Dalton
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Julia
Dalton
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Julia
M AY 2 9 , 2 0 2 1 O L I V E T R E E C O T TA G E , TA U R A N G A
Our story So how did a plumber and a primar y school teacher come to stand here today about to get married?! Well this all star ted 8 years ago at that bastion of long-term commitment, total sobriety and never a bad decision made… A 70’s night club in Dunedin! Let’s hear how it went down from both of their points of view, it explains their personalities well I reckon! Firstly, Julia’s account of events, she says: “We met in my first year of uni and I was set to stay in that night to study. I got a message from my friend Ally, tr ying to convince me to go out. I was adamant I was not going, but an hour later she turned up in my room in UniCol ready to go. Town was dead, so we ended up in ‘Fever’, a 70’s club, with five 70+ year old women who had come from a fancy dress par ty.. We were dancing with these ladies, and in walks 3 young men. The ladies taught us the do-si-do and I was quietly stoked to be matched up with this tall, handsome boy. We ended up chatting, and the boys lead Ally and I to the most bogan club in town, Brimstone. This place was full of sticky floors, sweaty olf men and underage drinkers. A few weeks later I found out that’s exactly why they took us there… It was the only place these underage boys could get in without having to jump over a back fence! Ally and I did the escape, and I remember saying “That tall one was hot” thinking that was the end of it. Well.. Just like any other good night, we ended up at maccas. And of course, we ran into the boys again there. When we went to leave, Ally turns to Dalt and goes “So are you going to ask for her number or what?” Without any choice, she took his phone and put my number in it. Who would have known this would have brought us here - Ally, I owe ya!” Now to Dalton’s account of events, he says: “We met one weekend in 2013 when we were both at Fever nightclub in Dunedin. There was a group of elderley ladies and Julia and her friend Ally. Night was coming to an end, ended up at maccas. Ally grabbed my phone and put Julia’s number in. I took a couple weeks to message her then we star ted meeting up regularly in town for a few. And here we are.” And that’s it! I feel like that describes these two personalities perfectly!
Dalton’s Vows Julia, I stand here ready to take you to be my wife, my best friend and my lifelong par tner in marriage. The day you moved back up nor th after university I felt something was missing. As we began our long distance relationship my love for you got stronger and stronger and leaving after our shor t visits got harder. I soon realised you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I love you for being you and for your beautiful smile, for always being there for me through the good times and the bad. I love how you do all the washing and for how good you are on the vacuum. I will love and respect you for the rest of our lives and i’m excited to see what the future holds for us.I promise to be your faithful husband and I will love you when the sun shines, when the rain falls, in sickness and in health. When you look at this ring, think of me and remember that I love you always.
Julia’s Vows Dalty. 8 years ago when I packed my bags and set off for Dunedin, I never could have imagined meeting someone like you. But within just a few months, I had. And I am so incredibly glad that I did. You have a way of making me feel so comfor table, so loved, so safe, so heard and understood. And today, I promise to make you feel this same love in return. I promise to laugh with you in the good times, and comfor t you through the bad. To respect you, appreciate you, encourage you and trust you always. I promise to tr y to make you smile as often as you make me smile, even when that means golf and fishing trips. I promise to listen to you with empathy, to speak to you warmly, and to show you the same patience that you do with me ever y day. I even promise to nod and smile each and ever y time you remind me how “laid back” you are, in the most unlaid back of circumstances. I promise to never take you or what we have for granted, and to always fill our days with love, laughter and adventure. I love you so much, and I am so excited to see where the rest of our lives take us together. I cannot wait to be your wife.
Grant Thurlow F AT H E R O F T H E B R I D E Julia’s number one man in life (Sorr y Dalton), and the lucky man who gets to call Julia his daughter. Probably the most social person that we all know, Grant currently spends his days on the farm and house site, at the races or pub, or dabbling in a bit of golf. He is the go to man and the family’s biggest suppor ter. Please welcome the loudest guy in the pub, the Father of the bride- Grant Thurlow.
Tony Evans F AT H E R O F T H E G R O O M The greatest father, golf par tner, and role model. Tony AKA Dr Evans. The man who thinks he holds the remedy for ever y cold or flu in the family. Tony is always keen for a few beers, a round of golf or a Sunday night BBQ. He can always be counted on to give the best advice, and is never shy of a dad joke. He is the kindest person we all know, who cannot say a bad word about anybody. Please welcome the Father of the groom- Tony Evans.
