Public transport is never the first place you’d expect to find love, but it was one Melbourne day, aboard a Melbourne tram, that led today’s glowing newlyweds, Jade & Dexter, together. ” I was hopping on the tram with some friends, and Dexter was already sitting on it by himself” remembers Jade. “My friends knew Dexter so we all sat down with him, and I was introduced to him. Everyone got off eventually while we still had more stops to go, and sat talking the rest of the ride. He added me on Facebook when we got home and the rest is history!”

And so today thanks to wedding photographer Phoebe Powell‘s beautiful captures, we take you to the utterly romantic converted church venue of Churchill Events to celebrate Jade and Dexter finally tying the knot. And this? This is a day that is so utterly romantic. It’s for the colours of sunset – blush pink, rosy corals and sweet peach, it’s got the most amazing floral arrangements, sparkling gowns, glowing candlelight. And that’s just the details – wait until you hear their story!

Dexter had planned to pop the question on the couple’s fifth anniversary, but he chose to do it earlier, to honour someone very special in Jade’s life. She fills us in “Dexter had been planning to propose on our 5th anniversary for quite a few months, and had the perfect day planned for us.
Two weeks before this happened, my Grandma (who I was very close with) became really sick and was taken to hospital, and we knew that we didn’t have much time left with her.
Because Dexter knew how important and special it would be for me to be able to tell my Grandma we got engaged, he brought the whole plan forward and ended up proposing one evening after I had gotten home from work. I walked in the door and he had scattered rose petals on the bed in the shape of a love heart, and was down on one knee!
We got to visit my Grandma the next day to tell her the news in person (she was SO happy), and she ended up passing away about three days later. It is one of my most cherished memories, and makes me love Dexter so much more that he thought to do that for me.”

Jade chose the sparkling “Celine” wedding gown, by Karen Willis Holmes. She tells “My experience choosing a dress was easy, and I wore the very first dress I tried on!
I booked an appointment at Karen Willis Holmes and had a couple of dresses in mind for the fitting. The very first dress I tried on – the Celine – fit like an absolute glove, and my Mum and friends starting tearing up straight away!
I thought it was too good to be true, so I tried on about six or so more styles, but nothing compared. I tried the Celine on again and bought it on the day – before we had even booked a wedding venue or set a date!
The dress was so comfortable on the day – flattering without feeling restrictive and just made me feel beautiful. My veil was also from Karen Willis Holmes, and I finished my bridal look with a pair of Simone Rocha heels, and elegant pearl drop earrings made by Dexter’s mother.”

With classic black-tie style, Dexter worked with P Johnson Tailors on a tailored suit. His finishing touch? A pair of cufflinks, borrowed from his mother, stamped with the family crest.

The breathtaking beauty of country venue Churchill Events was just what Jade and Dexter had dreamt of. “Churchill was the most perfect venue we could have ever imagined.
We viewed a couple of different venues before Churchill, and nothing felt quite like us, and as soon as we walked into the beautiful old church it absolutely took our breath away – even without tables and flowers set up it is just amazing!
We loved the feel inside the church – it’s rustic and homely, and the stained glass windows are such a special feature. We also loved that the ceremony, appetisers and reception could all take place in the one venue – it makes it so much easier for guests not having to drive around!”

Jade walked down the aisle with both the fathers in her life, sharing “Our song was ‘You & Me’ by ‘Penny & The Quarters’. I had both my Dad and Step-Dad walk me down the aisle together – I couldn’t choose just one!”

Jon Von Goes made it official! “Our ceremony was intimate but also really relaxed” remembers Jade. “Our celebrant Jon Von Goes is actually a family friend of mine and married my mum and step-dad as well! So it was really special to have him there on the day.
Again, we didn’t want the ceremony to feel uptight, we just wanted everyone to have fun, and Jon Von Goes was great at telling jokes and getting everyone laughing and celebrating!
That being said, there were still a lot of tears – Dexter and I wrote our vows to each other that were a surprise on the day, and Dexter’s sister Bonnie did a reading.”

Jade advises “Keep a running calendar and to-do list of everything you need to do, pay, and organise!
I used a computer app called Trello to organise every aspect of the day, as well as remind myself of all the little details. It’s just too overwhelming if you don’t write everything down and track it really clearly!”

These two have a lot of love to give, and included a mammoth wedding party on their day. “We had a really big wedding party” tells the bride “because we have such a large and close group of friends! We had a total of 16 bridesmaids and groomsmen (8 on each side). My bridesmaids included my best friends and sister, and Dexter’s groomsmen included his best friends, two brothers and brother-in-law.”

The beautiful, romantic floral details were styled by Prunella. Jade explaining “We came to Vanessa and Caris (who run both Prunella Flowers and Churchill) with quite an eclectic set of inspiration and imagery (Italian/Sicilian vibes, modern and full of different bright colours) as we didn’t want our flowers to feel too traditional or ‘wedding-y’. They put it all together into the most perfect set of bouquets, urns and table settings on the day.
Our colour palette was ‘Burnt Orange, Apricot, Peach, Latte, Pinks, Olive green’, and we used a mix of Coral Peony, Garden roses, Hydrangea, Anthurium, Cumquats and Olives in the arrangements. I was really keen on the idea of incorporating some sort of fruits!
From the second I was handed my bridal bouquet on the day, I was absolutely blown away with how well they had understood what we wanted!”

“Vanessa and Caris who run Churchill are just two of the nicest people you could meet, and we felt they went above and beyond to make our day perfect. No question was too small or silly, they understood our vision perfectly, and my millions of emails were always replied to right away. We really can’t say enough good things about them, and can’t recommend them highly enough!”

“Our photographer Phoebe Powell was absolutely amazing!” raves Jade. “From the moment we met her she was so friendly, relaxed, and knew exactly the style of photos we wanted – warm, candid and unposed.
The photos she took for us were just perfect, and are so special – she captured the happiness of the day. It’s honestly hard to narrow it down to even 10 favourite photos that she took, we had hundreds! And months after the wedding I still have our guests tell me how great she was.”

The bride had one very special surprise in store for her husband. “One special moment was surprising Dexter with a song that my friend Alex and I performed (he played the piano and I sang).
We had met up in secret and rehearsed a few times before the day, and Alex had to hide his piano equipment at the venue so Dexter didn’t suspect anything!
I was so nervous that I almost decided not to go through with it – but later in the evening we called everyone into the church, and I sang ‘First Day of My Life’ by ‘Bright Eyes’ (our ultimate love song!) to Dexter in front of all our guests, and he cried the whole time! It was so special and the surprise couldn’t have gone any better. Every time Dexter watches the video back he still gets teary.” Dexter adding “My favourite memory was my wife surprising me by performing our song First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes, in front of our closest friends and family.
It was so special to know that she had planned the surprise, and rehearsed it for so many months.”

There was no slow dance for a first dance, these two wanted it to be fun, upbeat and a touch of disco! “Our first dance was to ‘Thinking of You’ by ‘Sister Sledge’. A song we love and that also worked perfectly with the disco feel we wanted for the dance floor.
We didn’t love the idea of slow dancing together for our first song while everyone watched on, so we invited all of our guests to dance with us! That got the dance floor going and it didn’t stop from there.”

A big congratulations Jade & Dexter! How beautiful it was to share your wedding day! Thank you both and thank you to Phoebe Powell for sharing today’s stunning images with us!