By Kyra Gillespie
More news of goodwill and community spirit has emerged following the emotional wedding day of terminally ill man Simon Clayton and his wife Lynneve Clayton earlier this month.
After Simon was given a diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer, and told he had three months to live, the entire community banded together to give the couple the wedding of their dreams.
Friends and strangers from all over Cardinia put their hands up to help in any way they could.
Absolutely everything was donated as a result, from the wedding dress, to the cake, and even the honeymoon.
But amid these grand gestures are stories of humble individuals who contributed to making the day as special as possible.
A staff member at the wedding venue Avalon Castle, who wishes to remain anonymous, quietly paid what was left on the account at the end of the night.
She did not know Simon and Lynneve, but when she heard their story she wanted to contribute in some way.
“I was washing the dishes here and when I heard what they were going through, I wanted to help” she said.
Avalon Castle chef Jessica Graham also donated hours of her time to the wedding preparations, including the food preparation, cooking, organising table settings and decorations and passing food around.
As the day came to an end, a couple approached Jessica, saying that they had noticed all the hard work she had put into co-ordinating and running the wedding and wanted to contribute some money to thank her for her efforts.
“I told them that I did it because I wanted to, but they insisted they wanted to give me some money towards my time”, Jessica said.
“When I checked my account the next day, they had paid me a whole week’s wage. I couldn’t believe it.”
The generous couple also wished to remain anonymous.
“The day was such a huge success; we had so much positive feedback from the guests about everything.
“When the night was wrapping up, all the guests helped to pack up the dishes and divvy up the laundry. It was amazing.”
The Gazette’s own photographer Gary Sissons also donated his time to Simon and Lynneve’s wedding day.
Gary was only supposed to attend the event for a short time to get a couple of photos for the article.
Upon discovering that the couple didn’t have a professional photographer, Gary offered to be their wedding photographer for the day, staying for hours to capture their special memories.
“When I heard they didn’t have a photographer I figured I could help,” Gary said.
Gary has since donated all of the photos to the newlyweds.
“It’s the least I could do.”
