eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta
Australian Rugby Union player David Pocock married his long-term partner, Emma Palandri, in a bush on Sunday defying the “norm” of extravagant weddings typically associated with celebrities.The open side flanker, who represents the Wallabies in international competitions, held a commitment ceremony in 2010 before family and friends in Perth to marry Emma Palandri before “something low-key” in Australia over the weekend.
Widely considered to be one of the world’s best rugby players, David and Emma held a small private dress-down ceremony in a bush land after returning from a spring tour with the Wallabies.
The ACT Brumbies vice-captain shared pictures of simple ceremony with no expensive clothes but wearing casual clothes.
There was no wedding dress, no suit, no flowers, or even any family and friends to celebrate with. The bride wore sneakers.
Instead, the pair were married next to a tree in a park with only the celebrant — and the photographer.
Pocock said “I do” on Sunday at a wedding which was seven years in the making.
“Married my best mate yesterday,” Pocock captioned the pictures.
“I hope we can live into the words of Rilke: ‘The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they
show each other the greatest possible trust’.”
“A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development.
“But once the realisation is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvellous living side-by-side can grow, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.”
Despite the unusual wedding photos, fans from all over the world were pleased for the 55-Test veteran.
It has been something common to host extravagant weddings for sports stars and big international celebrities.
A number of huge Hollywood and sports stars’ weddings have been the talk of the year due to fancy looks and huge spending.
Recently, many sports stars including Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, football captain Sunil Chhetri, football legend Lionel Messi and tennis star Serena Williams got married recently, hosting lavish parties and glamorous events.
In South Africa, Proteas star Quinton De Kock flew his entourage to Mauritius to marry his beautiful bride, Sasha Hurley this year.
But Pocock opted for a low-key wedding.
He was born on April 23 in 1988 in Gweru from parents Andy and Jane Pocock.
He grew up on a farm owned by his family, who fled the country during a period of heightened unrest owing to the Zimbabwean Government’s land redistribution campaign. His family migrated to Brisbane, Australia in 2002.
He was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane. In 2005, he played in the school’s undefeated premiership-winning 1st XV alongside future Wallabies teammate Quade Cooper.
That same year, he was selected to play in the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team, the highest level of schoolboy rugby in Australia. He then made his Australian debut as a substitute against The Barbarians on December 3, 2008.
Pocock made his Wallabies starting debut in Hong Kong in late 2008, and then played against Italy and The Barbarians on the Wallabies spring tour.
