Jesse and Paul

Jesse and Paul

I have the best way to end  a working week for you today! A gorgeous, intimate, love filled wedding celebration! As soon as Trish from Tea Lily Photography sent me this wedding I had to ask her for more information. So I’m thrilled that Jesse and Paul took the time to share the details behind their wedding day.

Jesse tells the story of how she and Paul met.  “Paul and I met back in 2001. I was meant to be studying for an exam but decided to hang out with a friend for the day who wanted to take photos of cars at Wakefield Park during an organised track day with a car club. I’m glad I tagged along that day because I met the person who I was going to spend the next 9 years with!”

Jesse describes herself as a bit of an “antibride”. The couple had been together for ten years and didn’t see the point of a long engagement. Jesse says “Our main aim for the day was to get married – not to have a wedding”. After considering 10^th October 2010 (10.10.10) they decided it was too long to wait. Then one of their friends suggested 1^st February, 2010 (0102-2010) which really resonated with them and so they organised their wedding within a month and found their photographer a week out from their wedding day! The couple was one of the last to be married in their circle of family and friends and decided to keep their day small, private and intimate. They used local suppliers where possible and did without invitations.

Jesse and Paul married at the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages in Parramatta.

To entertain their guests during the “boring bits” (signing of the register), Jesse’s friend Anna Lau (who plays with the Sydney Youth Orchestra and is also part of a string quartet that plays at weddings 0402 074388  ) and another friend Dean Jalocan played two songs chosen by Jesse. “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys and “All Out Of Love” by Air Supply.

Says Jesse of her song choices “The latter song isn’t exactly a love song but having had seen Air Supply sing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House in 2009, I knew this piece was going to sound awesome on violin.”

To add a bit of humour, Jesse organised with the groom’s best friend to play the egg shaker during the Beach Boys song and then the triangle during the Air Supply song. It added to the casual, fun feel of the day and kept guests entertained. The groom was almost in tears as he heard the surprise of the songs being played.

Jesse wore flowers in her hair and carried a flower girl sized bouquet of  pearl coloured David Austin roses and bouvardias from Avanti Florist.

After their ceremony, Jesse and Paul headed to Parramatta Park for a quick photo shoot to commemorate their day. Jesse and Paul wanted to include items they had in their house in their photo shoot. Jesse says”I loved the idea of looking at our photos in 20-30 years time and seeing the same vase, bedside table, cupcake stand etc and thinking it is just as beautiful today as it was back then“

Jesse and Paul setup their bedside table (St  Germaine bedside table from Domayne) with an antique vase they’d purchased for their home from Victory Theatre Antiques. A cupcake stand given as a birthday gift from a friend  friend was filled with cupcakes from Cupcakes On Pitt.

Jesse and Paul’s pet bird and dog couldn’t be around on their wedding day, so they did the next best thing and took pictures of them along!

The bride wore a French metallic beaded lace frock from Collette Dinnigan. Running out of time to find shoes, she wore satin slingbacks from Mimosa she already had in her closet. Her hair and makeup was by Emma Attenborough. The groom has a suit custom made for him during a holiday to Vietnam by Yaly Couture.

Jesse found the “Happily Ever After” sign in a  boutique in Hervey Bay on one of her travels.  Jesse wore a necklace of baby pearls she’d made herself, a pearl bracelet from her mother and pearl drop earrings. Paul proudly wore his grandfather’s gold watch.

One of Jesse and Paul’s favourite things to do is to play Scrabble so incorporated a spinning Scrabble board into their photos.

In keeping with their mission to use local suppliers, Jesse’s engagement ring, her bouquet and the cupcakes were all bought within walking distance of the ceremony location. Jesse’s engagement ring was made by Edward Swaab of Certified Diamonds Network. The groom’s wedding ring (a platinum band with a hammered in a matte/satin finish) was made by John Barnes of Wedding Ring Production . Jesse opted not to have a wedding ring.

Jesse and Paul used a vintage style tea set bought from Me & Mo for a traditional tea ceremony.

Jesse carried an umbrella from House of Windsor and used a copy of Jane Austen she found on eBay as a few of the couple’s “favourite things”.

Jesse and Paul celebrated with their guests with dinner Lachlan’s Restaurant at Old Government House. They plan to celebrate with their close friends by taking them out to Guillaume at Bennelong for a nice dinner.

Thank you to Jesse and Paul for allowing us to share your wedding day on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Trish of Tea Lily Photography for sharing the photos with us today!

Photos by Tea Lily Photography