Jayne & Will

The deep tones of Autumn, and the cosy atmosphere it brings, never fails to make for a delightful wedding and when Jay & Will tied the knot at Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent they made the most of the season. They filled their day with Autumnal colours, wild, plentiful flowers and a style that was traditional, yet timeless.

Captured beautifully by Mark Davis Photography it was the perfect new beginning for the couple who had met in court, while both working as criminal defence lawyers. “I remember hearing Jayne’s characteristic giggle from the back of the queue at “Counter 4” and I thought “I’d really like to get to know that girl!” tells Will.

After many coffee dates, and many adventures later, Will proposed during Spain’s tomato festival La Tomatina. The pair reminiscing “We were at La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain. La Tomatina is the world’s biggest tomato fight; it takes place in the centre of the tiny Spanish town, along the main cobblestone street that winds amid the local terrace-style homes. Large trucks drive through the narrow street unloading tomatoes behind them and then… the fight begins!

We were both laughing hysterically (while simultaneously trying not to swallow too much tomato juice….and madly ducking to avoid a tomato to the face). After about 30 minutes of unrivalled wildness, we decided to escape about 10 minutes prior to the end of the fight and went through the village streets, walking towards the river in order to cleanse ourselves in the water. We held hands as we paced our tomato-sodden bodies along the cobblestones.

Will waited until there was some distance between the people ahead and we had the street to ourselves, Will then turned to Jayne and dropped down to one knee….he uttered some heartfelt sentiments and ultimately popped the question to the human bruschetta before him!! We then heard some cheering from the top of the hill and turned to see some drunken Spaniards had witnessed our special moment and were joining in the excitement! Best!'”

Mens Suit Warehouse dressed Will and his groomsmen in navy suits with accessories of marsala and grey.

Jayne shares “I added a small cabochon with a photo of my grandfather, Gordy, who recently passed away, to my bouquet ensuring that he was with me as I walked down the aisle as we had always promised each other.”

Jayne found her stunning long sleeve lace Pronovias gown at Raffaele Ciuca. She remembers  “I had the sleeves and the neckline of the gown redesigned to create a customised dress that was more in-line with my personal style. Given we had chosen a wedding date just nine months after our engagement, the clock was ticking to lock in a dress! At my first fitting, I met my Stylist, Francesca, from Raffaele Cuica. It may sound corny, but Francesca took me through a “styling-journey” and the dress really chose me; a dress that accentuated my figure, was timeless and had a train that would “wow” Will on our big day! Francesca is a goddess! She is exceptionally good at what she does and I was so at ease in her presence. I went to four other stores and tried at least 15 other dresses on, but returned to the original dress I’d chosen; it was meant to be!”

Jayne and Will chose The Good Shepherd Chapel for their ceremony, noting “The Good Shepherd Chapel is an immaculately presented church, with exquisite hand-painted artwork adorning the ceiling and awe-inspiring stained glass windows; the Chapel is also within our local parish. It was important for both of us to get married in a church and the Good Shepherd Chapel in the Convent is impressive and wonderful.”

Jayne walked down the aisle to one of the couple’s favourite songs, ‘Late for the Date’ by Justin Hurwitz. She began the aisle with her father and was then greeted by her mother who walked her the rest of the way. She tells “Mum is my hero, she’s the strongest, most wonderful woman I could ever hope to call my Mum, she has always been there for me and to have her as one of the most important people of the day, was truly my honour – I just love her so much.”

Jayne treasures her memories of the ceremony the most. “It was surreal, it was the formalisation of the love and commitment I feel for my best friend, my most wonderful life-partner, it was everything – it was our past and forever all at once and it was just magical.” We opted for a full Catholic marriage ceremony, including mass. We worked alongside our priest, Father John Prest, to plan our ceremony and perfect all the finer details. Father John is just a wonderful man; he is so down to earth and very true to his faith and he really encouraged us to have a ceremony that reflected “us”. Our ceremony was quite formal but included important prayers and readings that really resonated with us. We also wrote our own vows and have heard that our words elicited a fair bit of emotion and tears from the pews!”

Will tells “My favourite photo is one of us sitting down in the middle of the ceremony. I am looking at Jayne and it reminds me of that absolute joy of sitting next to her and his awe and excitement of marrying Jayne.”

