Jess and Jason’s Fun Tall Ship Wedding

Jess & Jason

If you’re a water lover, this fun tall ship wedding is definitely one to curl up with a cup of tea and pour over. The couple, who loved the fact they could show off the beautiful sights and sounds of Sydney Harbour to their guests chose a magnificent tall ship for their wedding celebration – guests were able to climb the mast and have a truly relaxing afternoon. Just what the newlyweds had dreamt of! Jason of Roundeye Photography was there to capture it all.

Jess chose a beautiful Anna Campbell gown from Savvy Brides as her wedding gown, telling “It is a beautiful Anna Campbell gown from her Ivory Collection called Isobelle. It is made from 100% latte coloured silk, featuring a boned silk dupion bust with padding, soft ivory lace overlay and silk lining. The delicate lace is styled in a scallop shape with gives it a 1920’s look. I also had an Anna Campbell embellished belt attached to the waist band. I matched the look with 1920s style vintage jewellery. I wore my hair down in Hollywood curls and the side pinned back with an art deco beaded bridal comb. My bridesmaid wore a floor length charcoal coloured one shoulder chiffon dress. I loved the colour and it suited the overall theme.”

The bride and bridesmaid wore Converse All Star sneakers. Jess telling, “I chose to wear converse low cut sneakers. I needed my wedding day to have as many aspects of the things we loved as possible. And I’m not very fond of wearing high heels so I knew it would be flat shoes and inspired by my own personal style I chose Converse All Stars. I chose the same shoes for my sister, Alex (bridesmaid). We have a similar style so it was an easy decision and she was super excited about it too.”

Jess and Jason chose Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden for their ceremony, Jess explaining, “Wendy Whitely’s secret garden was our ceremony location, which is nestled between Clark Park and the harbour in Lavender Bay. It perfectly suited my love of secret gardens and as I knew that I wanted my day by the harbour it was perfect. It has been a labour of love for Wendy Whiteley, the wife of the late artist Brett Whiteley, whose work was much admired and celebrated in Sydney. Over the years she has transformed it from an overgrown waste ground, treating it like a giant painting. We chose a beautiful little spot in the garden to set up the ceremony and because of the vast beauty surrounding us we didn’t need much decoration at all.”

Jess walked down the aisle to “Only Time” by Enya.

Jess remembers “My 10 year old cousin, Matthew, played violin for us and our guests whist we were signing our marriage certificate. He asked me a couple months before hand if he could play for us at our wedding and of course we were delighted that he wanted to. He had already been learning Pachelbel Canon in D and asked if he could play it. He was so excited and practiced a lot leading up to the day. He is an amazing little violinist and we are so proud to have had him contribute to our day.”

Stephen Lee Celebrancy performed the ceremony, the bride remembering, “He was absolutely amazing and incredibly professional, made for the career he has chosen. We wanted someone young, a male preferably and after typing that into Google we looked no further than the first search that came up. We contacted him straight away and never looked back. He did practically everything for us making it so easy for us and taking a lot of pressure off me. He wrote the most perfect ceremony for us and he couldn’t have been more prompt, organised and fun.”

The wedding was truly a family affair says Jess. “Our beautiful little 4 year old son. Of course we chose to have him as our page boy, there was no question. And he really bought the day alive. He is an amazing little boy and had the time of his life entertaining us and having a great time. It was the best feeling in the world being able to have him at our wedding and include him in one of the best days of our lives.”

Of their photographer, Jess says, “Jason from Roundeye Photography was awesome. After a relaxed meeting with him to chat about us and what we wanted it was an easy choice to make to hire him. His work speaks volumes and it was just the kind of style we wanted for our day. Everything we talked about he understood straight away and with very little explanation he made it happen. We literally only mentioned a few things we wanted, the styles we liked and the structure of the day and he went with it. On the day Jason and his assistant, Philips, just went about their business in a very easy and fun way. It was like they were just very enthusiastic guests following us around with cameras. I couldn’t imagine my wedding without them. They made it so easy to not only pose when needed but also get on with the day and enjoy it without a worry. I didn’t need to say anything, or call them over for a photo; they were here, there and everywhere. They caught everything. Jason is truly an artist and the photos are proof. We loved them! ”

Jess and Jason chose Southern Swan, of Sydney Harbour Tall Ships for their reception, noting, “Our reception was held on the Southern Swan on Sydney Harbour, a completely authentic 1850’s tall ship. We both decided to do a cruise before we chose the venue for our reception and after a beautiful Sunday enjoying the sights it didn’t take us long to book the ship.

We wanted something different. I’m not a fan of typical wedding venues as I didn’t want a traditional style wedding. We wanted our wedding to be a day to not only celebrate our love and everything we love but a day to have fun, just like any other day. I wanted a venue that I would chose for a birthday party but that could be also just a relaxing day with my friends and family. Nothing structured or over the top. And this was perfect. We liked the fact that our guests could also climb the mast as part of their experience, Jason LOVED that part! ”

As wedding favors, guests received tea bags in brown paper packaging from Planet Organic. The bride also made the guest book, remembering, “I created a guest book made from a kraft paper and cardboard binder book from Typo that I paired with nautical themed rubber stamps to go with the tall ship ‘theme’/typewriter letter stamps and baby photos of the two of us for our guests to stick in the book and leave a message. I made the hanging glass bottle vases that hung on the corner of the chairs up the aisle using glass bottles from my old work and natural twine. I also styled the ceremony myself with pieces I bought along the way, including hessian bunting, large letter signage and a soft lace table cloth. I had my invitations made through Etsy but helped the creator design them from one of their samples and put them together myself. I used kraft paper/card for all my stationery and natural twine to finish the look.”

Jess loved the speeches, remembering, “It was only going to be our best man and bridesmaid and my mother saying speeches but it ended up extending to two extra friends and Jason’s father, and even the both of us said something. They were hilarious and really heartfelt. And my mother had written her speech with Jason’s mother who couldn’t be there, that was beautiful and we both teared up.”

Of their first dance, Jess remembers “Our first dance was on deck of the gorgeous tall ship, the Southern Swan. We danced to an acoustic version of Everlong by the Foo Fighters. We had a whole playlist of rock/grunge/punk songs included in our reception but this awesome Foo Fighters song just had to be the one! It really showed us and our love for that genre of music which plays a big part in our lives. Something we bond over. ”

Jessica’s Cakes created a charcoal ombre wedding cake, Jess noting, “Jessica and I went to school together and it was such a pleasure to have her create our wedding cake. It was a beautiful one tiered white chocolate mud cake with charcoal ombre butter cream frosting and gorgeous flowers decorating to match our theme. She has real talent and we absolutely love her work!”

Congratulations on your marriage Jess and Jason! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Roundeye Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!