REAL WEDDING
PHILIPPA JULIAN BIDNIJA CHURCH PRIVATE FAMILY HOME, BIDNIJA
Love on top Despite an ever-changing schedule and what seemed like an endless obstacle course until the big day, Philippa and Julian Naudi were finally pronounced husband and wife in an intimate wedding last June. While enjoying wedded bliss, they tell Martina Said all about it. P H OTO S B Y M A LTA W E D D I N G F I L M S
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or newlyweds Philippa and Julian Naudi, a carefully planned May wedding turned into a swift June celebration with daily changes until the big day – but what transpired in the end was a beautiful and intimate wedding that the Naudis wouldn’t change for the world. Philippa, who forms one half of artistic duo The New Victorians with sister Bettina, explains how the pandemic literally upended all their wedding plans. “We didn’t deal too well at first, but then decided we’d rather not keep living in limbo and just go for it!” Before we get to the wedding, let’s back track a few years to the couple’s first encounter and a romantic proposal in Budapest. “We met as teenagers as part of a youth group called Y4J. It wasn’t love at first sight at all. I was very naive and had friend-zoned him for a couple of years,” says Philippa. “Then, one summer, after we travelled to the UK together for a festival with a group of friends, it all started snowballing. We clicked, he had a growth spurt, and before you know it – he was confessing his love,” she teases.
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BLISS
WINTER 2020/2021
Although marriage wasn’t immediately on the cards for the pair, Philippa, 25, explains, “we were always black or white, and had often discussed either going for this all the way or not wasting each other’s time. After the first two years or so, we’d kind of already known, but pulling through long-distance on our third year together kind of sealed the deal.” Fast forward to June 2019, and Philippa was in for a big surprise. Soon after wrapping up the hugely popular show VII (Sette) at Fort St Elmo, which she directed with her sister, Julian, 23, suggested they go on holiday the day after the show closed, knowing just how much his girlfriend was in need of a break. “It all seemed like a very innocent, obvious thing to do. As it turned out, he had been planning this proposal in Budapest for a while and it was the perfect excuse to get me there without suspecting anything! He proposed at Budapest Castle on 19th June 2019, exactly a year before we made it official on 19th June 2020.”
