Relaxed Moore & Moore Cafe Wedding

Vanessa & Jason

Vanessa and Jason’s relaxed Moore & Moore Cafe wedding is one of those celebrations that makes you smile, laugh, get goosebumps and tear up all in one day. They worked with photographer Earthbound Images to capture it all.

Vanessa tells their story. “We both actually met over Bebo (yes, way before Facebook existed!) Jason initially wanted to contact my sister but accidentally requested me to be friends with him. I messaged to him and wanted to see why he requested me! From there, the history is rest!

We had spoke to each other for hours & hours over 18 months before we finally met in person in Melbourne (he flew all the way from New Zealand) and then we decided it wasn’t the right time. After that, we would talk to each other on & off, and then one of my guy friends told me over few drinks that I NEED to fly New Zealand and sort it out. I asked Jason to be my boyfriend just two days before I flew back home after a two weeks trip! After three months, he moved in with me! Lots of people thought it was a huge RUSH but it is not when you both know it’s the right mental decisions! That’s our sloppy love story!”

Vanessa wore a San Patrick gown from Raffaele Ciuca, telling, “For some reason, when I think about a wedding dress, I would get anxiety attack and oh my god – the nightmares, like I would rock up to my wedding naked because I did not find a dress!!

I never was able to schedule a proper wedding dress shopping with my best friend, sister & mum but one day I actually had scheduled my meeting on the wrong day, so I had the whole day to spare and once my mum found out she said LETS have a LOOK!!! So we did, and as soon as I put it on, I just knew that I had to get it even thought it wasn’t exactly what I imagined.”

Floral Army arranged the flowers for the day, Vanessa remembering, “Floral Army did beautiful bridal bouquet & ceremony flowers! ”

Fremantle Roundhouse was chosen for the ceremony, Vanessa noting, “For the ceremony, we visited a few parks, but we both loved Roundhouse – a nice sea view with afternoon breeze is what we both enjoy. For the ceremony decor, we actually left it all to the last minute! We were so focus on the reception & finer details but luckily I have got really talented family members – my uncle made the wooden arch & ladder! My sister & sister in law did the leaf stapling so that we could have leaf confetti which was PERFECT! On the day, Jason & his boys simply put what they had in the box together & then they had the last minute idea to draw up on the pavements with some chalk so they ran around until they found some chalk and added these in. It was gorgeous surprise!!”

Of the processional, Vanessa remembers, “We actually had forgotten to organise that. We both are deaf so we both did not think about it! Our hearing friends found this so hilarious!!!”

“I really tried so hard to not cry when I saw Jason down the aisle. After months & months of organising wedding and to reflect on what we have achieved in the past 5 years – welcoming our two gorgeous sons, Jason’s plumbing apprenticeship, setting up a business, living out of home, seeing Jason’s permanent residence being granted & many holidays. So for me to walk down the aisle, I was so overjoyed to be marrying the man who has gone through those things with me and is still standing there!”

“We had exchange our vows about tree & sea- it is just a deep meaning for us. We exchanged our promises that we would sail through no matter if it is a flat sea or wild waves & that we would water the plant with lots of love & adventures, we want the roots to be strong for our children & future grandchildren.”

“We really wanted our two boys to be involved in the wedding ceremony but it was hard as they both are only two years old & one year old so we decided to just get our two year old son to give us the rings which he actually threw, whilst it was time to pass it to us! We both just cracked up & it was really relaxed ceremony. Whilst we were exchanging our vows, our Mr. two years old son decide to quietly interrupt the ceremony by standing in between of us and put his thumbs up! The guests couldn’t stop laughing and that encouraged our Mr two years old to use both of his thumbs! Our photographer had managed to capture that! It is all the time favourite photo for us & our guests! It is like our son had given us a praise for finally getting married!”

The ceremony was officiated by Vanessa’s grandmother with her cousin interpreting. It was one of the more special parts of the day for the bride.

Vanessa wore special shoes by Karl Lang for Melissa Shoes. She explains “In our early days, we both often eat ice creams & Jason couldn’t believe how much I love ice creams so I bought Melissa shoes that had ice cream on the back of heel. When I showed them to Jason during the photo shoot, he just loved it! I think it’s so important to have little surprises to each other on the wedding day!”

Of their photographer, Vanessa remarks, “SERIOUSLY, Alanna from Earthbound Images is the most AMAZING photographer, actually the most beautiful human in this entire world. We found her over the internet & coincidentally she had taken some photos of my friend’s friend’s wedding so I asked my friend if her friends liked the photos & service. After hearing really positive comments, we knew that she was the one! Her style of photos is what we love!

We told her upfront that 90% of the guests were Deaf & use Auslan (Australian Sign Language) so that she wouldn’t rock up at the wedding and feel bit overwhelmed. We met up a week before the wedding to go through few things and to finally meet each other, she gave us a huge surprise – Alanna had taken an Auslan course to learn some signs so that she could communicate with our guests and us. It is something we both will always remember in our heart forever. She had exceeded our expectation in every each level – the photos, service, personality & quality!”

Vanessa and Jason chose Moore & Moore for their reception, telling “We actually only had visited JUST one reception venue, we both live in Melbourne so we both had to google a lot & ask my Dad million of questions like “have you been to there” “is it good?” “have you eaten there?” When we both found Moore & Moore on Pinterest, we both were like LET’S BOOK IT!!!

I had a meeting in Perth so I decided to make it a family trip instead and visited Moore & Moore with Jason- we both kept saying yes yes yes yes!! The character, decor & style is just what we imagined! It has got some Melbourne feel which was nice because we really didn’t want to marry in Melbourne. We didn’t feel at home there, so we had to try decide between Auckland & Perth – our hometowns but Perth won… of course with the gorgeous weather!”

Honeycake made bohemian honeycake for the couple’s wedding cake.

Of their first dance, Vanessa remembers, “We both were lucky that I had a student who I taught Auslan to offer us some swing dance lessons! We both had so much fun practicing together, I think it was actually nice way for us to relax & bond together in midst of wedding planning madness! Our dance teacher picked ” I Cant Believe You’re in Love with Me”- Boilmarker Jazz Band.”