J I M M Y & J A N E T
F R O M T H E B R I D E . . .
We first met…
August 2008. It was quite a chance meeting through some mutual friends of ours, when I was visiting Melbourne. Needless to say, we are very thankful to our friends!
The proposal…
February 2014. Jimmy surprised me with a picnic at Hanging Rock thank goodness it didn’t end the same way as the story does! It was quite an intimate moment between Jimmy & I and he even bought our beautiful dog along, so it was quite a family outing!
Photography…
Kylie from Just For Love Photography was our photographer for both our engagement shoot and for our wedding and she was nothing short of AMAZING for both. Our photos are more than we could have imagined, and something we will treasure for a lifetime. It wasn’t just Kylie’s awesome photography skills that I loved but also her positive supportive personality. Kylie and her assistant photographer, Nick were both the type of people you want to be surrounded by on your wedding day. On top of this Kylie delivers her work quickly (within a couple of weeks!) and most importantly with a lot of pride. It’s nice to meet people that love their work and it really shows!
Our dream wedding…
From the start of our planning, it was really important to both of us to have a wedding that was relaxed & fun, for us and for our guests. Even though we live in Melbourne, we loved the idea of having our wedding in Queensland during Winter (hoping for a comfortable temperature and still gorgeous sunlight) which luckily we got! We loved the idea of using a vintage / rustic theme but adding a touch of sparkle & glam which I think every wedding should have!
Ceremony…
We really wanted to have the Ceremony & Reception at the one venue, being that it means that we don’t have to rush from one location to another (and it’s heaps more relaxing for our guests too). Boomerang Farm on the Gold Coast was the only venue we looked at when we were planning our wedding, and we loved it immediately (so why keep looking right?!) We decided to host our ceremony in their Rainforest Chapel which is just stunning, whilst still being very intimate & private, which we loved!
Reception…
Boomerang Farm has quite a unique Barn on site, that was just perfect for our rustic wedding theme.. We decorated it with vintage cut glass bottles & candle holders, so that once the candles were lit, the most amazing reflections and light danced around the room! It also meant that we had stacks of room to dance the night away which we totally did! The Barn is honestly like no where else I’ve seen here in Australia… I just loved it!
Pre-wedding parties…
Having friends in both Melbourne & Brisbane it made sense to have double as many celebrations in the lead up to our wedding day! I chose to do a Melbourne Hens Party with all my Melbourne friends & then a take two, up in Brisbane as bwell! Both were amazing and I’m so lucky to have so many great friends spread across the country!
The bridal party…
We had 4 bridesmaids & 4 groomsmen, that were a mix of our siblings & friends.
They wore…
Gorgeous pastel coloured dresses from White Runaway! They were beautiful and even though it was the same design for all the girls, it suited them all perfectly!
The groom wore…
Jimmy wore a pale grey 3 piece suit with a crisp white shirt, while the groomsmen wore similar suit pants, a white shirt, black suspenders & tie. They all looked pretty sharp!
The wedding dress…
I fell in love with Anna Campbell’s designs as soon as I started looking at wedding dresses… I loved the vintage vibe they had yet they had the most amazing lace & beading detail they are just perfect! I ended up picking a design that I felt would suit our wedding and that was just enough glam for me! I still love it so much! Oh and it was super comfortable to dance in too, which was also important to me 🙂
Wedding flowers…
We were luckily enough to have a close family friend organise our flowers who did so with so much effort and thought, making it even more personal for us! She sourced the flowers from a local market and from her own garden… choosing stunning pastel colours that suited the bridesmaid dresses perfectly and our theme!
Decor…
Luckily, when we booked Boomerang Farm, not only were the staff incredible but the package also came with the styling & decor for us to use in the Barn! We just personalised some of the details but it made it so much easier in terms of organising the reception venue!
Cake…
Believe it or not Jimmy picked this one… his request was donuts! So from there I decided to create a donut tower with a simple white choc mud cake on top, made by Lili Berry! It was delicious.
On the menu…
We actually had a buffet which was a huge hit as our guests could choose what they wanted instead of having to swap plates with their partners ;) Also, there was plenty to go around so everyone had more than enough and no one was left hungry.
Bonbonniere…
We decided to make a donation to a charity on behalf of our guests instead of spending the money on bonbonniere. Samantha Townend, our celebrant works closely with Global Village Housing and was actually on a trip over to Cambodia after our wedding. The donation was given to one of the villages Sam visited and was used to buy school supplies, sports equipment and vitamin powder. I’m so glad we decided to do this as our family & friends already know how loved they are they didn’t need a little gift to remember that! Plus, we had donuts!
Memorable moments…
On the way to the Ceremony, I decided that I nervously had to use the bathroom so we quickly made a stop at Boomerang Farm so that I could run into the bathroom before making my way over to the Ceremony at Rainforest Chapel. What I didn’t know is that the Kombi we had hired had a habit of occasionally not starting and so on the return from the bathroom, the driver tried to start the engine and it wouldn’t start! The poor man, tried and tried to get it started and finally, it roared to life! All of our guests could see us in the distance and hear the engine trying to start… so as soon as the Kombi started, I could hear the applause from everyone at the Ceremony! Needless to say, I made quite an entrance…
Honeymoon…
Jimmy & I set off to The Maldives to enjoy gorgeous sunsets & tasty cocktails all set against the most amazing view. It was a perfect way to celebrate now being husband & wife!
W E D D I N G W I S D O M . . .
Any advice for engaged couples?
Make sure you take time to soak in every moment, as the day just goes so fast!! I would really recommend taking ten minutes to just be with your husband during the bridal portraits, without your bridal party. It means that you can just take some quiet time away from the wedding day crazy, to enjoy the fact that you are now husband & wife!
MW x
Photography Just For Love Photography & Film Prep Venue Meriton Apartments, Broadbeach Ceremony & Reception Venue Boomerang Farm, Gold Coast Celebrant Samantha Townend Bridal Gown Anna Campbell Bridesmaid Gowns White Runway Hair & Makeup Embellish the art of Hair & Makeup Cake Lili Berry Florist Jenny Van Polanen Petel