13MAY Sky Time

WEDDINGS

Married in MaltaHow it All stArted is quite AMusing. We worked together and were out at some after work drinks on a Friday night, when Marty cut his finger quite badly on glass and needed to get to a hospital. I offered to accompany him to hospital – and the rest is history.

Marty proposed at an afternoon picnic by the sea very close to where we live. He was quite casual about the proposal but it was magical all the same. He popped the question after popping some Louis Roederer Cristal champagne and presenting an amazingly beautiful brilliant cut diamond.

We allowed a few months for the news to sink in and then we started thinking more seriously about what we wanted for our wedding. We put a draft guest list together and I think that’s when it really hit home, that we were looking at somewhere between 150 and 200 people. We started looking into potential Sydney venues and also costs. Then we came up with the idea to get married overseas - in Malta.

My father was born in Malta and moved to Sydney Australia with his family when he was 9 years old. I had been to visit Malta with

my sister and cousin in 2004 and loved it. It could be the perfect place for a small, intimate, warm, Mediterranean wedding.

At first it seemed a bit far-fetched. But the more we thought about it, the more it became a possibility and the more we liked the idea.

As soon as we had our immediate families on board, there was really no turning back.

That’s when we started doing some research online and came across our wedding planner, Sarah Young. We contacted Sarah with some thoughts about our wedding and some questions and within 24 hours Sarah had responded, not only answering our questions, but providing us with a number of different proposals that might fit our needs. From the word go, Sarah impressed us with her professionalism, responsiveness and enthusiasm. We trusted her almost immediately with the task of planning our dream wedding and we are glad we did because she exceeded our expectations.

Our wedding day was perfect. Sarah and her assistant Lisa ensured that

everything ran smoothly and the venue at which we celebrated, The Villa in St Julian’s, was absolutely fantastic. We opted for an evening civil ceremony followed by a sit down dinner and then a party which extended well into the early hours of the morning.

After a week in Malta, we travelled to Sardinia for a week and then to the Cinque Terre, followed by wine tasting and touring in the Alsace valley and finally a few days in Munich before returning home to Sydney.

The week we spent in Malta with our closest friends and family was unforgettable. It truly was a magical time and Malta will always be special to us. We’d like to thank our family and friends for helping us create such special memories and also thanks to Sarah and her team for making our dream wedding come to life.

Mel’s dress and accessories were made by Australian designer, Johanna Johnson.

Mel’s bridesmaids were sister Rebecca, and friends Kim and Nadine.

Martin’s best man was Myles.