Nine goes wedding crazy: ‘Three cheers for Sylvia and Pete, hip hip hooray’

THE Today Show held a special outdoor broadcast this morning after celebrity guests enjoyed weekend-long festivities for the wedding of Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic.

NEWLY-hitched Nine presenters Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic got the royal wedding treatment on this morning’s episode of Today, following their elaborate ceremony over the weekend.

The Nine sweethearts wed on Saturday in a star-studded ceremony in the Kangaroo Valley, with Today newsreader Jeffreys describing it as the “best day of their lives” with many of the couple’s on-air colleagues in attendance.

It was such a great night the happy couple turned it into a weekend long event - treating guests to a “recovery lunch” that pushed well into Sunday.

Nine was a supportive employer. Celebrity guests, including Peter’s brother Karl and co-host Lisa Wilkinson, had no need to rush back to Sydney for this morning’s show, with the entire Today show broadcast live from the NSW southern highlands.

Clearly timed to coincide with the nuptuals, Today broadcast from Bowral for the opening leg of their week-long ‘We Love Australia’ tour.

While the tour will visit five states over the course of the week, Today’s first stop was to a town just north of the Kangaroo Valley, making for an easy commute for the Today cast and crew who attended the weekend wedding.

Detailed coverage of the weekend’s event this morning also included a video message from the happy couple themselves - and gave plenty of credit to wedding suppliers, including Sylvia’s dress designer and the wedding venue.

An on-screen photo of the pair aired on Today this morning - taken just moments after they said I Do’ - was overlaid with graphics showing how to recreate their luxe look, from 60 Minutes reporter Stefanovic’s Armani suit to Jeffreys’ Rebecca Vallance custom-designed dress.

An on-screen graphic gave viewers all the wedding details.

“Doing it tough, keeping it real,” Peter’s brother Karl quipped as the presenters reeled off the couple’s designer duds on air.

It was earlier reported that best man Karl gave a riotous speech at the reception which included performing a recorded version of the Oasis hit Champagne Supernova, with the following lyrics:

“We got beautiful heads, we don’t pay for s**t, agents deliver it.”

This morning Stefanovic and Wilkinson threw to a specially-recorded video message from the newlyweds, thanking viewers for their well wishes — and giving their choice of wedding location a plug.

Today gave a special shout-out to the happy couple this morning.

“First of all, if you are thinking of locations to get married, the beautiful Kangaroo Valley where we are at the moment is primo,” said Stefanovic.

The newly-hitched pair with their wedding party.

“If you are looking for a high quality, very smart, very intelligent, very clever, witty funny MC that ticks all the boxes, [Today sports presenter] Tim Gilbert is most certainly your man. He MCed our wedding and he is a wonderful man. And thirdly ... who would have thought our Today show team were such good dancers?”

Sylvia and Pete checked in with a special post-wedding message to viewers.

The couple credited “Lisa Wilkinson, number one on the dance floor as always,” and Richard Wilkins: “Dickie has this groove, with his gin.”

After the video had played, Wilkins turned to the assembled crowd of Bowral schoolchildren, stood in a soggy oval under umbrellas, and tried to whip up some wedding fever among the kids.

“Three cheers for Sylvia and Pete, hey? Hip hip, hooray!”

Later on in the show, presenter Natalia Cooper still had weddings on the brain during her weather report.

“Pete and Sylvia got married in the nearby Kangaroo Valley and we are in Bowral at the Centennial Vineyards, which, could you imagine getting married here? It would be absolutely stunning,” she gushed to viewers.

Asked by news.com.au about any links between the couple’s Kangaroo Valley wedding and Today’s decision to film nearby on the Monday, a Nine spokesperson said:

“The wedding of Sylvia and Peter was on the Saturday, our We Love Australia week doesn’t start until Monday so both events were planned separately. There were no deals done for the location, services provided for the wedding or anything else, for inclusion in the coverage on the Today Show, that coverage was in response to media coverage of the events including your publications front pages on Sunday and then feedback from our viewers who wanted to know more,” they said.

“Sylvia and Peter consciously chose to do no commercial deals around their wedding.”