Bright Fun Wedding at The Wool Mill

After a decade of love, this couple knew their wedding had to be nothing short of a big, colourful party. Tossing tradition aside, Josh and Jermaine crafted a celebration that perfectly reflected their journey – an eclectic fusion of Australian and Chinese/Singaporean influences wrapped in a Wes Anderson-inspired dream. With bold hues, playful details, and a touch of cinematic whimsy, their winter fun wedding landed just days before their 10th anniversary – exactly as they had always wanted. The result? A fun, bright, and deeply personal celebration that was true to their ethos. Captured by the talented Jonathon Ong – it was the perfect day!

Ten years ago, when Jermaine walked into her local uni pub night to meet a friend, she had no idea who else she would be meeting that night or just how significant that night would be! “As I went up to a friend to say hi, Josh happened to go up to the same friend to say hi at the same time, and then we were introduced!”

Flash forward to December of 2022, when Josh had planned a glamping trip to the Peninsula Hot Springs, and Jermaine says, “In hindsight, I should have known that something was up because who books a trip to the hot springs in the peak of summer?” But luckily for Josh, she was none the wiser! She even went as far as booking a romantic dinner where they needed to dress up for the night – a bonus for Josh!

“When we returned to our tent that evening, I headed forward to unlock the tent. Josh called out my name, and I turned around to see him down on one knee. It was the perfect setting – our tent was out by a lake, and it was sunset. We both have a shared interest in soft toys, and Josh had hand-sewn a couple of toy bunnies (my favourite) as a memento of the night. He had somehow managed to sneak them onto the bed in our tent before we had even left for the night, so they were there waiting for us after the proposal!”

Josh and Jermaine were thrilled with their vendor dream team – but especially loved Cass and Kane from CKCS Films. “They were so bubbly and vibrant from our first meeting and edited their videos in a fun style that we were both really into. They invited us out for a day at an arcade to film some extra B-roll footage, and even on the day, they were fun, outgoing, and so encouraging. The wedding video they edited for us was spectacular – it’s certainly not your traditional wedding video, but that’s exactly what we were after.”

Josh wore a green three-piece suit, a brown teacup vest, a maroon tie, and brown penny loafers. He wanted something that wasn’t too traditional, where the green added a fun vibe to the look but maintained a level of formality with the vest and tie. “His suit was designed by Alexander from Suitably. Alexander was amazing throughout the whole process, providing Josh with honest feedback on the colours, design, and style of the suit. His attention to detail was next level – he ensured that Josh’s suit not only suited him but that it matched our venue, our theme for the day, and that it also matched my dress!”

Within his wedding party, Josh had five groomsmen, all of which were friends he’d met at university! “They all wore pants that matched Josh’s, and they all matched their shoes with each other alongside a plain white button-up with brown suspenders to match the shoes. This was an intentional choice to forego the jacket to keep the look relaxed and fun. It also made Josh stand out as the only one with a jacket.”

Jermaine wore this gorgeous one-shoulder Madi Lane gown from Luv Bridal as her first outfit of the day. “The shopping experience was fantastic – I got to bring my parents and sisters along for it, and it was so fun to experience it with my family, as I’m the first of me and my sisters to be married. I had thought that I would be very indecisive as to the dress I wanted, as everyone who knows me knows that I struggle with decision paralysis on the daily! However, I was so lucky that the dress I ended up with was the third dress I ever tried on – everyone knew it was the one the second I walked out. It was simple, elegant, and modern – a perfect balance of everything I was looking for!”

Jermaine had six bridesmaids in her wedding party: her two sisters and four of her friends. Each wore a different style and colour Billy J Boutique dress from their allocated colour – a trend we’ve been loving recently! “The various colours really helped to brighten the day and further added to the idea of the “Wes Anderson style party” I was after,” she shared.

Before the ceremony could begin, Jermaine and Josh had their first look at Fitzroy Gardens. “While Josh was waiting for me at our first look location, a random elderly tourist couple approached him and asked for their photo to be taken in the exact spot where Josh was already waiting for me! It was very funny, and thankfully, all captured on camera.”

The brief Jermaine gave Anatomy of Flowers for these fun florals was “bright, colourful, and a mix of everything” – and the team absolutely crushed it! “I wanted guests to walk in and forget that it was winter outside, and the flowers absolutely helped to set the tone for that, as they were so fresh and fun! I’m so pleased with my bridal bouquet – I had it dried and framed, and it is now a keepsake I will have forever.”

As any Melbournian knows, you can’t trust Melbourne’s weather, especially in the winter months! So, as Jermaine and Josh were looking for a venue, they opted to look for indoor spaces that would work for both the ceremony and reception. “Walking into The Wool Mill, I almost immediately knew that the space was the exact one that we were after. The team at Nudo (who own Wool Mill) greeted us so warmly, and the space itself was almost like a blank white canvas, ready for us to do anything we wanted. It wasn’t a traditional wedding space, which was perfect for what we wanted, as it meant that we could really make the space unique to us.”

Alana from Lucky Note Design created all this incredible print material! “We worked with Alana to design everything, from our invites to our welcome sign to our seating chart, the menus, and even our drink tags for our guests. Alana was fantastic in her guidance, providing us with advice and feedback on everything. She set the tone of our wedding for our guests by creating a wedding invitation beyond anything we had even thought of. She came to our wedding venue on the day to help set up the print materials, and her assistance was paramount in making our venue look spectacular. I had asked that she design the welcome sign to look like a movie poster, which now hangs proudly in our home as a keepsake from the day!”

