For Juels & Alex, when their original wedding plans fell by the wayside (thanks to a certain pandemic) they didn’t want to wait to say their vows. The pair taking advantage of a popup wedding situation, where the team at Nudo Events, hosted four weddings in one day – planning everything for their couples, from photographer (Art Of Grace, responsible for each of today’s beautiful images!) to celebrant, to decor and champagne. “For this wedding, I didn’t really do any planning” laughs Juels. “As a teacher though, planning is my life, so I enjoyed every part of the process for the other weddings I planned (cancelled due to COVID lockdowns)”.

The result was just what Juels and Alex wanted. “Oh, it was beautiful! ” remembers Juels. “Soft pastel colours of white, cream and pink, with natural tones in tan and smokey grey. The space was highly romantic and felt easy and gentle. It was the first for the day (being 1 of 4 pop-up weddings) so there was an air of expectation throughout.”

The pair met on Tinder, meeting in person just one week later for a Valentines’s Day burrito. The proposal was similarly relaxed in style (seems to be a running theme for these two!) and was inspired by Juel’s dream of a piece of cake. “I came home from work on Friday, ready to spend the evening at home. Alex came home and was cleaning and moving furniture around. He asked if I wanted to go out and do something, but I was rather tired and really just wanted to stay in.

Sometime after dinner, I saw a cake on the TV and mentioned I could go a piece. Alex quickly got us up, and we left to seek dessert. I thought we were going around the corner to a local place, but went into the city instead and visited Brunetti’s. Afterwards, we went for a stroll and Alex wanted to request a busker to perform a song. I thwarted this, considering it a bit weird. We then drove to the beach, Ormond Hill, where it was freezing cold and windy. I complained the whole time up to the hilltop. Then as we turned to go (finally!), Alex called out “Oi Juels!” and fell on his knee before asking me to marry him.”

The wedding was held at Gather & Tailor under the watchful eye of Nudo Events. The space decked out in flowers by Anatomy of Flowers and coordinating hanging installations by none other than Bangin Hangins. “We were hosted at Gather & Tailor for the ceremony, and the space was dreamy once ready for the day. There were natural tones in the furniture and flowers around the venue and the morning light came through the windows. The hangings from the ceiling really highlighted different areas of the large room.”

Anatomy of Flowers styled the lush floral details for the day, of which Juels says “Although chosen for us by Anatomy of Flowers, they were beautiful. I loved them so much, I dried the rose petals and other parts of the bouquet and boutonniere, which are now kept at home.”

The pair opted for a first look, praising their photographer for the stealthy shots. “They were fantastic! Neither of us is particularly comfortable in front of the camera, but the photographers helped and told us where to stand and what to do, etc.”

“Weirdly, I have only a few distinct memories of the say and felt it just flew by before I knew it. I do remember that while we were waiting to head upstairs, Alex was chatting about his nervousness and forgot about the microphone in his jacket pocket. He then said very quickly to his pocket that when they’re listening later, just ignore it.”

As Juels & Alex walked down the aisle, Hey Jack Entertainment performed “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.

 

“Our best friends, Mellisa and Patrick, were our wedding party and witnesses” says Juels. “We told them both that they can wear whatever they like, just not trackies or anything with holes.”

The wedding was officiated by Kimberley Duband. Says Juels “The ceremony was easy, fun and funny, which suited us well. We asked Mellisa do to a reading and she read a version of Oh, The Places You’ll Go. She’d rewritten parts of it to suit us and the current Australian climate.”

Although they left all the styling to team Nudo, Juels and Alex did bring one special detail in a beautiful wedding cake by Boutique Cake Art. “Outside of all the amazing details from Nudo, we’d bought our wedding cake from Boutique Cake Art and asked if we could have the cake with the bubbly after the ceremony” explains the bride. “We would’ve liked to include our fur baby, Milo, but he’s too excitable and would’ve misbehaved if we did.”

Juel’s advice to you? “Don’t sweat the little stuff. There’s no reason to worry about things that are out of your control.”

Special shout out also goes to Opia Hair & Beauty and Ava Jane Makeup Hair Beauty who styled Juels’ hair & makeup. “My hairdresser and my make-up artist were also fantastic and arrived at my house at 5 am. They both did such amazing work that I felt I didn’t recognise myself!”

Alex chose to wear pieces from Politix. “From the beginning, he hadn’t wanted to wear anything resembling a tuxedo” explains the bride. “He likes creams and whites as they complement his skin tone, so we looked at a white jacket and worked from there.”

Juels found her white gown at Asos, sharing “I wore a long dress with a slit in the skirt and long sleeves.  I just loved the dress from the moment I saw it. I was conscious of not having the celebrity/model legs for it though and was expecting to have a first dance (from our original wedding, pre-COVID), so I bought some Chantilly lace and sewed it into a skirt for the underside. I chose the dress because I just loved the style and cut. It seemed a bit vintage and rather elegant to me, plus I didn’t often see wedding dresses like it, so having something unique also suited myself.”

And after photos, the couple adjourned with their guests for dinner. “After the ceremony, we had lunch at a restaurant in the city; Mejico. It had only reopened recently (COVID lockdowns) and had just been renovated. The space is highly creative, with large sugar skulls, colourful decorations and a green wall. We organised the space to be casual and asked people to sit where they like and move as they like. Apparently, this caused some anxiety for the wait staff as they didn’t know where to seat Alex and me, being that we are so relaxed.”

A big congratulations on your marriage Juels and Alex! Thank you for sharing your wedding day stories with us and thank you to Art Of Grace and Nudo Events for sharing today’s celebration with us!