When it came to love, Jayde and Will were right on target – rolling into forever with a celebration at Thornbury Bowls Club that was as joyful as it was heartfelt. With raffles, tequila toasts, and colour at every turn, their day was a strike of fun and sentiment. And thanks to the artistry of Georgia Wiggs, every candid laugh and tender kiss was captured with absolute flair.

Jayde made the first move in their relationship, sending Will a message after they’d matched on Bumble. “Our first date was at Future Mountain Brewery, and we hit it off from the start. Conversation flowed easily, and we quickly found out we had a lot in common,” Jayde shared. “Will was house sitting in Melb’s inner North, near where Jayde lived, just for a few weeks so we are very grateful for that short crossover in dating radius, as Will worked down at the Otways so we might not have matched so quickly otherwise.”

Will surprised Jayde with a romantic sunset proposal on the beach they’d spent a magical summer the year before. “He also booked a great Italian restaurant for a celebration dinner and got matching T-shirts at the restaurant afterwards. We both love good food and matchy-matchy things! Then we came home and drank an entire bottle of Tequila and stayed up all night talking about our romance and how crazy and amazing it was that we found each other.”

When Jayde pictured her dream wedding dress, she didn’t really see herself wearing the traditional white. And after months of searching for the perfect colour party dress, she surprised even herself when she fell in love with a white number. “I knew the designer Micheline Pitt made flattering fits, with the perfect shape and stretch for a woman with curves. It was comfy to wear all day, and I felt gorgeous in it!”

Will knew he wanted two things for his outfit: something smart and simple. “He decided on a black plain suit, and a white shirt with an embroidered paisley tie and vintage tie clip. Most of which he had already in the closet, waiting for a special occasion.”

Instead of having a traditional wedding party, Jayde and Will asked their guests to wear something they felt hot in, as they wanted everyone to have fun and be relaxed. They did, however, have a Best Lady in Jayde’s sister, who was also their florist and stylist! “She wore a stunning vintage style dress that was in our fave colour – emerald green, and helped us with pretty much everything on the day! And Jayde’s besties took it upon themselves to coordinate all wearing pink dresses so we’d all look fab together in the pics.” Will shared.

One of Will and Jayde’s favourite parts of their fun-filled party wedding was the morning, and the joy they felt getting ready together. “We were both connected to each other throughout the day because we had that time together before things got crazy busy, and we felt free to enjoy time with all our guests and be part of the party.”

When it came to their favourite photos, the couple shots in the aisles of Psarakos Market were a clear favourite. “We loved them all, but we were so happy with our couple pics at the start of the day. In particular, we did a little walk down the aisle at Psarakos Market on the way to the venue and got some fun photos there. We both thought that was the kind of picture we would print and put on the wall, of us having a kiss in the pasta aisle of our local market.”

There is no photographer who could have captured the fun party vibes better than Georgia Wiggs! “Georgia was beyond perfect for the day. We were immediately drawn to her portfolio on display at the Love Cats Wedding expo. She has an artistic eye and captures candid moments perfectly. Our photographs truly capture the vibe of the day, and we were laughing, screaming, and crying as we looked through the full photo album,” Jayde gushed.

“Georgia is personable and fun. She offered advice on the day and even worked with our celebrant and other vendors to keep things moving on schedule and helped manage our anxieties before we left for the big event.”

Thornbury Bowls Club was the top venue Jayde and Will were considering the moment they began planning. Not only is it close enough to their home to walk, but it’s also in an area where they have many fond memories spent together. “Jayde had done a few craft markets at the bowls club in the past, and it was a venue we already loved in an area we explored a lot when we first started dating. We knew our family friends would be comfortable in the space, and it caters perfectly for kids, teens, drunken dance floor fans and those that would prefer to sit and gossip,” Will shared.

