THE 2 Montys are back to auction off another wedding for charity, and this time, it’s for the Hunter’s RUNDIPG.

It will be the third time the two marriage celebrants – Monty King and Monty Haron – have joined forces to round up a group of generous local wedding vendors to create a very special day for a happy couple for charity.

They hope an all-inclusive Hunter Valley wedding package, worth upwards of $85,000, will raise about $50,000 for Hunter-based charity, RUNDIPG.

“We would be thrilled with that,” Mr King said.

“In the first year, the package was worth about $65,000 and we raised a touch over $34,000 for Camp Quality.

“Last year, the package was worth over $70,000, and we got $40,000 for the Starlight Foundation.

“And we hope to go bigger and better every year, and this time it’s for RUNDIPG.”

The “epic” package – donated by Newcastle and Hunter vendors working within the local wedding industry – included everything from jewellery to catering, to the venue and honeymoon.

It would be sold to the “highest bidder”.

The 2 Montys – who would officiate the ceremony and then MC the reception – had been hoping to auction off this wedding package last year, but COVID had put an end to those plans.

They had chosen RUNDIPG, which raises money for research into a deadly brain stem cancer that almost exclusively affects children, because of a connection with the family of a Lake Macquarie girl who died of the disease last year.

RUNDIPG supports the work of Hunter cancer researcher, Dr Matt Dun, who is based at the University of Newcastle and lost his own little girl, Josie, to the disease when she was four years old.

“The work Matt does is pretty prominent here in Newcastle,” Mr King said.

“We really want to raise as much money as we can for Matt and his team.”

The wedding would be held at Ironbark Hill, run by Enzo Hunter Valley, at Pokolbin on November 10.

“We had to postpone the auction, but we are hoping to do it as soon as possible,” Mr King said. “We are just waiting for restrictions to lift so we can get as many people there to bid to get as much bang for buck as we can for RUNDIPG.

“People can visit our website – The2Montys.com.au – or follow our Instagram to see the full list of vendors who are participating and what they are donating to the package. The auction will be held at the same place as the wedding, and a lot of the vendors will be there for the couples to meet and chat to before the bidding starts.

“But people can also phone in for bids, or do it via Facetime.”

Content by the Newcastle Herald/Anita Beaumont