliya and I think that commitment is a great indicator for how successful their future will be together.

Now, Nataliya has had to work within the Government red framework when it was announced a few weeks ago and unfor tunately this meant that not ever yone on the original guest list was able to attend in order to keep us within the 100 person threshold. What may come as a surprise is that Simon and Nataliya took quite an unconventional approach to deciding who would make the cut and made the decision based on the quality of gifts that had been bought from the registr y. The unlucky folk who aren’t here today have been gracious enough to send messages of best wishes to the bride and groom – one here from Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Glynis reads – ‘have a lovely day, we hope you enjoy the oven glove..’ possibly explains their absence…

Emma’s speech Before we met we had friended each other on social media and were talking obsessively, I could tell before we met that we would become really close friends. When we finally met it was like we had known each other our whole lives, we had an instant connection! I remember the first words she ever spoke to me in person was “Hey best friend!” While throwing her arms around me, It felt like we were on a blind date!

I quickly realised Nataliya is a go-getter, and once she has her mind set on something she gets a wild look in her eye and nothing will stop her! The day I learned about Simon, I saw those eyes.

In many ways Nataliya and Simon are similar people, both are extremely driven, love a challenge and are not afraid to call each other out. Which is something I had never seen someone do to Nataliya. So I knew that Simon would definitely be the perfect match for my best friend.

Simon’s speech Firstly I must say how stunning does my WIFE, Nataliya ELLINGHAM look today! Thank you so much for all your love and suppor t over the past years and many more years to come. I know most of our friends and family know I wouldn’t be able to function without you, some would say I’m the unorganised one in the relationship. Thank you for keeping me organised and making sure Arlo and I are always well looked after.

But there was a time when I was chasing you and you were running away…literally. I hope you remember one of the first nights we went out together you made Emma and I chase you all around town because you didn’t want to go home, thankfully none of the bars in town were interested in selling you any drinks. When we first star ted going out you probably thought we were going to fly around the world racing cars but you ended up with something even better, a husband that plays golf 3 times a week and will let you caddy any time you like. I could share many stories but one that sticks out is the first time I took you out in a race car. We went out in a race car at Hampton Downs and after you were so confident, one of the mechanics had to convince you to get in the car. To this day it is one of the ver y few times I have seen you with no words and a face in total shock after we got out of the car.

I feel so lucky to have had so many good times and great experiences with you, I cannot wait to spend our life together and enjoy the many different adventures and travels we will have in the future and hopefully a few rounds of golf too. Arlo and I love you so much.

Nataliya’s speech I know it’s unusual for the bride to give a speech, but for those that know me well, probably aren’t surprised that I wanted to say a few words today. Almost 6 years ago now, I decided to be bold and make the first move on Simon.

Ladies, if you want something, go after it! And who knew that less than 6 months later we would be living together and almost 3 years later we would be engaged. Since then I’ve waited 615 days to become your wife. Simon, thank you for your love, friendship and suppor t and the joy you have brought into my life along with our gorgeous Arlo.

From this day forward Simon, I’d like to remind you of some things you’ve committed to in this marriage. You are required, but not limited to share your food with me, even when I said I wasn’t hungr y or because what you ordered is better than I’ve got. Sharing your drinks with me after I’ve finished my own. Always picking me up something from the store, even when I said I didn’t want anything. And taking the dog out to the toilet at night, when I said I would, but fell asleep.

I would also like to thank each and ever y one of you for sharing our special day with us. It means the world that you have taken the time to be here and witness Simon legally agree to keep Arlo and I in the manner to which we have become accustomed to. Last but not least, A wedding can happen anywhere and at any time, but it can only be a true celebration when all the people you love are there to share it with you. Sadly some of our friends and family were unable to attend, so I’d like to make a toast in their honour, please lift your glasses and drink to those who couldn’t attend tonight and to those who are no longer here with us.

Hamish’s speech It was touch and go weather we would make it into NZ for today, and after a shor t 10-night stint in MIQ it was all wor th it to be here and to celebrate this special evening with you all and of course the newlyweds, Mr, and Mrs Ellingham.

Nataliya, since the ver y beginning we all knew Simon was onto a winner with you. From when he first brought you out to Hampton downs right up until tonight you have become such an impor tant par t of our family and most impor tantly an impor tant par t of Simon’s life. You have been such a great influence on him over the past few years and I am so happy that he has found someone like yourself to play the game of life with. You both together are the perfect couple, and that is clear to all of us here tonight. I hope your wedding day was ever ything you had ever hoped for, you look absolutely fantastic, so on that note I would now like ever yone to raise their glasses as I propose a toast to the beautiful bride, Nataliya Ellingham… Cheers!

Simon, it has been great to see you finally found someone who has lifted you to the man you are today, Nataliya has cer tainly made a huge impact on your life these past few years and we are all so excited to see you both continue to see what you achieve together in the future. We have experienced a lot over the past 28 years and as you mentioned earlier on in the night, it could have gone either way in those early years which I am sure was concerning for mum and dad. After having the TV remote thrown at my head so many times in my younger years, I am pleased those days are over and we have picked the right path by teaming up not only as a brother, a business par tner but as a true mate.

Congratulations, I am so happy for you both and am ver y excited to see what you can achieve together in the future.

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