Wedding DJ & Marriage Celebrant for Ashleigh & Duncan, February 2023

7 Apr

There were dogs, there were llamas, yes llamas, and two of the happiest campers I’ve ever had the honour of being wedding DJ and marriage celebrant for, at Ash & Duncan’s freo wedding in February this year. The ceremony was held at the iconic Roundhouse, with the reception being held at Assembly Yard. I had all kinds of fun writing their ceremony, and I’m gonna include the start of their story here because we all got such a good laugh out of it:

While exploring the south coast of Australia in 1802, Matthew Flinders sailed his vessel HMS Investigator a dangerous route through the Recherche Archipelago, eventually reaching land and taking shelter from a wild summer storm. To mark this triumph over the elements and to commemorate his good fortune, he named this place Lucky Bay.
But it wasn’t until over 200 years later that Lucky Bay would truly earn its name.
Ashleigh Bourne and Duncan Cartwright were on holiday in Esperance, and having gone ring shopping in the preceding months, Ashleigh was on high alert.
Would this be the trip on which he’d pop the big question? If so, what day would it be?
How would Duncan find the perfect moment, and would Ashleigh be able to see it coming?
The morning when Duncan decided to not only put on a fresh shirt, one of the shirts Ash doesn’t hate, and to also apply deodorant, was the morning where Ashleigh first became truly suspicious that today might be the day.
He was taking her on a picnic, so they stopped by the bakery in Esperance that’s so cool it’s only open one day a week and has a line longer than South Coast Highway.
Rueben sandwiches, sossie rolls, and a few gluten free brownies in tow, he drove her to a serene and secluded stretch of beach with the whitest sands you’ll ever see in our beautiful state of WA.
After a couple of hours of successful picnicking, Ashleigh had understandably become torn between this atmosphere of total relaxation and the nervous anticipation of Duncan’s proposal.
Eventually, Duncan turns toward Ashleigh and asks her a question. “Ashleigh, Do you know why they call it Lucky Bay?” Ashleigh wanted to tell him it’s due to Matthew Flinder’s successful navigation of the nearby and treacherous Archipelago in 1802, but she held her tongue.
“Do you know why they call it Lucky Bay Ashleigh? Because, some girls get very lucky here.”
At which point of course, Duncan presents the ring, Ashleigh says yes, and that’s the real story of why they call it Lucky Bay.