Dreaming of a romantic weekend away for their guests, Jacqui and Jake kept their guest list small. Their dream? An intimate “love bubble” – guests welcomed with boxes of treats, a ceremony on the terrace by the lake, a beautiful dinner reception (complete with marshmallows roasting over an open fire) and plenty of time together It was as perfect as it sounds and all beautifully captured by Love Wilder.

It seems inevitable that these two would end up together, after living parallel lives – both attending the same playgroup kindergarten, primary school and high school, it was not until April of 2016 that they finally  officially “met”. Remembers Jacqui “I had just returned from travelling for 6 months and hated my current job. I was complaining to a friend at my university and he told me I should put in my resumé where he works. I got all dressed up and super nervously, with the resume in my hand, walked into the restaurant. It was completely empty except for this guy with a massive beard and a shaved head. He just awkwardly looked at me without saying a word. I asked if I could please speak to the manager, to which he replied ‘no, they aren’t here’ in a deadpan voice.  ‘Oh ok, well could I leave my resumé with you to hand to them please?’  ‘Yes’.  And that was the first time I had the pleasure of witnessing just how awkward Jake can be.”

After getting the job, the pair spent the next 18 months trying to get over that awkwardness until they finally hit it off. “Everyone around us could see something special developing, and I denied it as hard as I possibly could. Apparently, Jake asked me on plenty of dates, to which I replied things such as ‘nah, I’ve got to wash my hair’.  It wasn’t until October of 2017 when Jake and I went to Kyle’s movie premiere and he drove a tipsy version of me home. We were sitting outside of Dad’s house in Jake’s car and for some reason, I started listing every single reason we should not start dating (whilst tipsy and crying). Including, ‘I don’t like video games’, ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ and my strongest point ‘You’re not a Leo! I’m a Sagittarius and I am meant to be with a Leo!’ After I ran out of reasons, I said ‘but after all that, I still really want to kiss you,’ at which point Jake leaned over and kissed me, a kiss that melted every worry I had away.

We didn’t make it official until the 22nd of December 2017, but we spent time slowly getting to know each other in a less platonic way and figuring it out before we announced it to the world. That was one of the best things about Jake, he never pressured me, rushed me or even encouraged me to fall in love with him. He let me do it at my own pace, considering my need to heal, and overcome commitment issues and any anxiety I had around it. And he did all of that without me even knowing I needed it.

And as with many Melbourne couples of late, Jake proposed during lockdown after a beautiful day together. “After a wine up at Jake’s parent’s winery, we wandered back to our little home and started the bonfire outside. We had music playing and were sitting and cuddling on the couch in front of the fire. One of the brightest rainbows we had ever seen had just appeared and I said to Jake “I’ve just had the best day; it’s been so nice.” And he said ‘Well I think I might make it even better then with a question…” as he got down on one knee and showed me the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life, he asked if I would marry him. YES!!”

Jacqui and Jake chose Love Wilder to not only capture their wedding photographs but also their film. Jacqui raves “Rochelle and Linden from Love Wilder were an amazing team. They worked together seamlessly for both our photos and video. They were quiet in the background when they needed to be and gave us direction or just encouragement with our first look and golden hour portraits.

I originally fell in love with Rochelle’s black and white photography and her soft tonal portraits, but I was even more blown away by our photos and our video than I expected I would be. Our photos are beautiful! We especially love the candid photos we have of our guests.”

“Jake wore a three-piece black Gibson suit, with a white shirt and black bow tie” tells Jacqui. “After shopping around, we found the perfect suit and wonderful service at Mickey Blue in Mornington. We wanted something classic and timeless. He wore silver rose cufflinks and black leather shoes from Merchant 1948 and god did he look good.”

“We created welcome boxes for all of our guests which were sitting on their beds when they arrived at their accommodation. The boxes included personalised water bottles, a jar of lollies with our names on them, a ‘just in case’ pack and a little welcome booklet with a map, itinerary, recommendations, FYI’s and contact information for the weekend.

We also included two bottles of wine. A white wine that read, ‘She knew she loved him when home went from a place to a person’ and a red wine that said, ‘He knew he loved her when he dove head first into a rock in an attempt to impress her.’ (Our first date ended up in the emergency room, haha).”

Jacqui had quite the dress-shopping experience and it wasn’t all positive. She did however manage to find her elegant, off-the-shoulder Sophia Tolli gown at Always and Forever Bridal. “After one terrible ‘try on at home’ experience, two ‘you’ll need to buy off the rack’ moments, a few ‘our sample dresses only come in size 6 or 8’ ordeals, I finally found a dress at Always and Forever Bridal on Collins Street in Melbourne. If I am honest, my dress shopping experience was probably my least favourite part of our wedding; I found it stressful and a little frustrating.