Jamie Thurlow MAID OF HONOUR Growing up, Jamie was Julia’s first best friend in life. Julia never had a sister, but Jamie came in bloody close. With 20 days between them, (or a year as Jamie was sure to believe), they spent all of their time together out on the farm, riding the ponies or drinking spiders at Gran and Grandad’s. As they grew older and Julia moved away from the Wonderful Waverley, the girls have remained just as close. Jamie is the fun friend, the responsible friend, the laugh you can hear and recognise from a mile away friend. Just glad she has a lot more going for her than her navigation and driving skills. The girls were renowned for their wicked dance shows growing up… Jamie, we can’t wait for your dance routine performance later on too. Can ever yone please welcome to the floor, the Maid of Honour, Jamie.
Mason Stevens BEST MAN Dalton and Mason’s friendship goes right back to primar y school. They soon found that they were quite the same, being held back after class for rarking up the teachers. What a foundation for a solid friendship. As the years went on the boys became joint at the hip with Mason being a bad influence on many occasions, encouraging Dalton to tr y a cigarette with him at an early age at the local race course where Mason was living, or the many times we threw eggs at cars passing through the hedge behind Mason’s house. Although not long after they left school Mason moved away to the nor th island the boys still regularly catch up for a beer and punt.
Teri Pryce BRIDESMAID Teri wasn’t even meant to be here today. Teri has spent most of the last year in Japan. But in true Teri style, she did what she needed to do. Threw in her job, and here she is today, standing beside her best friend, on her wedding day. Teri has been one of Julia’s best friends for 17 years now, since Julia moved for her shor t stint in Hawkes Bay. Even though distance soon stopped the regular catch ups, the shit chat and memories have continued. Teri is the friend who has been there through it all, from the young tom boys, to the awkward tweens, to the lovely ladies the girls have grown into. She is the one that you call at any time of day, for any silly reason, and she is there to listen. Emphasis on the listen, because her advice usually sucks and she never knows what to do either. But she listens. Can ever yone please welcome Julia’s bridesmaid, Teri.
Jamie Thurlow MAID OF HONOUR Hi ever yone. For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Jamie, Julia’s cousin. Can I star t by thanking ever yone for coming together to celebrate what has truly been a special occasion witnessing Dalton and Julia become Mr and Mrs Evans. Thank you to the groomsmen for getting Dalton here in one piece today! You all look smashing. I have shared numerous trips with Julia and Dalton, all being to different race courses around NZ and Australia following the wonderful Glor y Days, getting to know Dalton more ever y time. He has fit into our extended family like a duck to water and we will never get tired of his witty sense of humour and his terrible tips on the TAB! At the hens, there were 2 questions that Dalton answered to describe Julia. Number one being, What was the first thing you noticed about Julia when you first met her? Dalton answered “her top dance moves.” Julia, we hope to see you cutting some mean shapes later on tonight, and I bet Dalton’s wont be much better! Number 2 being, When did you and Julia begin dating? Dalton’s answer, “We haven’t!” This leads me back on my phone scrolling back hundreds of messages between Julia and I. I get back to the 25th of June, 2013. Julia has sent me a message, “Jamie, is it really weird that I’ve only met Dalton once and I think I like him.. He’s really cheeky and slightly bad boy.” As you can imagine, it only took one more month to receive the message to say it was all go, and the star t of an epic love stor y. Julia, I’m going to keep this shor t and sweet but I’m so incredibly proud of you today, and you make an absolutely beautiful bride. Thank you for choosing me to be by your side today, it’s a huge privilege. Who would have thought that 15 years ago we would have been sitting at Simpson Road dreaming of our big day and who our Prince Charming might be waiting for us at the end of the aisle? I say Dalton is one lucky man! So with enough being said, could ever yone please raise a toast to the wonderful Bride and Groom. Here’s to love, laughter, and happily ever after.
