Centennial Park Wedding

Enjoy this Centennial Park wedding in Sydney, Australia by Henry Paul Photography and the story of how the beautiful couple came to be!

How did you meet?

Dean and I met on NYE (technically NYDay as it was just after midnight on 1.1.2011) on the tennis court at a house party in Newcastle. I’d noticed him earlier in the night when he ‘strode’ through the kitchen. I thought he was really handsome and I liked his confident stride, and I was a bit bummed that he hadn’t noticed me at all. I didn’t see Dean again until everyone gathered on the tennis court at midnight.

He was talking to another girl and basically turned away from her mid-sentence when he saw me. He had a friend’s digital camera with him so we took a selfie…this was before the word ‘selfie’ had entered our vocabulary. We actually lay down on the tennis court to take a selfie, because – in our drunken state – we figured, how else could anyone tell we were on a tennis court?!

We went on a few dates in the week that followed – I was in Australia as a backpacker and was due to leave in a few weeks. We didn’t think we’d see each other again. On our last date, Dean gave me a USB stick ‘mixtape’ with his favorite music. Hidden in one of the folders was a short ‘goodbye’ video where he basically proclaimed his love for me. It still makes me cry to watch it today. We had both fallen hard for each other but were sure we wouldn’t see each other again…

When did you know they were the one? Was there something they did?

Dean says “straight away” – I think it took Liv longer!

Dean went to visit Liv in Switzerland nearly a year after they met. They stayed in touch (via email and skype) over the course of that year and when Dean finished uni and decided to go traveling in Europe, they knew we couldn’t let this chance go by to see each other again. It was during that stay that they fell (even deeper) in love with each other and decided that they could make a long-distance relationship work. They did long-distance for two years after that.

The proposal:

They had been together for nearly a decade and knew they’d get married someday… when Liv booked tickets to go to Switzerland over Christmas 2019, Dean started making concrete plans. Liv didn’t see it coming…and Dean wanted Liv to choose her own ring, so he surprised her with a stand-in ring.

Dean met with a local jeweler whose work she admired beforehand (Bert Jewellery in Bondi), and she wrote Liv a note saying they’d meet up and design a ring together once we’re back from Switzerland.

The proposal itself was low-key and heartfelt. They were sitting in a friend’s living room (she’d given us her gorgeous place in the heart of the city to stay in while she was away) and about to leave to spend the evening with Liv’s family, when Dean asked me to marry him.

Tell me one thing you love most about each other:

Liv: Dean tells me every day that he loves me. Often, he’ll use the phrase “don’t forget how much I love you” which is what I have engraved in my wedding band.

Dean: I love Liv’s smile.

If you feel comfortable, I’d love to hear something silly or quirky the other person does.

Liv: …I laugh whenever Dean says he’ll wait for me somewhere…and it turns into a game of ‘Where’s Wally’ because, honestly, Dean waits in the weirdest places (around corners, behind bushes) – it’s not to be funny either, he’ll wait in places that are just so illogical to me, but to him, they’re ‘out of the way’ of everyone else.

Dean: I find it hilarious (and endearing) that Liv’s worst nightmares often revolve around scenarios of inefficiency or disorganization. She’ll wake up with a look of panic only to laugh that her nightmare involved someone doing something inefficiently where she couldn’t intervene.