Sophie & Joel
When long Summer days roll around, picnics are always the first thing on my mind, so I love the idea of Sophie and Joel’s Clark island picnic wedding – an idea they kept completely secret from their guests! Sophie and Joel chose Sarkodie Photography to capture their wedding day.
Sophie tells the story of how she and Joel came to be. “We’ve worked at the same company for several years. We became ever closer as friends, but just “as friends”. Eventually, we decided to go on a cycling holiday through Myanmar together. After days of riding through gorgeous countrysides and magical little village sunsets, Soph’s stoic resistance to anything romantic finally cracked, and we never looked back.”
Sophie wore a stunning lace gown and tells, “My dress was designed by Jess Dudgeon, a good friend of ours. There were several sessions looking at materials, and a few fittings. Jess, being, of course, one of our wedding guests, was helpful with the dress and my hair and makeup right through until the end of the day.”
Sophie and Joel chose St Mary Magdalene, Rose Bay for their ceremony, the newlyweds remarking, “Our ceremony was held in a beautiful Catholic church in Double Bay. The lush interior of the church, complete with tall ceilings, timber panels and stained glass windows, created a sense of occasion and dignity. We wanted the ceremony to reflect the gravity of what we were doing – promising to spend the rest of our lives together! We used traditional vows and chose some of the less-religious readings in the Bible that we, as two agnostics from Catholic families, felt we could relate to.”
Sophie walked down the aisle to Elgar’s Lux Aeterna (Nimrod).
Guests were surprised with a reception on Clark Island National Park . Sophie telling, “I was reading a book on the history of Sydney Harbour, and in it was a mention and photo of Shark Island. The idea of holding the reception on an untouched island in Sydney Harbour in the summertime was too perfect to ignore. We checked out Shark and had started working through ideas when we were given the idea of looking at Clark Island, only a few hundred metres west. The moment we walked onto the jetty at Clark, we knew where our wedding would be. We made a big effort to keep the island venue a secret from our guests, who knew only which church to go to. Our priest, bless him, then just gave away the big secret during his homily… he’d forgotten to keep mum.”
Feather and Bone and Pop Up Picnics catered the outdoor picnic. “Our catering was brilliantly handled – including the challenging logistics of an event on a national park that also happens to be a small island. One of the bridesmaids baked a Wall-E theme cake which was much loved by the happy couple.
“We wanted a quiet, pastoral picnic. The island was perfectly peaceful; before the speeches and music, the only sounds were gentle waves, a family of ducks, and sailing boats passing by.”
“Perfect weather, hilarious and poignant speeches, a family of ducks waddling among the guests…”
“Joel’s grandfather supplied the homemade Sicilian wine. The bonbonniere (coated almonds and a little model bicycle) was prepared by Joel’s parents. The first dance music was performed by Michael Ross, another good friend.”
Of their first dance, the newlyweds recall, “Our friend Michael Ross sang for us; his own take, just piano and voice, of a neo-R&B classic from Miguel called “Adorn”.”
Congratulations Sophie and Joel! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Sarkodie Photography for sharing today’s celebration with us.
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