Teri Pryce BRIDESMAID Hi ever yone, I’m Teri. This speech was going to be pre recorded and I was going to be watching my best mate get married via FaceTime.. Technology’s great, but the closer it got to the 29th of May, the more upsetting it was realising I’d be missing such a special day. So getting to read this right here right now feels really special. Julia and I have pictured this day together since the days where she openly called dresses ‘ew’, lived in her pink and white Canterbur y shor ts and only exercised if she was chasing boys around the field at primar y school. Actually, back then she was pretty much a boy anyway. I first met Julia in 2006 when the Thurlows moved to Hawke’s Bay to run the motel. I’ll never forget the first day Julia came to school. It was well into the year and friend groups were established. Being the new kid would have been super intimidating for anyone. The principal came to class to introduce Julia and I made a conscious decision that I was going to ‘befriend’ this new kid on her first day - she seemed painfully quiet and shy - and I felt bad for her. However, This quietness didn’t last long at all though, and she quickly became one of the biggest loudmouths in class, to the point our teacher had a vendetta against Julia and Julia equally despised the teacher. I’m sure Julia has more empathy for the teacher nowadays. However, more impor tantly, what I didn’t realise at the time was that this new kid i was about to befriend was actually about to become one of my best and closest friends. And would remain so no matter how far the distance, or how long the time apar t. We grew from kids, to tweens, to teens and now here we are as adults on her wedding day, and throughout all of this growing, we’d be hard pressed to find a time, a day even, where we haven’t talked. Even though we spent less than half a year at school together before Julia moved away our friendship has always only grown with us and never apar t. I’d like to share a memor y with you all because I think it highlights one of the many awesome things about the bride. We were about 16 and Julia and I decided to go camping at a Hawke’s Bay beach. It was nearly the end of Summer so not many people were around. We were relaxing laying down in the sand when suddenly we star ted getting pelted by water bombs. We scream, look up and behind a sand dune we see two heads duck down. Julia’s next actions are half her fun-loving side but half just a side effect of growing up with two older brothers, but Julia’s fight back defence was activated. She drove us to the one store in the town, where we hunted for a pack of water bombs, drove back to the scene and what ensued was what felt like the world’s most epic water fight. We completely destroyed these two random kids, who had no idea what they had star ted until it was too late. Defenseless, they climbed into the Surf Life Saving Club building and managed to turn on the massive hose attached to it. We were drenched. Looking back at this memor y makes me smile. I’m sure a lot of people probably would have been pissed off to be pelted by water bombs, or run away and complain. But Julia found it hilarious and that approach to life is something about Julia I admire because it is so rare. And this quality of Julia’s has led to many memories that I will always treasure. Friends of Julia know what an amazingly caring and loving friend she is. No one is as giving with their time and energy. Logical and practical, I know that I rely on Julia’s advice more than is probably fair but she has alway been an amazing voice of reason, wise and strong from a young age. Julia, your friendship means the world to me and I am so grateful for your existence. Seeing how happy Dalton and you are together makes me so happy. As I was writing these words, I looked back to when we used to imagine this day as kids. There was always the question of the groom. Who would he be? If we were to dream up the perfect person for you to spend your life with, it would be Dalton. When Dalt came on the scene, it came more and more apparent that you two were meant to be. I knew your feelings for him were unlike anything you’d experienced before, not even close. And your love grew on a timeline that worked perfectly for the both of you and has led to this day. From the moment I met Dalton I could see he was the one for you. Equally as fun as you, cheeky but also kind. You two have a deep bond and connection and I know he knows all the little things about you that make you so special and will he cherish them. I could not be more happy for the two of you.
Mason Stevens BEST MAN Hi ever yone, I’m Mason and I’m lucky enough to be Dalton’s best man. Bear with me, I’m not good at doing speeches and I’m actually only here for the free beer. Dalton you’re a champion bloke, kind, caring; do anything for anyone sor t of guy. Is there anything else you wrote down for me to say? When Dalton asked me to be his best man I was a bit ner vous about doing a speech so I done some research on what to say and what not to say. First thing I come across was to make sure I say how beautiful the bride and bridesmaids look, so let’s raise a glass to them. Second thing was something about singing a song and saying something nice about the groom, unfor tunately I can’t sing and I’m an even worse liar. I first met Dalton in 2004 when I moved to the same primar y school as him. We were in the same class for about 3 weeks before the teacher realised it wasn’t going to work, he was a wee brat, and was leading me down the same track so moved him to another class. It became pretty clear to me that I wanted to be mates with this guy, he had girls flocking round him left right and centre, something that didn’t change through his school years, and up until he met Julia. As we got older and star ted growing up, Dalton was a great one for introducing me to new things, for example I think we were 15 and he got me into gambling, at 16 he had me smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol; not to mention all the other things that go with that sor t of scene. It comes as no surprise to me that Dalton was the first one out of the boys to get married, he’s always been the lover boy of the group. I wish I could tell you some stories but I have none that are appropriate and he probably wouldn’t appreciate it. Then he met Julia, and things changed. There was something different about this time, he went from a young 18 year old boy and basically grew up and turned into a 40 year old virgin overnight. I think the boys will agree it was ver y early on we realised Julia was the one. Dalton you’ve been my best mate for the best par t of 17 years and I couldn’t have asked for a better one; I’m honoured to be your best man today. Julia you are amazing, you look beautiful today and I wish you two all the ver y best for the future. Anyway that’s enough from me, ever yone on your feet and let’s raise a glass to Mr and Mrs Evans.
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