The McKillop Weddings

I have been very fortunate and honoured to have been present at four McKillop Weddings in the last 7 years. This is a unique feat since Rosie and I were the only guests at Merv and the Radiant Resilient Ravishingly Beautiful Robyn's Wedding and Rosie had just had Liam when I went to New York for Ross and Val's Wedding.

Ross and Val McKillop's Wedding

26th November, 2004. Stamford, New York

I left Margaret River at 11:30 am on Monday, 22nd November, arrived at Stamford at 2am on Thursday, 25th November after 50 hours of travelling by car, plane, train and automobile. It was an epic journey but the eventual goal was to attend Ross and Val's wedding, which made the whole event well and truelly worth while.

The day started perfectly with fresh snow (there was none before). Initial photos were taken on the balcony of our unit at the Deer Run Lodge. We then went onto the Presbyterian Church for the ceremony. A short trip to Oneata for the reception at the Travel Lodge

This was clearly a unique experience for us all, having a wedding in the snow, in another country and with all new traditions. It was fantastic to see Ross and Val's friends come from all over the world to be there. We had guests from Ireland, Germany, Japan and Australia

Throughout the whole wedding week, we had a great time celebrating Thanks Giving with Chris and Fritz and Val's family. We had a great after wedding breakfast at Neptunes and a really good pre-wedding breakfast with the boys at a diner for hunters.

We all then went on the honeymoon (a strange concept) to Killington since we were all keen skiers. It was a fantastic two week trip which I was lucky to go on. Rosie encouraged me to attend to support Merv and it was another fantastic opportunity to bond with the McKillop family.

We have been there for many good times and the one very sad time, but all these experiences bring us together and strengthen the strong bond that exists between us.

Merv and Robyn McKillop's Wedding

19th November, 2007

At the end of the school year we had the pleasure of being asked to witness Merv and Robyn's marriage . It was a very private affair, with a lovely beach ceremony consisting of just the four of us and Laurissa the celebrant. It was just perfect, with us being bathed in bright sunshine while all around it was pouring with rain.

After the ceremony, we went out to lunch at Voyager Winery, which is always a great experience. The whole occasion was a hoot, since it was all very secretive. Merv and Robyn wanted to get married privately and planned to tell the kids at Christmas.

Rosie got all excited and had to go out and buy a new outfit and then get makeup and a new hair style. All the time she kept making up excuses as to why she was doing this. Bruce was concerned that she was telling different stories to different people but it was such a lot of fun. Robyn reckoned she was just going to tell people that she was going to our wedding, just to see how long it took for the rumour to spread.

Bruce did make the effort of going out to buy new pants and a shirt. Merv was very impressed with his choice of pants since they were the same make as his, very unusual for Bruce to buy something mildly trendy.

In the end they told the kids about the wedding that night so we didn't have to keep it secret for too long.

Dani McKillop and Jon Miller's Wedding

19th April, 2008
Leeuwin Estate Winery

Exactly 5 months after Robyn and Merv were married, we had the extravaganza of Danni's wedding. We started with pre-ceremony drinks then had the ceremony inside since it started to rain. It didn't affect the event as everything went smoothly. Pre dinner drinks and canapes followed before sitting down to a beautiful meal at Leeuwin.

Danni's wedding was the first in which Bruce knew nearly the entire bridal party, having taught most of them at some stage. It was fantastic to catch up with everyone, including all of Merv's family , with whom I was now very well acquainted.

Joey introduced us to her new boyfriend Tom and quietly told anyone who would listen that he was a keeper. Something we all found out to be true three years later.

The last of the McKillop Weddings, what a hard act to follow, but Jo and Tom created a wonderful day in which we all got a good insight into their love for each other and the love that their families has for them.

We all gathered at Xanadu on a beautiful sunny day and Larissa Knowles performed her third McKillop wedding ceremony. Jo was radiant and Tom was calm but enthralled. The bridesmaids were familiar, but I had to be reminded of their names, they grow up so quickly.

By now I knew virtually everyone on the McKillop side and Jo's wedding was an intimate affair where you got a chance to meet everyone. We sat with Barbara and Richard from England (Tom's birthplace) and had a wonderful chat (We took them to breakfast at Sea Gardens the next morning to give them a real Australian experience).

Rosie drove Tom and Jo back to their honeymoon suite (which isn't as good as going on the honeymoon like Merv and I did with Ross) and we all had a great time.

The releasing of 17 balloons was sybolic of the seventeen happy years that Jo got to have with her mother Liz, who died in a tragic horse riding accident on 1st June, 2004