This is how you do modern romantic! Jessica and James tied the knot on February 22, 2020 and their wedding featured so many dreamy elements – long stem roses, a sentimental church, a blush, fairy lit draped ceiling at their reception venue (The Ivory Elsternwick) and soft mood lighting. There to capture all the magical details on camera and video? Love & Other Photography. Below, bride Jessica shares her and James’ proposal story, plus how their elegant wedding day came together with help from their incredible dream team of vendors.
The proposal happened while we were on holidays in Hawaii. After a few days of relaxation on Waikiki beach, many cocktails and way too much food, James had a sneaky surprise planned! James had booked the beach villa used on set from my favourite movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Turtle Bay. I remember walking in and seeing rose petals EVERYWHERE and the song ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran was playing. James got down on one knee and I was a total mess, it was such a perfect moment. He also planned a sunset beach horse ride followed by a romantic dinner on the beach. It was such an incredible day and a moment in time I’ll never forget! I still to this day cannot believe what he pulled off!
When it came to planning our wedding and theme, we wanted romantic, dreamy and elegant with a modern twist. We chose blush, white and gold as our colour palette to set a romantic dreamy vibe.
James chose to wear a classic three-piece fitted black tuxedo with a bow tie and patent leather shoes. The three groomsman wore a fitted black tux with a tie. We love how dapper and striking a classic black tuxedo looks in photographs.
I visited Jannifer Wu in Brunswick and that is where my dream dress came to life. I wanted my dress to be timeless and elegant. I knew I wanted a strapless dress with a long train and cathedral veil, and have always loved traditional lace. We modernised my dress with full beading, a strapless bodice and a fitted mermaid silhouette. Jannifer was flawless to work with, she made sure the dress fit like a glove and spent many hours with me over numerous fittings to make sure the dress was perfect.
We had a traditional Greek ceremony at St Eustathios Church in South Melbourne. This church is super special to our family as it is where James was baptised and where James parents got married. We love the family history, I always wanted to get married in a white church and lucky enough it is the cutest white church I have ever seen!
If I had to choose one of my favourite moments it would have to be the moment I walked down the aisle. Outside the church I was a nervous wreck and had so many feels and emotions. My dad passed away when I was young so not having him there to walk me down the aisle was a very emotional moment for me. As soon as I saw James, I instantly felt calm and an overwhelming feeling that’s indescribable.
James says, “My favourite memory from the day would have to be the moment I turned around and saw Jess walk down the aisle. She looked absolutely incredible in her dress. In that moment as I took her hand and she smiled at me, I remember thinking to myself just how lucky I am to be marrying this woman.”
We chose Love & Other for our wedding photography and film. Kyla was fabulous on the day and most importantly takes incredible shots! We felt so comfortable with the Love & Other team and just had fun with it. Kyla captured our day perfectly, I am so happy we have such beautiful photos to look back on!
I LOVE long stem roses they look super elegant and photograph so beautifully. I chose white long stem roses for myself and blush for the bridesmaids. My lovely florist, Allie from Classic Bouquets was amazing to work with and completely nailed the brief. Our reception florals were so dreamy and the bouquets were stunning – I wanted to hold mine all night!
We had six in our bridal party, a mix of siblings and our closest friends. We had so much fun with them on the day and they made taking photographs super fun! We feel so blessed to have shared these special memories with the people we love!
We fell in love with our reception venue, The Ivory Elsternwick, the moment we saw it. The venue is unlike anything else we looked at and has so many special touches. We loved the foyer for canapés and cocktails, the stunning blush velvet furniture and the baby grand piano that Melbourne Pianist Calvin played for us during canapés. I will never forgot the first time we saw The Ivory Ballroom. The blush draped ceiling was so stunning we knew it was our special place.
We had personalised mini cocktails from Three Foxes as our wedding bomboniere. Our guests all loved them, some drank them on the night! They looked super cute on the tables and matched our decor perfectly!
We opted for mood lighting using only soft white and blush lights throughout the night to set the tone.
We wanted to include something fun for our guests, so we styled our venue’s outdoor greenery wall with a neon sign from The Luxx Co and a stunning balloon garland by Life’s Rosey Event Hire. Our guests loved taking photos in front of the greenery wall and I am so glad we did it, as it was a super fun touch!
My favourite special detail would be the stunning memorial candles made by The Luxx Co to honour my dad and grandparents. We placed the candles on top of the fireplace in the foyer. I remember seeing them just as we were about to walk in as hubby and wife and it made me smile knowing they were there.
We had a neon sign from The Luxx Co behind our bridal table and hung it from a gold arbour dressed with florals. The venue had a stunning blush fairy lit draped ceiling that made everything look SO DREAMY!
Our wedding planner, Bec from EBB Events was INCREDIBLE! Bec took the stress out of wedding planning and made sure our special day ran seamlessly. Bec is a perfectionist and went above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect on the day. We had zero stress on our wedding day because we knew Bec was at the venue overseeing EVERYTHING! I was an OCD bride so I felt at ease knowing I had met my match!
We chose ‘Amazed’ by Lonestar for our first dance. I cannot listen to this song without happy tears EVER! We had so much dry ice during our first dance it felt like we were dancing on a fluffy cloud. The first dance is such a surreal moment, we were so nervous for many months prior and then when it happened we did not want it to end!
Our DJ Chas so much fun to work with, we couldn’t have chosen better. We wanted our reception to be one massive party and Chas made sure the vibe was set from the moment our guests walked in. We had the best time and our guests still rave about how great the music was!
The rose garden terrace was the perfect backdrop for our sparkler send off and we got some incredible photos.
Jessica and James’ wedding video by Love & Other
Join the conversation