Jane and Mark
I never really wanted to get married until he walked into the room. Then instantly I knew he was the one. He scared me at first, he was big, rugged and had a presence. He walked away. Then suddenly he was back and talking to my friend, which was actually his old mate from school. All the decisions I had ever made led me to this point in my life and the fork in the road.
From then on we were together, it was just like being back with an old friend, we loved hanging out together and it seemed natural to just be together, everything fitted. I was falling in love.
Mark actually asked me to marry him after a couple of months, and I think I scared him by saying “yes”! We realised that it wasn’t time yet and put it on the back burner.
Years went by and one Christmas Eve he came home with a ring … he didn’t really have to say anything, he just said wear it! I wore it up to our family Christmas that night and we waited to see who would notice. We had bets on which sister it would be. I usually help cook in the kitchen on Christmas Eve and even my Mum didn’t notice. It was late, just before midnight, when I was carving the crackle off the huge leg of pork we had slow cooking in the BBQ for Christmas Day lunch. When my younger sister screamed, “What is that on your finger?” “Oh do you like it? Mark gave it to me today!” Then came the cheers and tears and champagne! We were officially engaged.
Years before I had even meet Mark I had tried on my mother’s wedding dress and asked her if I could wear it. She said yes! I had a few modern alterations done and it had to be taken out a smidge, but what I loved about this designer dress (Mum and Dad got married in a small country town in the 60’s ) was the train … It was a back to front bolero jacket pinned with beautiful pearl buttons and the softest silk that draped down either side of my shoulders. Magical!
I changed the lace to Swarovski crystals, but kept the small delicate pieces of lace which the dressmaker made into small hankies for my mother and bridesmaids.
Mark is not a lover of big crowded function centres … so one day he said he was taking me to the place he would like to get married. We set out on a ferry on Pittwater and after one stop we arrived at Currawong Beach, a uniquely beautiful, tranquil and mystical place. I was smitten the moment we landed on the sand. Yes was the answer again.
We did pretty much all the organising ourselves, we knew what we wanted and had contacts for every part of the day. Mark is a musician, so his one request was live music, and live music we had.. well into the night.
The food just kept coming all day, lots of beautiful tasty hearty food to help soak up all the champagne ! Roast maple syrup ham in toasted rolls with chutneys and mustard. Our cake was simple white chocolate cupcakes with a frangipani made out of icing. I still make a variation of the cakes today on my blog.
My girlfriend and I went to the flower markets the Monday before the wedding and bought buckets and buckets of flowers. The front room in our house smelt divine!
My bridesmaids were my two sisters and they wore a simple dress off the rack in a beautiful earthy green; they were the same colour but different styles .
Our invitations were a ‘message in a bottle’; we had 130 guests so that was at least 70 bottles which I needed to source. Now it’s easy to find them as they’re really popular, but back then it was hard. I found some cool juice bottles that I thought might work , so I started to buy up big and started drinking ( the juice … ). I would buy different flavours just to mix it up. Once my bottles were emptied and cleaned, I needed sand, shells, and the ‘message ‘ to go in there!
It was to be a beautiful casual wedding and we wanted our guests to feel like they were at a party. I arrived on a boat which was wonderful.
Mum was with me and both Mum and Dad walked me down the beach aisle. Mark was waiting nervously for me. The weather was amazing and to see my family and friends there for our day filled me with joy!
We were married and my new brother-in-law played guitar on the beach; I think by now everyone had kicked off their shoes.
One tradition we followed was being formally introduced after our wedding photographs were taken by Co & Co Photography and Andre Martin – we had two photographers which was great! From then on it was our wedding our way. There was a few dramas that we’ll remember…someone had to leave on a water taxi to go to the doctor, a pregnant friend was beginning to feel labour pains, and lots of people needed re hydrating …
We had no noise restrictions so the party went well into the night, and lots of family and friends stayed at Currawong in cabins. We said goodbye to the rest on a private ferry …. some made it home, some stayed at Palm Beach.
We had made it. This was the start of our lives together.
Ms Chinoiserie Says: What a beautifully relaxed and romantic wedding in such a special, magical place; congratulations Jane and Mark!
About Jane: I am a food stylist/recipe editor and recipe writer who has started a food blog called sizzleandswirl. Food is my life and I love writing about it and cooking it!
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