WEEDING OF THE WEEK
The Sunday Age
Sunday November 1, 2009
A mutual love of the outdoors culminated in a mountain-top proposal for this adventurous couple. THE wedding reception was buzzing as the groom Ned Landry, a quietly spoken, salt-of-the-earth character, took his turn behind the microphone, peering out at 126 familiar faces. He thanked the usual people, then turned to his bride, who was looking radiant in a traditional white gown."Thank you, Sarah, for taking me under your wing."Beautiful in its simplicity: behind every good man is a good woman.Ned, a builder, hails from Swan Hill, while Sarah, a nurse, grew up on a farm in Nandaly, near Sea Lake. They met while playing at Marong Football and Netball Club, where an initial friendship blossomed into romance."I fell for his handsome looks; his hard-working and caring nature," Sarah says.Ned on Sarah? "She's fun, easygoing. We share a lot of the same views; both love the outdoors and travelling."After three months together, the pair did the latter, packing up and heading across the Nullarbor for work. After two years in Perth, Ned accepted a mining job at Tom Price (north-western Western Australia), while Sarah found work at the local hospital.Two weeks into their new life in Tom Price, Ned took Sarah up nearby Mount Nameless, the highest accessible mountain by vehicle in Western Australia. "I was blown away enough by the views €” and then he proposed," Sarah says. "It was very romantic, especially for Ned. Of course, I said yes straight away."They gave themselves nine months to organise the wedding. "We always had our heart set on Echuca: it's central for most of our family and friends," Sarah says. "Luckily, my mum, Sue, did most of the organising."And a great job Sue did. After an idyllic ceremony on Moama Wharf, it was on to the reception, at Radcliffe's garden courtyard in Echuca, where Ned's speech concluded with a reflection of the previous week's bucks party on a Echuca houseboat."They looked after me," he said, nodding to his three groomsmen. Then his focus shifted back to Sarah, and stayed there.
© 2009 The Sunday Age
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