Jade and James' Sweet Garden Wedding

Jade and James

James and I met in high school, but it wasn’t until after finishing that we slowly became an item. Eventually we moved together from the country town where we grew up in to the big smoke. After six years together and having completed university degrees, travelling and finding jobs we loved, we felt that it was the right time in our lives to think about getting married.

Ours was a beautiful mutual proposal, a champagne picnic with gorgeous words exchanged. Some may have thought this to be a bit odd.. where’s the surprise? The big story of him getting down on one knee? But that suited us. At the end of the day, we just really loved each other equally. Anyway, why should the man have all the pressure (and fun!) in asking the question which will affect you both for the rest of your lives? Plus we like to be original and break the rules a little, and this applied to us throughout the entire wedding process!

We planned a super chilled engagement party for February 2014, hired a pavilion with a park to have a picnic barbecue with lawn games and cider a plenty. Unfortunately, James feel extremely ill a week before and was hospitalised for almost five months with meningoencephalitis (infection around his brain stem). My poor fella deteriorated so quickly he spent weeks in intensive care, in a coma like situation with no solid diagnosis or timeline on recovery, if any.

But he fought hard. His body and brain eventually, with the right medications to help, began to show improvements. The infection started to disappear, allowing him to breathe, eat and speak again – and with physiotherapy, to walk! As soon as he set foot inside the rehabilitation clinic and we were certain of his 100% recovery I knew I had to marry this man, like now! Life had proven to us how short it could be, so we cancelled the yacht club wedding we had planned which was over 18 months away and instead decided to get married in five months time in his parents’ garden!

The short timeframe and the incredible amounts of love and dedication between us because of the recent events created undoubtedly the best day of our lives. Friends and family following the day spoke of how the wedding was incredibly relaxed, fun and authentic to who we are as a couple.

I tried to do as much DIY decor as possible; designing the stationary, organising all the vendors and all the bits in between. The endless nights tying ribbon, spray painting tin cans and writing out chalkboards resulted in a sweet ceremony in the park behind the home, followed by an intimate reception in the garden.

Our photographer, Jordan Hendy, was totally amazing; he was actually recommended to us through another vendor. Having just done a handful of weddings his rate was well suited to our budget, but his work looked incredible and we were stoked to have him capture our day. Jordan totally delivered all round, his shots were perfect, but it was his easy going attitude that allowed him to slip into the crowd and become one of us!

James and I chose to have three on each side for our bridal party. The guys, close friends Korric and Jason and brother Damian, had a chilled out morning of the wedding, so I’ve been told. Having slept in after a night of beers and XBOX games they headed on over to a barbers where they were spoilt with whisky and head massages.

Following this they headed to his parents’ house to get dressed before the ceremony. With a few inspiration pictures handed to them for reference, they organised their outfits in a day; a group visit to Myer for the pants, Windsor Smith for the shoes, and a tailor for the shirts and belt. The tie, tie clip and socks were given to them the morning of our wedding whilst the cufflinks were a last minute thought, with James’ Dad coming to the rescue with a few extra pairs. James’ cufflinks were part of my engagement gift I had given him at our special picnic.

Together with my close friends Nikki and Sam and sister Leah, I also had a chilled morning of the wedding. Being super excited we were up at 6am and watching Magic Mike on DVD by 7am. The rest of the morning consisted of a Beyonce music video marathon whilst slowly making ourselves look fabulous! Due to budgets, we had the girls do each other’s hair whilst I had mine done by a stylist. I also had my sister do the makeup – she did an amazing job, creating a natural look that suited us all beautifully.

The girls’ dresses were all from ASOS and shoes from a mix of places. My dress from Bridal by Aubrey Rose was probably the 20th one I tried on, and I knew instantly it was the right one; tears rolled down my cheeks as I smiled with so much happiness. My bouquet and the ladies’ flower bracelets were created by a friend of mine who had just started a business in the industry, and what a great job she did; there were a few tears shared when she saw how stoked I was with the result. Oh, and we had James’ cute little sister as the flower girl – she was so adorable!

Our ceremony was so sweet; the set-up was simple with my added touches of a ribbon backdrop and flowers I had put together to sit in spray painted cans. The furniture was hired in and along with a wheelbarrow that I had totally fallen in love with! My sister’s boyfriend played some of our favourite songs on the acoustic guitar as our guests waited and for my walk down the aisle which added a lovely personal touch. Mum also gave me away which was just perfect; she has been my everything and was so thrilled to be that person for me.

We found our brilliant celebrant, Ketisha from Pure Bliss Celebrations, online, but it turns out we knew each other from the country town we grew up in as my Mum had taught her gymnastics! She conducted a short and sweet ceremony, which included personal vows and lots of giggles with excitement!

We had so much fun with our bridal party shots; it was so relaxed and over within in an hour (we desperately wanted to go celebrate with everyone!)

The reception furniture had been set-up the day before by all the family; we even had a dance floor installed over the pool to double the space. The final touches were completed by James’ family, hanging the DIY blackboards, lights and flowers we’d arranged the day before. Our cake was a bit quirky, we had Kermit and Miss Piggy sitting on top (personal joke of ours). We had a great bar and served cocktail food which was followed by an amazing dessert and cheese table my gorgeous girlfriends had put together.

Speeches were pretty darn emotional! Due to the recent events of the year there was an incredible amount of love and heartfelt words spoken by our parents and best friends. It was my sister Leah who succeeded in making sure there was not a dry eye left in the house! Our first dance followed so that we could get the dance floor happening as soon as possible. Music was played through a PA we hired from a Spotify playlist we had created over a few months.

Cutting the cake was fun; it was actually my birthday too, so I had the loudest ‘Happy Birthday’ sung to me! We partied it out on the dance floor to the last minute, leaving just before midnight to head to our hotel where we spent a couple of nights.

Following the wedding we booked the honeymoon for this year in August; we’re heading to Singapore and Malaysia. We also finally moved into our own place (we had been living with our siblings) and honestly have never been happier and more in love!