We love a story of high school sweethearts and Jess and Marsh, who went to high school together (where they fell in love!) well and truly fit the bill. “Almost 12 years ago now. Marsh was 18, Jess had just turned 17 when we went on our first-ever date in 2011. Ever since then, we’ve been building & growing our lives, & ourselves…together! Marsh tried to sell me textbooks because he was in the year above me, & just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Almost 12 years later, & we’ve built a home, gotten married, travelled the world, and currently starting a family of our own.”

The pair deserved a grand celebration after all that time (and all those memories) and invited their nearest and dearest on a day filled with beautiful neutral tones that were beautifully, romantically modern. “The style of our wedding was very dreamy & neutral” explains Jess “with a hint of blood orange rust, decorated with bare wood, dry flowers & babies breaths, candles lit and surrounded by glass jars along an infinity of mesh cloth.” From the church to the industrial reception venue, every detail was stunningly captured by All My Wednesdays.

Their wedding story begins with a Maldives proposal in 2019. “Marsh had initially organised to propose to me on the last night of our Maldives trip, but a miscommunication with the resort had them organise and set it up for the day we arrived!!! So it was fair to say it was a surprise for the BOTH of us LOL. Even more hilarious is that it was all video recorded by the resort staff who thought it was all going to plan.

So we arrive at our resort, & they inform us our room has been upgraded to a better “sunset” water villa. We thought GREAT! I (Jess) walked in ahead of Marsh, & gone straight into the bedroom where on the bed decorated in palm leaves and flowers it said “Will you marry me?”, I looked out at Marsh admiring the ocean & he did not look like a man who had planned to propose today. Marsh finally followed me into the bedroom to meet my face of confusion, noticed the bed and said “Oh sh*t, give me one second!!!”. He ran out to our luggage, unlocked the suitcase, tossed out all his clothes, unzipped the lining of his suitcase (where he hid the engagement ring), & ran back to me saying “This was not how I planned to do this!” followed by a beautiful speech ending with the very question that was on the bed. It was perfect, simply because OF COURSE this mix-up would happen to us, and secondly because even though Marsh had planned to end our trip with a proposal, it was beautiful to start the trip with a proposal (even if it was a surprise for both of us), & enjoy the rest of our holiday in the beautiful Maldives in complete bliss and excitement about the journey we were about to begin together.”

Not only did All My Wednesdays capture the couple’s photographs on the day, but the team also created this beautiful film.  “I have to praise Mardy from All my Wednesdays” notes Jess. “She gave us things we will remember for all our days to come.”

Marsh wore a suit designed by YSG Tailors. His groomsman in a darker tone says Jess “The groom was dressed in a 3 piece, cream suit, designed by YSG, Marsh chose to wear it because the neutral tones matched our theme, which gave him a vintage look while also being a unique style to the traditional male wedding attire.”

Jess chose the beautiful deep v-neck lace gown “Helder” designed by Rosa Clara, a beauty she found at Raffaele Ciuca.

“Our ceremony took place in St Thomas Aquinas, South Yarra” remembers Jess. “A small intimate church in South Yarra which had big blue doors to enter making it look very European.”

Jess chose “This is Why I Love You” by Major to play as she walked down the aisle with her father. Remembers Marsh “Seeing  Jess walk down the aisle was one of the most memorable moments for me- it was a surreal and beautiful moment. It was crazy to see my gf of 10 years in her wedding stress, walking towards me to take this next huge step together.”

The blooms for the day were styled y Anatomy of Flowers. “The flowers I chose were very simple” explains Jess. “Our bouquets were decorated with white & blood orange flowers. The groom & groomsmen had dry flowered lapel pins.” Jess added charms with photos of special lost loved ones to her bouquet.

These two adored working with their photographer Mardy, who says Jess “Our photographer was Mardy & her handy helper on the day/partner Liam. We love her work from when she was also the photographer for Jess’ brother’s wedding a couple of years back! We just knew we wanted her back because her work connected so well with how we wanted our day documented & how we wanted our memories put into photos AND film. She was so lovely & easygoing, and made every photo fun! & listened to what our vision was. She took initiative from the beginning by scouting areas she thought we’d love & boy was she right! Mardy was easy to communicate with, & so prompt with getting our photographs & highlight video out. She sent us a sneak peek of some of the pics the day after our wedding!!!”

Jess and Marsh chose Gather & Tailor for their venue, Jess explained “We chose Gather & Tailor as our reception venue because we adored the blank canvas that they offered, allowing us the freedom to use our imagination to bring our dream wedding to life. Gather & Tailor has beautiful hardwood floors, with white walls and exposed beams & their wedding planners worked with us to bring our vision to life and offered plenty of resources that connected with our vision, & then worked hard to bring it fruition.

Our favourite part of wedding planning was the ability to make our own decisions! Gather & Tailor gave us a lot of freedom with vendors. We even had our uncle do the catering! Freedom during wedding planning makes you feel like it’s YOUR wedding. We’d spoken to many other venues who had limitations on many things, & we felt that our wedding planners from Gather & Tailor just made things work with what we wanted!”

One of Marsh’s favourite memories of the day? “Walking through Gather & Tailor before the chaos, empty of any party guests, & freshly decorated and calm & still, just for us to take it all in & see its beauty away from the noise that was to come. We were given the chance to take it all in. Seeing our vision come to life after months of planning. It was nice to take a moment to appreciate it all in a calmer state.”

The couple gifted wedding favours that honoured their culture. “Our wedding favours were a fusion of both our cultures. I am of East Timorese background and Marsh is of Sri Lankan background. We chose to have a traditional Timorese palm leaf woven beige box, which carried a delicious traditional Sri Lankan cake called “Love Cake”.”

Jess’s advice? “Never stop dating! Understand that the person you met won’t always be that same person & you’d hope that they weren’t either because life happens, we change & evolve & there’s something sweet about knowing the person you love is growing! And that you have a chance to be on our toes & always learning about each other!”

The couple hired The Wedding Painter to turn their wedding day into art. “In planning our wedding, Marsh & I knew we needed to have a live wedding painter. Rebekka painted our first dance live, during our reception where our guests could watch her work, & bring our first dance to life in a painting throughout the evening. It was incredible & she did an amazing job! We got to pick up the final product only a few weeks after our wedding.” (Editor’s note: You can see the finished result here.) The newlyweds took to the dance floor to “Say I Do” by Jonny P,  “It was magical with smoke released nearing the end of the dance” remembers Jess.

 

“The last song played at our wedding was “Love Generation” by Bob Sinclair. It’s a song that means a lot to Marsh and me. A song that reminds our friends & family specifically of us, a song played at our engagement party which became a core memory for all our loved ones as we were quite literally sent crowd surfing during this song at our engagement. When it came on as the final song during our wedding, it was so sweet because it felt like the entire party knew what this song meant to us, & suddenly Marsh & I were wrapped in love by an enormous group hug of (no exaggeration) 20-30 of our nearest and dearest family & friends. Imagine a dance floor, with us in the centre and an enormous group hug which extended right out to the border of the dance floor from all ends.”

Congratulations Jess & Marsh! We loved having you on Polka Dot Wedding and loved every bit of sharing your story. Thank you both and to All My Wednesdays for today’s beautiful images.