Imagine a stunning garden backdrop, native flowers, friends, family and a relaxed vibe and that’s exactly the wedding of Jessy and Bradley! They laughed, shared and enjoyed the day as Casey Gray captured all of the special moments. Bride Jessy shares their incredible day with us in the top end and tells of their love story!

The first night Bradley & I met was with friends. We had all gone down to Lee Point Beach, where we drank with friends as we laid on the sand. We hit conversation off with ease and to top it off, both witnessed the biggest shooting star fall over the ocean. We both remember it so vividly.

Bradley’s attire was a hard one. We knew what we wanted, but every time we found a jacket that we liked, they had run out of 1 or the 4 sizes we needed. So, when we went to Melbourne to see Mumford and Sons in January, we stopped in at Blazer and they had every size we needed – slim & regular fit too!

My Maid of Honour was my Pen Pal of 12 years! Her name is also Jessy and from America. Plus both my sisters, Holly & Beau. The boys were Bradley’s work (defence) mates, Best Man, Zacc (Wazza), then there was Bradley (Millsy) and Ryan (Simmo).

I knew I never want to spend thousands of dollars on a dress, so I decided to look on Still White website (second hand dresses) and found ‘Frankie’ from Made with Love Bridal. It was located in Byron Bay, so I organised my mum to drive down on the weekend and check it out for me (as we are in Darwin). She FaceTimed me and said it was perfect and probably won’t require any alterations, maybe just the height she said.

So she bought it for me, posted it up and I tried it on. It fit like a glove, not one thing needed adjusting. How crazy is that… I think I tried it on at least 5 times throughout the year before the big day.

Our wedding was held at George Brown Botanical Gardens, on Holtze Lawn and in the Secret Garden, Darwin NT on Friday June 28th 2019. I was told by Bel from Creative Two, our wedding was best described as ‘rustic boho’. We are such laid back people, we couldn’t have pictured it any other way.

The song I walked down the aisle to was a surprise for Bradley. We both LOVE Mumford and Sons and our song is ‘Lover of the Light’. I knew it would be a tear jerker – and it was! We didn’t even practise the timing, it just worked out perfectly.

The ceremony was done by one of my best friends, Christi Hamon. She organised the whole thing. We are not traditionalists, so it was very light-hearted and made it more personal that she had known us both for many years.

We always pictured an outdoor wedding, amongst beautiful landscapes – and the Botanical Gardens was a perfect fit.

I always knew I wanted Native Flowers and I also knew the best girl in Darwin to do that was Maria from Beija Flor – she did an incredible job!

Our favourite photographs are the ones in between the posed photos. When we are naturally laughing. Our photographer & videographer were also mates of ours – they both did such an amazing job!

We did a few things DIY. I did all the signage for our wedding, as I’m a freehand typographer and my mother in law went above and beyond and made all the vases, confetti cones and our thank you clay coasters – she spent months doing all this. I think she was glad the day was finally over.

We loved Betty Vintage Bar Van – the service they provided on the night was outstanding. We would highly recommend them. Also Bel from Creative Two was so amazing, setting up and rearranging furniture where needed, she put a lot of effort in making our day so beautiful.

A really special thing we included was a cardboard cut-out of our late doggo ‘Jess Dog’ who we had to put down earlier this year from Lymphoma cancer. She was Bradley’s best mate. It was so special to have a her there (even if it was only cardboard form).

Our favourite detail was the cocktail theme of the whole event and the festoon lighting really complemented the area!

Advice for future couples? Elope!

Ms Zebra Says: Congratulations to this gorgeous couple! Love the relaxed vibes and happiness that shines through on your day. We wish you both all the best in your happy marriage together!