Hayley & Chris – Brisbane City Winery

Enjoy the very beginning of Chris & Hayley’s Love Story as told by their celebrant Toni Paget during their wedding ceremony…

So, these two would first cross paths when Chris moved in next door to Hayley, so we have quite literally a boy next door, girl next door scenario here, classic recipe for true love if you’ve ever seen a romantic comedy.

They of course thought the other was a bit alright to look at and Hayley referred to Chris as “The hottie next door”, but for a short while, they were both a bit too shy to make the first move.

Then one night, Chris was in the carpark, building a new home gym set up, when Hayley drove in.

She was rushing home to a meeting and had stopped in at Grill’d to get a burger and a cider on her way home.

She got out of her car and said hi to Chris, but he didn’t hear her… so she walked the long way round to take another shot at it, she said hi again and this time he said hi back.

They started chatting and Chris noticed the cider Hayley had with her and asked her if she was a big cider drinker, she told him she was more of a wine drinker but unfortunately didn’t have any wine glasses at home.

Now Mr as smooth as silk over here, told Hayley that he had a couple of glasses lying around at home that they should make use of some time.

The night ended there, and a spark was lit.

The Proposal

I proposed to Hayley on holiday in Cairns. We were staying in the Crystalbrook Riley hotel. I popped the question as we overlooked the bay in front of our room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a suprise, Hayley was pretty shocked (but luckily said yes). I nearly blew the surprise the day before at the airport – I had the ring in my pocket but had to take it out at airport security. Some lucky sleight of hand saved it though.

Wedding Day Highlights

Highlights of the wedding day are hard to say, the day was honestly a total blur. The drive together to the venue after the first look was probably (oddly) one of the best parts of the day. We’d had the first look, we’d been surrounded by friends and family, but that was the first time we were alone and able to just be together and be excited. I kept thinking to myself how lucky was I that we were getting married in a few minutes. Kicking on to Sweet Caroline at the reception was also pretty tops.