My simple, off-the-shoulders crepe dress from Sophia Tolli arrived a few weeks before our big day, but alterations weren’t finished until the week of our wedding. The dress was so different to what I had envisioned but I liked the hourglass shape it gave me and the simplicity of the dress. I did LOVE my Loeffler Randall Camellia Pleated Bow heels and Swarovski Crystal studded veil from Etsy.”

“We organised some little gifts for our parents, to thank them for everything they had done to help us get to this point. One special memory from the day was gifting my dad a painting I had done of the house my parents built together and that we all grew up in. Dad still lives there and it’s a very special place for the family. He got a bit teary and it was just a nice moment with the whole family there for the morning of the wedding.”

The flowers, like everything else on the day, were soft and romantic, beautifully styled. “For our flowers, we went with romantic soft tonal colours and textures. Lots of white, blush pinks, creams and soft greys. My bouquet was unstructured, big and beautiful with roses and orchards. Jake’s buttonhole was simple and classic.
At our ceremony, we had a circle arbour with similar colours and textures to my bouquet, which framed us beautifully in front of the lake. I wasn’t sure about the circle arbour before the wedding but looking back at the photos I think it was so perfect. As we walked back up the aisle, we were showered in white rose petals.”

The couple opted for a first look which gave them plenty of time together for photographs before their ceremony began.

“The one thing I say when people ask about our wedding is just how perfect it was. We got to the end of the evening and both said to each other ‘How did nothing go wrong?, like NOTHING!’ And I think that comes down to our vendors. All of them were so easy to communicate with throughout the whole process. Jorjia and Jackie did my make-up and hair, and they were both so calm and easygoing. Our photos and video are incredible, our ceremony was exactly what we were hoping for and the venue was flawless.

Our musician was replaced at the last minute due to Covid, but we had no idea this even happened until after they told us. It was no big deal at all and the music was perfect.”

The couple who love a DIY project, added plenty of DIY details. “We designed and made all of our invitations using handmade paper, wax stamps, silk ribbon and all the fun things. (Another perk of having a small wedding)” explains Jacqui. “We made our favours and signage for the day. Our welcome sign was an A-Frame with a flower box which looked amazing. We also had a big sign that simply stated, ‘How good is love!’”

Jacqui’s walk down the aisle? Not quite as she imagined it would play out! “My sisters walked our dog Winter down the aisle and as we were waiting for the music to begin, we got to hear what sounded like a couple consummating their marriage right above us. We were laughing so hard; it did wonders for my nerves haha. I walked down the aisle with my dad to a song that Jake found and chose for me called “Feels like this” by Maisie Peters. It still makes me cry to this day.”

It was really important for Jacqui and Jake that their ceremony continued the “love bubble” feeling they wanted for their guests. They chose celebrant Erica The Celebrant to complete the task! “We wanted everyone to know just how special they were to us. Our celebrant, Erica, did an amazing job of making our wishes come true. She was funny and lighthearted but still made the space feel full of emotion and love. Having a small wedding definitely has its perks. One was that we were able to include each of our guests in our ceremony, by mentioning them by name and thanking them for their special roles in our lives. We were also able to do a Ring Warming Ceremony. This is where we asked our guests to pass our rings around with love and well wishes in their minds before we gave them to each other.
We wrote our vows and I almost got a tear out of Jake haha.

After our vows, we surprised our brothers by asking them to be our witnesses. Of course, my brother’s first concern was his terrible handwriting, but I think they were both pleasantly surprised. The song we chose for the signing was ‘The Bones’ by Maren Morris.
Walking back up the aisle to ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer was magic, but no one tells you about the awkward little bit at the end when you finish walking up the aisle and are just walking to nowhere. Haha, we ended up just walking around a corner behind the trees, removing my veil, and sharing a little kiss and giggle before simply returning to our guests. I’ve noticed the awkward little moment at every wedding I’ve been a guest at since, and it makes me laugh every time.”

Every detail of this day was sentimental and special, right down to the rings. “I wore some very sentimental jewellery” explained Jacqui. “I had the honour of wearing my late Nan’s wedding band as my ‘something old,’ and borrowed a gold ring from Jake’s 95-year-old grandmother, Jude, as my ‘something borrowed’. My siblings made me a little trinket for my bouquet as my ‘something blue’ and I even glued a sixpence to the bottom of my shoe. Wearing my Nan’s wedding band was very special and having my engagement ring which Jake designed and had made from the gold of one of my Nan’s necklaces will always be so meaningful to me. My Nan and Pa were together since they were 15, and although they had both passed away before our wedding it was so nice to have them as a part of our day.