“Concerning Hobbits” played as guests watched Josh and his wedding party walk down the aisle to kick off the ceremony. Followed by Jermaine’s wedding party, who walked to Peach PRC’s Like a Version “Loved You Before”. Jermaine rounded up the ground, walking halfway down the aisle before her mum and dad joined her the rest of the way.

Wanting a fun, casual ceremony, Jermaine and Josh picked out Jess from Stan By Me Ceremonies as their celebrant – a perfect pairing! “She was funny and relaxed and understood both of us and our relationship well. Jess had us complete surveys and meet up with each other for coffee prior to the wedding to really understand us and our vision for the day. We didn’t include any readings but did have custom vows that we wrote ourselves. We kept the vibe of the ceremony fun by playing “rock, paper, scissors” to determine who would say their vows first (I won!),” shared Jermaine.

One of their favourite parts about planning this fun wedding was seeing how other couples went through the process! “Everyone’s wedding was so unique that it made us feel more confident about doing things in a less traditional way!”

Jonathan Ong was the photographer for the day, and Jermaine and Josh loved everything about him! “Jon, our photographer, was phenomenal. I’m a media teacher, so I had a very specific idea of what I wanted for photography and videography. So, I did very thorough research on both. Jon caught my eye when I saw that he was from Singapore and into Wes Anderson like me, and his portfolio impressed me!” she explained. “His use of space and lighting in his photos amazed me, and I booked him in immediately. He was calm throughout the day and guided us in a manner that made us comfortable in front of the camera.”

Another trend we’ve noticed (and loved) in the past few months is couples creating their own fun wedding newspapers—and Jermaine put her own little twist on this by creating her own wedding magazine! “I had seen the idea of a wedding newspaper on TikTok and changed it to a magazine instead. Using Canva, I included photos from our pre-wedding photoshoot in Singapore by Sam, fun facts about us, introductions to our wedding party, shoutouts to our friends and family, and a crossword for our guests to do about us.”

This shot here of the couple peeking out from the magazine also happens to be one of their favourite shots! “Whimsical, fun, a little cheeky – just the way we are.”

For their first surprise of the reception, Jermaine and Josh included a bubble tea station by BBT Lab! “Our friends all know that we both love bubble tea, and it was important to us that we added this fun detail. I found BBT Lab after some research, and they were able to surprise our guests with bubble tea after the ceremony during the cocktail hour! The bubble teas were a hit, with a choice of two non-alcoholic teas and two alcoholic options. The cups even had little stickers with us on them. Many of our guests loved the idea and went back for seconds and thirds!”

The top five things that made this fun wedding so unique were:

“1. Marrying each other!

2. Seeing friends and family who we hadn’t seen for a long time. I had family fly in from Singapore and Malaysia, and Josh had mates flying in from America and Germany, and it was fabulous to get them all under one roof,

3. The fun party atmosphere of the wedding,

4. The efforts from all of our vendors,

5. The smashing dancefloor, by Chris, our DJ!”

Another great surprise that only Jermaine and her mum knew about was the Chinese Lion Dance! “This was a key element that I really wanted to include from the very beginning of our planning. The Chinese lion dance is a key element of many Chinese events and signifies good luck and prosperity. I found the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne through my research and coordinated the performance at the venue with them. The only other person aside from us who knew about the dance was my mum, as we had to ask her a few questions about the dance, but she managed to keep the secret from everyone else, which made for a fantastic surprise. Most of our Australian guests had never experienced a lion dance, and my Singaporean and Malaysian family who flew over were so impressed that we were able to organise a performance!”

According to Jermaine, the best part of the night was her dad’s heartfelt speech! “He had decided at the end of his speech to include the Chinese “yum seng” toast for our guests to do. The toast was something I had grown up doing when attending the wedding of my relatives – essentially, you shout out “yum seng”, dragging out the word “yum” for as long as you can until you run out of breath, before shouting out “seng” – this is to be done three times in a row to maximise the luck for the couple. The Cantonese phrase “yum seng” is to equivalent to “cheers”, and not something I thought I’d be able to do at my wedding, so to have all our guests there shout it was really special.”

Soon after her parent’s speeches, Jermaine switched into her reception mini-dress! “My mum had a connection in Singapore – Moe, who has experience making dresses (he’s made the dresses for a few past Miss Singapore). I knew that the reception dress was an area where I wanted to bring in a Chinese element, so I worked with Moe to design a mini that was inspired by the Chinese Cheongsam,” she explained. “It was a difficult process as Moe was overseas, but he executed my vision perfectly. I paired my reception mini with a black denim jacket – the back design was made by Erin from Erin Tattoo. I had let Erin know that I wanted a design based on a bunny and a frog (mine and Josh’s favourite animals), and she took the idea and just ran with it, creating a super cool, almost punk design!”

For their first dance, Jermaine and Josh chose “Love Like This” by Zayn Malik – a super fast-paced, non-traditional option. They worked with Theresa from Wedding Dance to choreograph their routine. “Theresa was so incredibly helpful in choreographing a dance for us that was modern, fun, and not overly complicated! We spent so long leading up to the wedding rehearsing the dance, with no one else knowing that we weren’t doing a traditional first dance, so it was a great surprise for all our guests!”