Jessica & Andrea

We have fallen head over heels for this beautiful intimate garden wedding, with its lovely lush florals set in The Grounds of Alexandria! Join us and discover all the details, from the stunning vintage headpiece – a family heirloom of the bride’s, to the Italian and Scottish influences and more! All captured by the talented Captured Frames.

Jessica tells, ”We met in Spain while we were both walking the Camino di Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage. From there we struck up a friendship and stayed in contact for two years. After that we met again at a reunion of Camino friends in Sardinia, Andrea’s home town, and spent Easter together. It was there that we fell in love. The week Andrea decided to propose I was exhausted all the time, and he tried a few times to organise something, but each time I said I was too tired! One evening I had to stay late at work and came home to home-cooked prawn risotto with candles and music. As I was getting ready for bed I was surprised by Andrea down on BOTH knees asking me to marry him in his native language Italian. I was really surprised, it was beautiful!”

Planning their wedding in 6 weeks, Jesica tells, ”Everything in preparation was in a hurry! My mum lives in Adelaide and when she found out about the engagment she came to Sydney to help us decide on a venue and to find me a dress. We went to three bridal shops and there was nothing that stood out. The last bridal shop we went to just before dropping mum at the airport was Brides By Francesca. As soon as we sat down I saw a cute tea-length dress hanging up, and that was the dress! It was the first one to make me smile and feel comfortable! I wore my nanna’s headpiece that she wore at her wedding in the 50s. From the moment my mother showed it to me years ago I instantly liked it and I was glad I could make it work with the dress.”

Choosing to incorporate Jessica’s Scottish heritage, the bride tells, ”Andrea ordered tartan online from Scotland and had it sent to his mother in Italy, who sewed the waistcoat for him, sending it by express post to Sydney where it arrived 2 days before the wedding. He wore a navy plaid Hugo Boss suit and had brown Italian made shoes with red laces and red rose cufflinks.” With a sacramental marriage ceremony planned in Italy following their wedding in Sydney, Jessica shares, ”We chose The Grounds of Alexandria for both the ceremony and reception. Andrea, my mum and I all agreed it was the perfect venue because it’s so beautiful, quirky and fun! We love the atmosphere and the food so it was the perfect choice. Also it’s so beautiful that it didn’t require any extra decoration which was great because we were very short of time!”

Making the most of the venue, Jessica chose The Grounds Florals by Silva to create her bouquet.  The bride chose a mix of roses, ”that included pale peachy pinks, antique white and deep red with a lot of greenery. The bouquet was tied with a red ribbon.” The bride and groom were thrilled with their photos by Captured Frames.  Jessica shares, ”They did a fantastic job to capture the day, and as well as keeping us at ease and calm they had a good sense of humour too. We had a lot of fun taking photos around The Grounds before the wedding began!” Of their ceremony, Jessica shares, ”It was not too long, but intimate and personal. Our celebrant Pauline Fawkner helped us a lot to ensure that it reflected who we both are. It included a Bible reading from Corinthians and an Italian poem, both about love. This represented the importance of our Catholic faith, and Andrea’s Italian heritage.” The bride and groom walked hand in hand down the aisle to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by The Dire Straits.

For the special details of the day, the bride recalls, ”Andrea designed the menus that went on the tables. We also benefited from a friend who lent us his wooden welcome board, seating plan board and wishing well. Andrea then did the artwork on these as he is the artistic one! Our cake was made by my good friend Angela of Phamtastic Creations. She did it with just one weeks notice and she did an amazing job! The cake looked and tasted amazing.” The bride and groom had a close friend as their DJ and MC, and rather than a bridal party had family and friends be witnesses and perform readings.

With so little time to plan the wedding, Jessica tells, ”Our first dance was to ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ by Frankie Valli. Neither of us had danced properly before and we had two very intensive dance lessons at Sydney Swing Katz who choreographed it for us! We had our first lesson just two weeks before the wedding and had no space to practice in our little apartment so we would practice each night out in the carpark before going to bed!” Sharing her favourite moments of the day, the bride remembers, ”My favourite part was when at 3pm I finally got to see Andrea! I’d been missing him all day and all my nerves went away as soon as I saw him. Giving speeches at weddings is not a tradition in Italy and for Andrea to get up and speak to everyone in a language that is not his native one was a big deal and he did such a great job! Everyone really loved it!”

Thank you to our stunning bride and groom on your gorgeous wedding, and thank you for sharing it with us! A special thank you also to Captured Frames for your beautiful images.