How did the two of you meet?
On one fateful Saturday, Anfernee (aka. Tony), accompanied a friend to a personal development seminar. Little did he know that sitting across the room from him that day would be the princess that he would one day marry….
[Anf] She looked cute and I noticed that she was sitting on her own so I crossed the room to say, “Hello.” When I asked her name, she smiled and said “Cindy.” I couldn’t pinpoint it then but there was something about this mysterious person that drew me to her, and I wanted to find out who she was… so when the opportunity came up I asked her to be my partner on one of the workshop activities.
It just happened to be a past life regression process, and the whole process was really bizarre, but what happened at the end of the activity took me by complete surprise… we embraced and it was magical. It was like time had stopped and we were dancing in the middle of the room alone.
[Cindy] This guy approached me, introduced himself, asked for my name and then asked me to do the next activity with him. Then there were other guys that asked but I pointed to him (Anfernee) saying that he asked me first. After the activity we had a “moment”—a warm heartfelt hug.
That’s when the connection started….
[Anf] After that moment I knew that I had to ask her out, so I waited until an opportunity presented itself. After the final break I sat in the row and seat within arms length of where Cindy was seated, and before the speaker started talking I said to her “I’ve got something to ask you.” She completely ignored it! There was no acknowledgement whatsoever.
It was like time had stopped and we were dancing in the middle of the room alone.
So when the speaker signaled that the event had come to a close and everybody could leave I turned around to ask Cindy my question and…she literally BOLTED for the door! So I chased after her and grabbed her hand as she slipped through the door. How’s that for first impressions?
[Cindy] From out of nowhere this dude keeps on bugging me! Then he asked a question. Guess what the question was…
“Can I ask you a question?”
I was thinking “Oh my…” and decide to leave before the event finished. Little did I know that he would run after me before I could run away. I tried but I couldn’t run away because he grabbed my hand. Then he asked if I had a boyfriend, and then he asked me for a first date. I was shocked speechless, I could not think, so I had no way of refusing him.
So Anf and Cindy went on a date two days later… and they had dinner at the most expensive restaurant in Sydney: Soul Origin, Darling Harbour Harbourside.
[Anf] We were super lucky that they were closing for the day and had a special going… two meals for $5! Score!
[Cindy] WORST DATE EVER!
The Princess had met her charming frog. This was a match made in fairytale heaven. The rest, they say, is history….
Give us the details! When? Where? How?
We planned a weekend trip away to Orange, a country town almost 4 hours drive from Sydney, with our good friend Tam and his partner Sarah. It happened to be Tam’s birthday so that was a great cover, and it was also a long weekend.
I secretly concocted a genius plan with Tam & Sarah that involved driving to a lake in Orange, Tam hiding the ring on his person until we were at the lake (so Cindy wouldn’t accidentally find it in my bag or something), how we would all go on a walk around the lake, and then how we might split up from Tam & Sarah, and then how I would propose. T&S would be close enough to take photos and video of the proposal.
Joy comes from a commitment to support, care, love and respect each other no matter what.
The night before we arrived in Orange we spent a night in a guest house in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. At Cindy and Sarah’s suggestion (because they wanted to surprise Tam with a special vegan birthday cake), Tam and I went on a “casual jog” in some seriously frosty mountain Autumn air that evening so that we could strategise and solidify the plan. It was hilarious, and we managed to nut out a game plan. There was only one problem – neither of us knew the area well, nor had we been to the actual lake! We didn’t let that deter us because we were on a mission!
Now of course on the day things didn’t quite go to plan.
We arrived at the lake with less than 30 minutes or so before the gates to the lake area would close so we had to rush the game plan. I was so nervous I immediately headed for the toilet, whilst the others walked to the lake only a few minutes away from where we parked the car. I rejoined the group and signaled to T&S to get moving, and they started moving… to the spot where I decided that I wanted to propose! So I signaled to them to move further along.
I led Cindy to a spot underneath a beautiful tree with gorgeous autumn leaves on the ground. My heart was racing so fast at this point and Cindy asked me what was going on. I grabbed the notebook (where I had written down what I was going to say earlier) out of my back pack, and the ring that Tam had passed to me earlier, then went down on one knee and proposed. As I started reading what I had written and feeling the emotion in the moment (that I had finally found someone who I could see spending the rest of my life with) I started crying.
I noticed then that we were both crying, and when I finally popped the question Cindy said what I thought was a “yes.” I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t imagining it, so I asked her if she had said yes and she nodded. Overjoyed, I stood up and hugged her, literally lifting her off her feet.
By this point Sarah & Tam had come over and we all celebrated with hugs and happy tears.
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
That no matter what has come up during the planning stage of the wedding, we’ve been right there to support each other through it. It’s really taught us to communicate with each other, and stay focused on our vision for our dream future.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Laughter truly is our medicine, and we’re great at making each other laugh on a daily basis. We also try to do fun things along the way, and to ask for help from our family and friends.
How did you hear about Joy?
Our friends Anh-Lan and Walter used the app for their wedding and we thought it was neat so we decided to use it too.
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
Joy has really helped us with communicating our story and the wedding day schedule, and send out invites to our family and friends. We’ve had a few guests comment on how much they love our site and how the information has been displayed. Thank you Joy!
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
We would suggest that you follow up with phone calls or direct messages on Facebook to all guests to ensure that they have received your Joy invite email and read it. Sometimes the Joy emails go into Spam folders or people ignore them as they don’t recognise the email address (even if it has your name in the subject line!).
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
Joy comes from a commitment to support, care, love and respect each other no matter what.
