JOANNE
COSTANZO and GEOFF SNELLGROVE
Dress: Rhonda Hemmingway Couture dress with
beaded French ivory lace
Honeymoon: Being planned for Mexico, Cuba and the
US
When and where married: La Perouse National Park and NSW Golf
Club on November 22, 2014
THE first words
Geoff Snellgrove exchanged with Joanne Costanzo were “would you like to dance?”
— fitting for the 44-year-old Italian, who grew up dancing with her father and
taking ballroom dancing lessons in her teenage years.
It had been a
hard day for Joanne.
It was eight
years ago, and she had driven her friend to Kiama after her father had a heart
attack.
They drove from
hospital to home and, too tired to drive back to Sydney, they pulled into a
hotel for the night and fatefully decided on a drink after a long day.
“I entertained
my friend’s unstoppable words of advice to talk to all men — because she
thought I hadn’t met ‘the one’ since I didn’t talk to enough men, so, because
of circumstance, I talked to all who approached and being two out-of-towners
in a local, a lot approached,” Joanne recalls.
“Eventually I
asked her if I could stop talking to people, and said ‘by the way, that one
over there is the only one I’d be interested in’.
“To change pace
in the night, I got her dancing.
“When I went to
the bathroom Geoff approached my friend and asked if I’d be likely to dance
with him, to which she said you should ask her yourself — he did when I returned
and, to this day, we love to dance together.”
CROSSING PATHS
Geoff, a
43-year-old project manager, grew up in The Shire while Joanne grew up in
Queensland, but the pair both lived in Kings Cross for a period and had many
“near misses” before they met in Kiama.
“We both
holidayed at Christmas at Tweed Heads as children,” Joanne says.
“I met a
good-looking, kind and gentle police officer near El-Alamein fountain in Kings
Cross when I lived there, but the uniform put me off talking to him any longer
than necessary. He did check I was OK walking home — I’m sure now that it was
Geoff.
“We both spent
many of the same years in the Cross without knowing each other.
“We have similar
values that have come from our similar upbringings and past.”
They were
soon inseparable and with five children between them, quickly became one
family, including Jade, 16, Kiahne, 15, Mason, 11, and the couple’s children
together, Scarlett, 6, and Lawson, 3.
“Geoff proposed
in Vietnam and was waiting for St Joseph’s Cathedral Hanoi bells to ring to do
it,” she says.
“Geoff knew I
loved Paris — the cathedral was built to replicate many aspects of Notre Dame.
“The bells
didn’t ring when they were scheduled, so he delayed and extended his speech, so
much so I didn’t know Geoff was proposing until he got down on one knee. After
he finished, the bells finally rang — the timing was perfect.”
KISSES ON DEMAND
The pair was
married at La Perouse National Park, overlooking the heads, on November 22,
with a reception for 70 people at NSW Golf Club, La Perouse.
“Fresh
flowers were a big part of the wedding,” Joanne says.
“I did all the
flowers at the reception in crystal and cut-glass vases.
“We spent hours
in op shops getting beautiful pieces — which was a tribute to my great-aunt,
who I used to watch in her florist shop.
“With Italian
heritage there were small Italian touches.
“We placed a
crystal bell on each table so the guests didn’t break the Golf Club Riedel
glasses by hitting them constantly with forks.
“The children
loved ringing the bells and having their parents kiss on demand.
“Food is
important to me as I am a food consultant, so NSW Golf Club was accommodating
and helped deliver a great five-course meal.
“So many people
commented on the food and how relaxed and joyous the day was.
“They enjoyed
how comfortable the surroundings were and that the meal exceeded expectations.”
The Sandringham
couple did a proper bridal waltz as their first dance to Can I Have This Dance to honour Geoff’s first words
to Joanne.
“My dress had an
8m-long flyaway train, designed to be a metre long for every year Geoff and I
have been committed to each other,” she says.
“This evolved
from the Italian tradition of the train being one foot for each year of engagement
— and although Rhonda commented not even princesses have trains that long, she
happily designed and made it for me.”
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