A Joyful Interruption

It’s not every day that your younger unmarried son decides to change his status, but Evan is not your everyday person. And so we were asked to come home for a special event.

We tried to sneak into the country from our long tour through Asia and the Americas, and confine our time to the celebrations. That didn’t happen. Well the wedding did, but the sneaking in didn’t.

Evan and his long term girlfriend Steph were married on 16 June in a very small, intimate ceremony.  They celebrated with family and friends the following weekend.

While they had discussed the possibility with us a number of times, we were both surprised and delighted when they announced their intentions.

The reasons make sense – Steph has accepted a place at the University of Columbia in New York to study a Master’s in Education Research, starting in early September.

Evan has been finding it hard to get work in New York from applications made in Australia, so being married means he can travel to the USA on a spouse visa with Steph. And he hopes he can more easily track down work from there, then apply for the work visa.

I know – it is similar to Bruce’s & my story in 1973!

When I think of the 11 days that we were in town, it was non-stop.

There was coffee, dinners, hen’s and buck’s events, the wedding, the party and the families’ get-to-know-you.

We also caught up with a few people and we squeezed in a relaxing night at Sorrento to check our little house.

Small as the wedding celebration was, there was depth to it. Evan and Steph did not exchange rings, instead they chose meaningful gifts.

Evan gave Steph a sparrow’s wing broach made by the taxidermist jeweller Julia deVille, with the message ‘Dear Stephanie, to the next stage and wherever the wind takes us. All my love, Evan’.

And Stephanie’s gift to Evan was a tie bar as a symbol of her love for him, ‘It’s close to the heart and has the longitude and latitude of Princes Bridge stamped into it, which is the centre of our home Melbourne, and it is neither north nor south of the Yarra River’.

The short and very sweet ceremony was followed by dinner in the cellar of the Carlton Wine Room.

Friends and family were then invited to a party at Hares and Hyenas on Saturday 20 June. It is an interesting bookshop-come-café run by Steph’s uncle Rowland and his partner. Great Mexican food, good music and lots of chatter. It was a chance for the Stainsby’s and Templeton’s to get to know each other.

We finished the celebrations when Kate & Mark hosted lunch for us and the Templeton’s on Sunday.

The Templeton’s came from Rutherglen, Numurkah and Far North Queensland. The Wilson’s (Stainsby side) came from Brisbane and the Gold Coast and of course we flew in from Los Angeles. Many miles were covered for the event.

We are still coming to terms with our younger son’s marriage and that we officially have a daughter-in-law.

The photos that follow are a combination from my camera as well as sister Kate, niece Kim and nephew Mike.

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