TOM HORNSBY and ALICIA MOODY
Dress: A Ramona Keveza gown of French Point d’Espirit lace from Bridal Reflections Salon on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York
Honeymoon: Maui, Hawaii, for nine days
When and where married: Under the Fig Tree at Dunbar House, with a reception inside on April 25, 2015
TOM Hornsby grew up in Scunthorpe, a small, steelworks town in the north of England, as far away from Sydney’s sunny northern beaches as you can get.
But after moving to Sheffield to go to university, then Nottingham, London, Cardiff and Dublin for work, Tom decided a spell in Sydney was in order, and that’s when he met Alicia Moody.
“I grew up in North Curl Curl, about as far away from smoggy Scunthorpe as you can get,†says Alicia, a 32-year-old lawyer.
“Our meeting was absolute chance, although Tom was under the impression we had mutual friends, but we didn’t.
“We first met on an evening out with friends at the Sugarmill in Sydney in July, 2008 and we also bumped into each other randomly once or twice after our first meeting.
“That was also pure coincidence. We were both just going about our business in Sydney.â€
She says they have been together ever since, this month celebrating their six year anniversary, and haven’t stopped moving.
“Our first big trip was to the UK in May, 2010, when Tom took me to meet his family and show me where he grew up, and we ended the trip with a few wonderful days in Morocco, which was a very different experience from Tom’s childhood village in the north of England,†she says.
“Since then we have taken many trips together. One of the most memorable being a driving trip around the South Island of New Zealand, and our biggest adventure was probably our move to New York in early 2014.
“Setting up a life and a home in the Big Apple has been an extraordinary adventure, but not without its challenges.â€
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Tom, an architect the same age as Alicia, proposed just before they packed up and moved to New York, popping the question on Christmas Eve of 2013.
“It was the night before Christmas and I was working and was supposed to leave at lunch but my boss, having a very difficult client (Tom!) had asked me to work late,†she says.
“I was told that I would meet this client to sign some documents at 5pm, at a hotel in the city, and having cancelled plans with friends and hung around all afternoon I was, understandably, a little put out!
“I arrived and was escorted to the rooftop bar by the events manager, who was posing as a receptionist.â€
Tom says he will never forget the look on her face when she saw him.
“Her frustration melted away and we sat and had a giggle about the whole thing — later she confessed she still didn’t expect a proposal and thought it was a Christmas present,†Tom says.
“I proposed and she accepted — we finished our drinks and I suggested dinner.
“Having nothing to wear she was surprised I had a room in the hotel with a suitcase full of her clothes, which I had smuggled out of the house days before.
“It was a good thing she accepted as I had managed to wrangle a crowd of her friends, family and work colleagues together at a roof top bar for a surprise celebration.â€
They married on April 25 under the fig tree in the grounds at Dunbar House followed by a reception inside for 110 guests.
“We wrote our own vows to each other which we kept secret until the ceremony and my parents had their reception in Dunbar House so there’s family tradition to the venue,†Alicia says.
“Our ceremony was under the fig tree at Dunbar House, which was bathed in sunlight during most of the ceremony, but we didn’t realise there was a huge storm brewing behind them — although all our guests could see it.
“We were all hit by a freak hailstorm just as we were having our first kiss as husband and wife, and we all raced inside.â€
Alicia met a poet in New York who wrote a haiku poem for her about her relationship with Tom, words which appeared on the ceremony program and table place cards.
“I speak French and love Paris so instead of a traditional wedding cake we have a croquembouche, and one of the bridesmaids organised
the cake toppers as a surprise, which were little figurines of a blonde-haired bride and a dark-haired superman, because Tom secretly loves wearing superman-themed socks.
“The final dance of the night was My Girl played by our band Slide McBride. It was one of my favourite songs growing up and one I used to listen to with my mum.â€
Credit: GM photographics
THE Sunday Telegraph celebrates the love stories of couple’s around NSW in our weddings of the week feature. Send your recent wedding pictures to weddings@news.com.au with your contact details.
Mia Baker, 37, and Paul Misfud, 40
Dress: Floor-length gown by Carla Zampatti
Honeymoon: Seven weeks in Europe
PAUL caught Mia’s eye at the Clovelly Hotel in August 2012, and luckily they had a mutual friend to break the ice.
They began dating soon after. They share a love of food, travel, beach, sport, cooking and are both family oriented.
Paul proposed in Bali in June 2013. They wed at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Randwick, with their reception at the Ivy Ballroom.
The bridal party surprised the groom with a flash-mob dance to I’ve Had The Time Of My Life.
Credit: MM Photos
Natalie Jazevski, 23, and Damiano Cianfarani, 23
Dress: Chantilly French-lace gown with frilled skirt by personalisedweddingscouture.com.au at Earlwood
Honeymoon: Four weeks in the US and Caribbean
NATALIE and Damiano were best friends at high school before they began dating.
He set up a romantic proposal in a petal and candle-strewn hotel room with a teddy bear holding a ring box with a note saying “Just kidding!â€
She followed the petal path to see her friends holding a banner saying “Marry Me Nat?â€.
They wed at St Mary’s Cathedral with 250 guests.
Credit: Collective Studio
Sarah Hughes, 26, and Garry Elali, 29
Dress: Tulle ball gown from Eternal Bridal at Strand Arcade
Honeymoon: Mexico for two-and-a-half weeks
GARRY felt as though he was being dragged to a friend’s barbecue in 2010, but is forever grateful as it’s where he met Sarah, who had just returned from living in San Diego.
Sarah loves Garry’s ability to have a crowd in stitches.
Garry proposed while they were in New York in December 2013, near the fountain in Central Park. They wed at Bicentennial Park at Sydney Olympic Park on a sunny day after a week of rain.
Credit: Mckinney & Friend Photography
Originally published as The long journey to find true love