Nikki and Jon

Today’s beautiful wedding comes to us from bride Nikki who married Jon in the beautiful location of Byron Bay. Torrential rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of the happy couple with the raindrops stopping only the day before the wedding.

Nikki and Jon had a big DIY emphasis on their wedding day. They included family and friend in a lot of their plans and made use of the talents of their loved ones. From decorations, the gown and favors – Nikki and John included personal touches on everything!

High school sweethearts Nikki and John held their wedding at Peppers Casuarina. They held their ceremony in the rainforest grounds while the reception was at the on site restaurant Wilsons By The Creek. Guests were able to make use of the on site accommodation and allowed themselves to party on long into the night.

Nikki designed her own wedding gown and had it made by Wendy Krummel. She wore Swarovski crystal earrings and pinned her grandmother’s rose gold locket to her bouquet. The wedding stationery was a letterpress design by Blackbird Press. Photos today are by Spinning Still Photography.

The ring pillow was made from old doilies that belonged to Jon’s grandmother who passed away last year.

Jon surprised Nikki by sending a homemade DVD to her in her “getting ready” room. The DVD was a message from Jon telling me how much her loved her and was looking forward to their lives together.  His second surprise was his speech, which he finished off with a bit of Elvis, singing “I can’t help falling in love with you”.

The bridesmaids designed their own dresses which were put together by the Maid of Honor’s grandmother who also made the boys ties.

Nikki and Jon acoustic guitarist Luke Vassella play “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Bach as Nikki walked down the aisle. She says “It is a difficult piece to play on guitar, but absolutely beautiful. He did an amazing job and it made the experience very dreamy.” Nikki and Jon hand wrote their own vows.

The favors were homemade jam, as Nikki and Jon love to cook, so went to the local strawberry farm and made a jam together.  They ordered some stickers and jars from Etsy to complete them! The name cards were tied to the jam and were seeded cards to plant and grow herbs which Nikki found after much online searching.

The wedding car was a Kombi from a local hire centre. It didn’t love the steep hills around the Byron hinterland – Jon had to give it a push start to get it going !

Nikki’s favourite moment “One of my favourite details was getting a photo of every guest (preferably one with my husband and I in the shot) and writing a message on the back of the photo and taping it to the table underneath place settings for each guest. I announced the hidden photos at the end of my speech – the last speech of the night. I couldn’t thank everyone in my speech, so I used the cards instead!  Everyone was very surprised, and in some cases moved to tears by the sentiment and special words.”

Nikki and Jon danced their first dance to “All I Want To Do Is Grow Old With You” by Hawaiian band The Blue Hulas on ukuleles

Thank you Nikki and Jon for sharing your absolutely beautiful DIY wedding day!

Photos courtesy of Spinning Still Photography