High school sweethearts Gipsy Boyes and Luke Graves are taking the term “Cinderella story” to a another level as they count down the days — and hours — to their wedding on Saturday.
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Gipsy and Luke, who are spending a lot of time in Kyabram with family in the lead-up to the Kryal Castle February 11 marriage, last week shared their story with me in the lead-up to the Sunday, February 12, World Marriage Day commemoration.
It was tough to catch the shift workers at home, at the same time, but they managed to slot me in and share the amazing plans for their “Disney”-style wedding — which will include Gipsy arriving in a Cinderella-style horse-and-carriage to the famous almost 50-year-old Ballarat castle.
No expense has been spared by the young couple, who share their time between a rented home in Waaia and Gipsy’s mother’s house in Kyabram.
“We have bought a block in Numurkah and plan to build there eventually. Luke works mainly in Tongala and Shepparton and I work in Shepparton, so staying in Kyabram keeps us in the middle of those two,’’ Gipsy said.
The 2017 debutante ball partners have been planning their nuptials for two years and were forced to extend the date by 12 months from February 2022 because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“My dad was in New Zealand and couldn't get over here,” Gipsy said.
“My oldest brother was having the same problem, because he lives in Western Australia,” Luke said.
The couple’s early decision to postpone the wedding certainly has not curbed their enthusiasm for making it one very spectacular event.
“We've been able to keep all of our vendors, we will be married at Kryal Castle in Ballarat and it will be a Disney Cinderella theme,” Gipsy said.
A videographer (Lives on love street) and photographer (Prue Peters Photography) have been engaged for the event, while a five-tier wedding cake is in the works from wedding industry award-winning finalist Cakes by Mwah in Ballarat.
Then there are the shoes and, yes, you guessed it they are a glittering showpiece befitting a Cinderella-style story.
While they are not glass slippers and there is not a stepsister in sight, Gipsy will be wearing Jimmy Choo shoes.
The glittering footwear will be hidden beneath a dress being especially made by Prahran-based wedding dress designer Romeo Bastone.
“I couldn't find shoes that I liked, then I went online and saw the Jimmy Choo shoes. We found them at Chadstone shopping Centre and I had to have them,” Gipsy said.
The Cinderella-style carriage is coming from Cobb and Co carriages in Bendigo, along with the white thoroughbreds harnessed to the front.
Fortunately, as Luke interjected to the conversation, he has progressed his career in truck driving from smaller trucks to MC trucks since the proposal.
“I was working for a shed company in Shepparton, but now work at McColls Transport and work with my father,” he said.
The couple were engaged in 2020, COVID-19 again throwing a spanner in the works for Luke as he planned first to complete his proposal in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower.
“We had just started a working holiday in the UK, working at PGL Dalguise in Scotland,” he said.
“That used to be a hospital in World War II and was also the holiday home of Beatrix Potter (author of the famous children books, including Peter Rabbit). We were supposed to be there for two years, but eight weeks in we had to come home,” he said.
Luke traded the Paris marriage proposal for a weekend away in Bendigo and when he popped the question he put rose petals all throughout the hotel room.
The inspiration for the castle wedding was a brief visit by the pair to Scotland’s Edinburgh castle.
“We both just thought it would be really great to be married in a castle and very unique,” Gipsy said.
As if the wedding planning, for which the couple has enlisted the support of a wedding planner, is not enough they are looking at building a house not long after their wedding.
“We have hired a wedding planner for the day, Melanie James from Melbourne, who has a family farm in Shepparton and spends a lot of time up here,” Gipsy said.
They expect to have about 80 guests at the wedding and will each have three friends in their wedding party to be by their side on their special day.
Luke has three of his former schoolmates in his wedding party.
The celebration will mark almost six years since the high-school romance started in May 2017.
After completing their debutante together Luke asked Gipsy to be his girlfriend at the Kyabram P-12 ball and of course she said yes.
Despite having the background of the debutante dance lessons, Gipsy is taking nothing to chance and has enlisted the couple with Shepparton professional dance studio, Excel, for their first dance and her father-daughter dance.
As if the Jimmy Choo shoes, a horse-drawn carriage, hand-made wedding dress and five-tier wedding cake is not enough the newlyweds have also enlisted Northern Fireworks from Ballarat to put on a late-night private show for their guests.
They had a trial run with their wedding photographer, whose expertise was enlisted for the pre-wedding loved-up photos.
The soon-to-turn-23-year-olds were born in the year 2000 and the excitement built considerably last week when Gipsy picked up her designer gown wedding dress.
“It was a long wait. I started getting it made in late 2021, but put it on hold when the wedding plans changed,” she said.
Guests at the wedding, in keeping with the couple’s passion for travel will be signing a globe to wish the newlyweds well before the couple spends their honeymoon on a cruise.
They are flying to Singapore and cruising through Indonesia and parts of Australia before finishing the cruise in Brisbane.
“We will have almost a month off work,” Gipsy said.
The final touch for the wedding will be the master of ceremonies, slotting neatly into the fairy tale Cinderella/Disney castle theme.
“Our MC for the wedding is Judy Campbell, who is the town crier of the Campaspe Shire and Murray River Council,” Gipsy said.
“She has been a family friend for a lot of years.
“We are both so excited and can’t wait for our special day and to spend the rest of our lives together.”