Jodie & Byron

The happy Athol Hall wedding of Jodie & Byron captured by David Campbell Imagery is such a whimsical fun occasion. The bridesmaids carried massive balloons instead of flowers, there was colour everywhere and plenty of touches that said “Jodie & Byron” all over.

Jodie tells the story of how she met Byron. “We met almost five years ago at work. Byron was introduced to me as the resident geek and I was the new girl. Three years of friendship later and hey presto! In the few months before we got together the weekend walks with Byron’s dog Zacky McNoodle stepped up and we did our courting over early morning coastal walks and picking up dog poo! Unfortunately we lost Zack before the wedding but our unofficial Cupid made sure he looked after Byron and hooked him up before he went on his way!”

Jodie chose a gown and veil from Karen Willis Holmes. She remarks, “My dress and veil was from Karen Willis Holmes and the staff there were super lovely too.” Her bridesmaids wore frocks from Alannah Hill My beautiful life clip.

Jodie and Byron chose Athol Hall for their ceremony and reception, Jodie explaining, “Everything was done at Athol Hall and they were great to deal with. Tim who looks after you on the actual day was just amazing and anticipated every need perfectly. You can tell all the staff who work there are really happy and they were so complimentary about the whole day and all the details, it meant a lot that they noticed all of the smaller details that I loved but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would pick up on.”

Jodie walked down the aisle to, “Eric Bibb. For You. I have always loved Eric Bibb’s Panama Hat song and I got my step dad Paul an original panama hat from Ecuador to wear when he walked me down the aisle!”

Jodie’s bridesmaids carried balloons instead of bouquets! Jodie explaining, “I love weddings and all they stand for including the traditional aspects of it but I didn’t want to do things just because they have been done before. Some things I’ve seen my friends spend money on seem crazy and pointless. When I was thinking about the bridesmaids’ bouquets I remembered how they get discarded so quickly and I wanted to have things at the wedding that bought a smile to people’s faces. I’d seen those massive round balloons in wedding photo shoots and I thought, lets bring it into the wedding and have the bridesmaids carrying them!”

Of their photographer, Jodie says, “David Campbell was amazing. He listened to what we wanted and was open to lots of ideas that I discussed with him rather than being protective over his style. What I loved most about David though was all the things he photographed that I never even would have thought of, to discuss with him. The welcome to Australia balloons, the UK flag cushion on our bed, the discarded to-do list my sister had made the night before which had ‘love Byron forever’ on it! David also did some of his best work at the reception part of the evening , I feel like he really captured the spirit of the night and all the love and laughter in the room perfectly and I honestly never even noticed he was there!”

The Sisters At Engadine Florist did the floral arrangements and decor on the day, Jodie remembering, “The Sisters from Engadine were amazing. They completely understood what I was trying to achieve and were so lovely to deal with. I trusted them implicitly and knew they would do everything to make it look as fabulous as it could be! They gave me some great ideas to pull it all together too. I gave them all the elements I had collected and they put it all in the trees and lawn where we got married so it was great to walk down the aisle and see it all come together!”

“Big shout out to my Aunty Monica and sisters Lucy and Ainne who tirelessly helped me make a seemingly never ending amount of pom poms to hang in the trees. All my family also contributed photos from their weddings which my bridesmaids helped me frame. They were dotted around on the verandah. I had my siblings and siblings in law photos, mine and Byron’s parents and our grandparents. It was lovely to see images of all the family weddings at our big day to remind us of all the love and happiness in the family.”

“The biggest labour of love was the name cards. We were trying to keep to a budget and I had found these beautiful cards all about happiness in Kikki K, there wasn’t technically a need for them so I came up with the great idea of turning them into name cards and hand stamped everybody’s names onto the cards. It took a loooooong time but was worth it and everybody loved them which was great. Big thanks to Mel and Claire who had a day helping me get through that! Oh and how can I forget the 9 months of me and anyone I knew collecting glass jars, the weekends soaking and washing the labels off to fill them with mixes of beautiful, colourful flowers to make people smile.”

Jodie remarks, “Being English I can’t help but compare traditions. In the UK we don’t really go in for the garter thing but Byron was very keen, so on the garter went. I didn’t think I’d be into it but give me a few glasses of bubbles and I was loving it. It still makes me really laugh! After he took it off I didn’t realise he was meant to throw it to the guys so I put it on him as a headband instead!”

The couple chose to have individual table cakes from The Sweet Spot Patisserie. Jodie telling, “I wasn’t sure about a wedding cake – it seemed so expensive and pointless. So my Mom and I came up with the idea of having a cake in a beautiful cake stand on each table and then choosing a cake cutter for each table and we all cut the cakes together to celebrate us all being there to enjoy the day. Our MC asked everyone to turn over their name card and one person on each table had its you stamped on the back – we all had a big clap and cheer and tucked into the cake as our dessert.”

Of their first dance, Jodie recalls, “It was to Audra Mae, ‘Crazy Love’. There is a line in the song that says ‘It makes me righteous and it makes me whole, it makes me mellow down in my soul’. I don’t know a line that could better sum up how I felt once Byron and I finally got our act together and became a couple. It’s weird as I was already in love with him as my friend but then I got to have all the fun part of fancying the pants off him too! Half way through the song I swapped to have a dance with my step dad Paul and Byron with my mom Sian. I adore that man and I am so lucky to have him in my life.”

Congratulations on your marriage Jodie and Byron! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you to David Campbell Imagery for sharing today’s wedding!