Two Birthdays and a Couple of Surprise Weddings.

One hundred and fifty guests turned out to celebrate the 30th birthdays of Dubbo twins Nicole and Mark Lyons on Saturday.

They were expecting to deliver a rousing rendition of happy birthday amid the usual revelries, but the guests of honour had other plans.

Halfway through the celebration at Brocklehurst, Nicole asked her dad to get everyone’s attention.

Little did he know he was about to give away his daughter in marriage.

“As friends stopped quiet from dad’s loud wolf whistle, they gathered around to celebrate what they thought was mine and my brother’s 30th birthday. Little did they know they were celebrating our joint wedding,” a happy Nicole said yesterday.

What might have seemed a spur-of-the-moment decision to wed actually involved three months of planning by both couples.

“One day Lisa (Nicole’s sister-in-law) suggested we all get married together,” Nicole said.

“I had to ask my partner, Glen, whether he wanted to and he agreed,” she said.

The couples began preparing for the big surprise, letting only a few close friends know about the wedding, as they had to travel long distances.

There were no fancy wedding dresses or suits - Nicole and her long-time partner Glen and Mark and his partner Lisa tied the knot in blue jeans and t-shirts.

A celebrant was hiding outside to marry the couples.

“The celebrant walked through the shed and mum was gob-smacked, her face was priceless,” Nicole said.

What makes the story more unique is that Nicole was not yet even engaged to her partner of 10 years.

“Everyone expected Mark and Lisa to get married because they had been engaged for a few years and they have a little girl called Jasmine together,” Nicole said.

Terry Lyons, the twin’s older brother said he had no idea what his siblings were up to.

“Mum was freaking out, I think Glen and Mark were fairly nervous and we probably went through six kegs of beer - it was a total spin,” Terry said.

“Dad was pretty happy, as all his kids are married now.

“He got up to do a speech and Nicole read a thankyou poem to everyone on the night,” he said.

As the wedding date dawned near, Nicole said a few of her friends called to say they weren’t going to make it to the birthday party.

“Actually they turned up and they tried to surprise us, but in the end they got the bigger surprise,” she said.

dani.volke@ruralpress.com