George Cull didn't know that was the plan in 1914 when he built St Peter's in Linton, but he ended up marrying local teacher Annie Sandow beneath his own handiwork.

The pair met during the construction and married on May 26, 1915.

They actually beat the official opening of the church by several days.

Their wedding, and the 100th anniversary of St Peter's, is being celebrated this month with a centenary event at the church following a reunion of the Cull family.

Local newspaper the Grenville Standard covered the wedding at the time.

It was given a whole column on the front page on May 29, while the church opening earned only a few paragraphs in the next edition.

"A wedding which attracted a great deal of interest was celebrated in Linton on Wednesday, when Mr G. R. Cull, of the firm of Holmes and Cull, builders, was united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss Annie Sandow, daughter of Mr and Mrs George Sandow, of Linton," the paper reported.

"The popularity of the bride-elect, who until recently was a member of the teaching staff of the Linton State school, was made evident by the large number of spectators at the wedding, the church being crowded. St Peter's Church is a handsome edifice, and as Mr Cull was one of its builders, an added interest was attached to his presence there as bridegroom."

To mark the centenary of the occasion, Mr and Mrs Cull's granddaughter Leanne Cull organised for the family to attend mass on Sunday, May 24.

"All the original wedding party (was) in some way represented," she said.

Ms Cull said her grandmother's family was also a part of the town's interest.

"Her father was a station manager and well known," she said.

"She had attended the school as a pupil herself (before teaching there)."

Annie Sandow's sister Dora, one of the bridesmaids, stayed in Linton and married into the Grigg family, who stayed in the area.

George and Annie eventually settled in Northcote following stints around country Victoria, but the Cull family still has a connection to the region. Their nephew William Gill - in fact Father William from Ballarat - performed the Sunday mass.

WHILE the Cull family has spread all through Victoria in the years since George and Annie met in Linton, the heritage-listed church has remained a mainstay of the town.

Its Gothic Revival structure has remained in good condition and the surroundings have only altered slightly since its construction.

It cost 1000 pounds for the design and the work of Mr Cull.

The presbytery came in 1920 along with a new altar, and the Cyprus trees that now dominate the site came some time after that.

Fourth-generation parishioner John Kennedy said the social beginnings of the church would be celebrated on Sunday, May 31.

"In those early days, people wouldn't have had the transport, so coming to mass on a Sunday, it would have been a big social event," he said.

"I'm feeling it'll be extraordinary to think we'll be sitting down here; 100 years ago Father Mulcahy was the man from Ballarat and the parish priest was Father Barrett... it'll be a very special moment."

Mr Kennedy has seen a lot of changes during his time attending the church.

"I've been coming here all my life. You could say there's four generations of people (from my family) continuingly coming to the Linton Church," he said.

Like many Catholic churches in Australia, St Peter's has seen a drop in congregation numbers over the years.

Fellow parishioner Kathy Heenan said Linton and other village churches used to be the centre of the community.

"Sunday was always put aside. You went to Church," she said.

"It was a place you could come for healing, for celebration. You've got your celebration with your weddings and your baptisms, and then the healing side of it for your funerals.

"This is where your focus was, the church. You needed the church for baptism, to start off your Christian life, and then when you died, most people would have been buried from a church."

St Peter's last parish priest, Father John Keane, retired in 2013 and has not been replaced, with priests coming from Ballarat for mass every Sunday on their rounds of the region.

This Sunday, however, will see a return to the St Peter's of old.

Mr Kennedy said Father John would return and people were making big efforts to get back to Linton for the occasion.

"There are people coming from as far away as Adelaide," he said.

THE celebrations have brought generations and far-apart members of the Cull family together.

Ms Cull said 40 people had come to the mass and luncheon last week for the anniversary of the wedding.

"Some people were meeting for the first time," she said.

"They came from all over Victoria."

Beyond the shared discovery of their family history, Ms Cull said her plan to mark the occasion was completely validated by the day.

"It went really well. Everything was perfect, and the family were thrilled," she said.

"The plaque should be up by next week. I'm really happy we went and marked the occasion."

Following the mass, the family paid another important visit.

"Because my grandmother came from Linton originally, we went to the cemetery to see the family plot," she said.

Not all in the family would have had her links to the church and to Linton.

"I used to look at the wedding photo on the piano," she said.

"That's really all I had to go on, before I started the research."

In the picture the bridal party fits the detailed description from the Grenville Standard.

"The bride, who was given away by her father, was charmingly dressed in white crepe de chine, trimmed with silk lace, the court train being lined with pink satin and trimmed with horse-shoes and orange blossoms," it said.

"The bridesmaids, Miss Dora Sandow and Miss Jessie Cull, were attired in cream resilda, trimmed with satin and overlace."

The details included are even more extensive than those in modern-day reports on celebrity weddings.

"The bridegroom's present to the bride was a gold necklace set with diamonds, and the bride's present to the bridegroom was a silver shaving mug," said the unnamed reporter.

The Culls' youngest daughter is still alive, although at 87 her frailty prevented the trip down from Canberra for the event.

However, Leanne Cull said her memories of the area were strong and reflective of George and Annie's link to Linton.

"She remembers visiting with her parents, when they would come back," she said.