Of their photographer, the newlyweds tell “Jayne had reviewed extensive examples of Mark’s work and was very impressed by his portfolio. We met Mark one night at his flawless Northcote studio and discussed what we were after – Mark was an advocate for a more natural, relaxed approach, leaving the stock-standard group-shot and close-up, staged photos of shoes and rings for another day! Mark is a supremely talented photographer and we really appreciated his fun and charismatic personality; Mark also had an extremely helpful assistant, Georgia, on the day. Mark was a tad more expensive than we wanted to spend but the end result was AMAZING and well worth it in the end!”

 

Jayne & Will remark “The wedding planning can feel like a marathon so having the final confirmations of all vendors the week prior and seeing it all come together on the day was the favourite part of the planning! It just worked out perfectly!!”

Jayne and Will celebrated with their guests at a sit-down dinner at The Abbotsford Convent By Bursaria. sharing “We chose the Abbotsford Convent. The first time we walked into the space, the Rosina Room, the decision was made. It was perfect for any size of wedding (something that we were still deciding on at the time).”

Jayne & Will chose Miss Ladybird Cakes to create a three-tier wedding cake with drizzle. They tell “Miss Ladybird Cakes was honestly, the easiest, most-carefree, high-quality vendor to deal with! They just got it done! Jade was wonderful and our wedding cake was absolutely delicious and was a very impressive spectacle during the reception – a delightful citrus and lemon myrtle cake with buttercream, gold drizzles, gold leaf and divine fresh florals by Floretta!”

Guests were gifted cookie favours from Melbourne Cookie Co. Jayne explains “I spent many hours wrapping all the bonbonnieres with paper and twine – the bonbonnieres were avocado-pun-themed cookies by Melbourne Cookie Co. I wanted to achieve a rustic, individualistic feel and chose to wrap the cookies in handmade Nepalese paper carefully selected from Zetta Florence and Kami, both in Fitzroy.”

Guests were greeted to the reception (and danced out the night!) with live music from The Baker Boys. Jayne remarking “The band was pretty exceptional! We have received many comments on how good the music was on the night!”

Guests dined surrounded by flowers, the arrangements styled by Floretta by Grace. The newlyweds telling “Reaching a decision on the flowers was probably one of the most delayed and perhaps the most stressful part of the whole planning process! The flowers were really important to us, particularly the floral arrangements for the reception.

As the Rosina Room is a huge space, with high ceilings complimented by wooden rafters, gorgeous stained glass windows, wooden floorboards and bulb lighting, we really wanted our flowers to compliment the space, but also make an impact. We considered a hanging floral installation but noted it had been done over and over in the room and we really wanted to be as original as possible. After a lengthy search and many quotes, we finally met with Grace from Floretta by Grace. Grace’s background is in graphic design and I automatically trusted her ability to bring concepts to life and to create something that was pleasing to the eye. Grace was able to bring our brief to life and crafted floral arrangements that were lush, rich in colour and had an earthy, yet polished feel about them.  A male guest said the flowers were the “best [he’d] ever seen”…..we completely agree! We would not hesitate to recommend Grace to anyone who has an upcoming event. Grace has an inherent talent for design and somehow managed to bring our every desire to life – her husband Gus is completely lovely also!”

Jayne tells “The special part of the day was to try and make the ceremony and reception as inclusive as possible. We had only invited those people who we truly cared for and respected and we wanted to ensure that we got to spend as much time with everyone as possible.”

The couple chose Amy Winehosue ‘s “Valerie”. Jayne sharing ” We attended Phoenix Dance Studio in Richmond and Tom Cavin undertook to transform us into Dancing with the Stars-worthy boppers in readiness for our big day! We settled on an ambitious ‘swing’ dance and completed five lessons, whilst also practicing sporadically in our living room. Tom had so much faith in our ability, he decided to include a “lift” in our routine…which essentially involved me awkwardly jumping onto Will’s thigh why trying to look poised and graceful (and while trying to avoid a serious injury).

Due to reservations, I, last minute, decided to purchase a second dress for the First Dance, in order to avoid injuries and/or severe embarrassment! I chose a We Are Kindred dress as a quick costume change pre-dance. While we were relatively confident of the dance steps, i had become quickly intoxicated by champagne just prior to the First Dance and (quietly, cannot recall any of it!!) insisted on swirling and twirling well-past the end of the track!! Will subtly guided me off the dancefloor and assured me it was time to “wrap it up”!

Congratulations Jayne & Will! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us. Thank you also to Mark Davis Photography and  Bursaria for sharing this beautiful celebration with us!