Jake also snuck a beautiful gold locket into my suitcase which I found the morning of our wedding. Our wedding bands were custom made by my godparents Tomo Design. I felt like it was saturated in love the whole day.”

Jacqui and Jake wanted not just one day to celebrate with their guests, so the country town of  Daylesford and in particular the lakeside venue of Lake House Daylesford was chosen for their wedding. Jacqui explains “Our wedding was designed as a wedding weekend. A little weekend away with our most loved people. Jake and I booked separate houses for our families to get ready in for the day through The Houses Daylesford. Both houses were within walking distance of our wedding venue. We were lucky enough to be able to put our friends up at Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel Hepburn, which took all the stress out of finding accommodation over a long weekend.

We held both our ceremony and reception dinner at the beautiful Lake House in Daylesford. We fell in love with the location after one visit before we were even engaged. We never looked at another venue. The things that were important to us were excellent food, great wine and beautiful views of nature. The Lake House ticked all of our boxes.  Jake loved going to the Lake House and having our initial wedding consultation. He enjoyed going around the location and seeing how pretty it all was. “We wanted to get married outside and we were able to on the terrace in front of the lake. Our reception was held in the intimate Waterfront Pavilion. Jake and I then spent our wedding night at the Lake House.”

The couple invited guests to leave them an audio message thanks to At The Beep.

“My favourite part of wedding planning was all the special little DIY aspects” notes Jacqui. “It was the part I had control over and could make sure I did as perfectly as possible and exactly how I had envisioned it. I trusted my vendors completely of course, but as a little bit of a control freak, it was difficult not knowing exactly how it was all going to come together on the day.”

As the sun set, guests gathered around the newlyweds for their first dance. “Jake and I practised our first dance for a few months before the wedding. We bought a series of online lessons which was perfect for us during the Melbourne lockdowns.  We had a lot of laughs realising how uncoordinated I am. We chose “La Vie En Rose” by Emily Watts as our song.

After all our practising we still messed it up. We were completely out of time with the song, and it was throwing us both off since we were using the lyrics as our reminders for the steps. About a ¼ of the way through I grabbed Jake’s hand and ran off yelling ‘we are starting again!’ Everyone laughed a lot, including us, but we nailed it the second time and we were much calmer. I am so glad we started again. It’s such a fun and special memory, and also a nice analogy for our marriage. ‘If something doesn’t work the first time, as long as we can laugh about it together and try again, we will be ok, maybe even better.’”

Jacqui’s advice to you? Go small! “I am yet to meet a single couple that has regretted having a small, intimate wedding. For me, I got to have every tiny detail I have ever wanted without blowing our budget. And for Jake, he didn’t have to stand up in front of a hundred people and run around trying to talk to everyone the whole night. We did have a ‘We got married’ party at home with all of our friends and family a few months after our wedding which was a lot of fun. Jake and I danced and chatted the night away without the pressure of the formalities.
So I guess our advice would be, if you’re contemplating a small wedding, do it and make it everything you’ve ever wanted.”

The intimate guest list is part of what Jacqui puts down to what made the day so very special. “As our wedding only had 30 guests, we chose not to have an official wedding party. A big priority in our planning was for all of our guests to join us in our bubble of love, we didn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable or unhappy. I got ready with my family. My sisters walked our dog Winter down the aisle wearing dresses they chose. Jake also got ready with his family and invited his mates over to his accommodation for a G&T before the wedding. We feel we got to experience the best parts of a wedding party, the love, support and laughter without any of the stress or expense.”

For the reception, Jacqui switched up her look. “I opted to have a ‘just in case’ dress from Shona Joy and ended up changing into my second dress mid-reception. It was so much more comfortable and honestly, I love our photos in my second dress.”

There’s even a cautionary tale to be told! “We included marshmallows by the fire for the end of the evening. Jake and I got to know each other by the fireplace at work, he proposed in front of our firepit at home and so we thought it would be a fitting end to the evening. Although we do need to give a caution to other couples. We probably would not recommend handing pointy metal sticks and molten hot sugar to intoxicated and expressive guests. Haha. Luckily no one was hurt, just a few minor heart attacks.”

“One of our favourite photos of the day was our last photo taken. As we ran through our sparkler exit and walked off into the night. We both look so happy and at ease. Huge smiles, hand in hand and surrounded by all our merry guests. We didn’t say goodbye to anyone we just kept on walking into the darkness before sneaking off to our hotel room. We both laughed as we heard my best friend, who had flown in from Canada, especially for the wedding, yell ‘Did they just leave us!!?’
When we got back to our hotel room, we were able to stand on our balcony and see the party still going on.”

Congratulations to you both Jacqui and Jake! What an absolutely magical day we got to share. Thank you both and to Love Wilder for sharing today’s beautiful images.