Stacey and Kelly

September 3, 2018

Tell us your love story. How did you meet?
Kelly, who was from Kadina in SA, and Stacey, from Queensland, both ended up in Big White, Canada for the winter season. Kelly, along with her friend Kate, was looking for a place to live and came across a Facebook post from Stacey, looking for 2 extra room mates, so they organised to meet (with Kelly thinking she was going to meet a girl) and ran into each other at a house party.

Stacey’s first thoughts about Kelly were “Wow, she has had a couple…and she’s a good sort…veerrrrry interesting…she talks a lot and is very forward and straight to the point…perfect, and then she sobered up… and as for Kelly, after the initial shock Stacey was a boy, she was instantly attracted to him and remembers thinking (yes she does remember, Stacey), that she would definitely like to get to know him better.

Although she would never have told him this as his head is big enough as it is! They then moved on to a pub, Snowshoe Sam’s for more drinks and food and whatever else, had a great night, and Kelly, being a little worse for wear, had to some-how walk a significant distance home uphill in the snow. In Kelly’s defence, it was her first night on the mountain and it was dark. Anyhow, Stacey being the gentleman and lifesaver he is, suggested that as his place was downhill, it may be a much easier and safer alternative, and after making it home following a 15 minute snow trek and slide of death 20m down an icy/muddy slope, Kelly (whose drunk alter-ego is Smear) was hit by the old helicopter head (or in her words, she was briefly unwell) and she ended up conveniently sleeping on the bathroom floor where it was nice and warm.

The next day Stacey and the rest of the house who all knew each other well – and some are here today – Stacey’s sister and bridesmaid Bec, best man Hamish and his girl-friend and bridesmaid Leisha, and our MC Scott – all decided that Kelly would be a very suitable housemate, and the rest as they say is history!

The Proposal – him or her? Was it a surprise?:
I proposed to Kelly on (the day after) Valentine’s Day in 2017. Archer was only 5 months old and while we went to dinner, Bec (my sister) dressed Archer in the shirt I had made. The following morning, Kelly found it.

Your Honeymoon Plans
We chose to spend 9 days before and after the wedding in Airlie with friends and family.

Why did you choose Earlando? Was there something that made it stand out from other venues for you?
We both loved the scenery, location, remoteness. Where the country meets the ocean. It was perfectly suited to us both and both our families.

Did you have a theme to your wedding/wedding styling? What inspired this?
Not really. We wanted to keep it quite simple. But chose a few key items that we wanted to be our hero. i.e the Love Sign. We tried to find a cost effective balance. The beauty of the venue allowed us to save a few dollars.

What was your favourite part of your wedding?
I didn’t really have a favourite, I loved the whole day.

While I also loved the whole day, I did enjoy the last hour (12-1am) where everything went a little off script and the DJ turned into a Kareoke cross dancefloor.. It made the night memorable.

Do you have any advice for future brides?
Don’t Stress!!!! Relax and enjoy your day. You cant change anything so go with the flow. A few things went slightly off during our wedding but nothing that was a big problem or worth worrying about.

Ahhhh Sexist… What about my advice to Grooms!!??? Hahahahaah (ok sure.. here it is)
Don’t Stress!!! Haha. If your bride starts to stress, remind her of the above. Enjoy every moment because before you know it.. it’s tomorrow and all a memory.

Tell us a a funny story about your wedding day/wedding planning!
The funny story is hard… We loved sharing the day with our daughter. Archer clapping at the exact moment I finished my vows was perfect. We were lucky to have a list of great speakers and everyone really enjoyed them. Another was me telling Ben that is was after 12 and we should be closing it down (I was concerned for the oldies waiting on the bus… ) and him telling me to “Don’t worry about the time, leave that to Hannah, get back to the karaoke dance floor”.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
We literally had the best day we could have ever imagined. Jess and her “pre-wedding team” and organisers were amazing and allowed us to enjoy our day. The entire team at Earlando was unbelievable and we could not have asked for more. We want to remain in contact with everyone because we literally felt like we became family and a part of the place. Even after one day. Ben – Legend!!!!! Hannah – Legend!!!!! Enough said.