“We both love keeping things local, and we knew the wedding costs could add up, so we really tried to support all local businesses, artists and makers in organising the wedding. We lucked out with the Love Cats Wedding Expo being on just after we got engaged, so we went along to that and met Dee, a previous market organiser and now celebrant. It all came together so easily from there!”

As she had run her craft jewellery stall (find her at alittlecoy here!) at Thornbury Bowls Club before, Jayde and Will thought it was only fitting to run a gift market stall for their guests to collect their own favours! “With a choice of handmade earrings and cuff links, magnets and flower and veggie seeds from our own garden. People had fun choosing their own pressie! We also made some streamer hangings and signage for the event, and used the designs we created to print the merch for our door prize raffle.”

As another fun treat for their guests, Jayde and Will included a wedding raffle! “We heard a story of someone doing a meat raffle at a wedding and thought it was hilarious, so we incorporated that idea in our own way into the event. As everyone entered, they got a raffle ticket – we used it both to pick out the witnesses after the ceremony, and for two ‘winners’ to do a tequila shot with us after the ceremony. We did a door prize raffle with wedding merch as prizes at the end of the speeches to keep everyone engaged. We included some silly disco-themed items in a custom tote bag, such as a commemorative stubby holder and a voucher for dinner with the married couple. Our guests got very competitive for the prizes! And everyone had a good laugh during the raffles.”

As we mentioned earlier, Skye from Forget-Me-Not Friday took care of all things florals for Jayde and Will. “We got so lucky, she is a sustainable floristry artist. We came up with a vision and a rough colour palette for the day, and she worked her magic, bringing it all together. Skye arranged flowers from our grandmothers’ gardens as well as her own, and shopped at sustainable flower farms for the flowers and foliage. She also surprised us by incorporating fruit and veggies in the decor, which we absolutely loved. We had a moment of pure joy when we saw a giant pomegranate on one of the tables!”

They surprised their guests by arriving together and mingling with everyone before the ceremony started, before walking separately down the aisle. “Will walked down the aisle with his mum and brother, and then I followed shortly after with my mum and dad,” Jayde recalled.

“We didn’t make a special effort to do this! But Will’s mum very generously gifted him his father’s wedding ring (he passed almost 20 years earlier), so it was a nice way to honour and include his memory. And just before I walked down the aisle, mum pulled her own wedding ring off and stuck it on my right hand to wear for the ceremony. It was hilarious at the time, but it felt nice that we both had our parents’ rings on for the day.”

For the ceremony, the couple handed over the reins to the capable hands of Dee from Custom Celebrations by Dee. “She was amazing, she put together the perfect story and really respected the fun vibe of the day. We wrote our own vows but the rest was all her, we can’t thank her enough for expressing our love and telling our story so well!”

Dee wasn’t the only incredible vendor that helped this wedding come to life. “It was a very well-chosen bunch. They all worked together too, which was amazing, especially since we didn’t have a wedding party to help on the day. The venue manager helped sort the caterer, the DJ and the photo booth from Rewind Booths operators. The celebrant worked with the photographer and the florist to get everything set up. We felt like we had our own bridal party in our team of amazing vendors that we chose. Or families also pitched in to set up and clean up, so we are very grateful for their muscle and willingness to be involved.”

The top five things that made this fun party wedding so special for Jayde and Will were:

“1. The People – Being from two country towns on opposite sides of Melbourne, it was our first moment as a couple for a lot of our friends and family to meet. It was magical to see our loved ones bonding from what can sometimes feel like different worlds. E.g., Jayde’s Aunties talking to Will’s high school friends, our Nans from the country meeting our Melbourne friends, etc.

2. The Food! Chris Orr from Wee Mans Kitchen put together an amazing spread, and we were all well-fed. We didn’t want a traditional wedding cake, so we got a massive tiramisu and had a few different birthday cakes for dietary requirements

3. The decor – it was like our dream party, colourful, fun, filled with plants and flowers and even veggies!

4. The Dancing – our DJ from Dot Music was amazing, and they kept the party going.

5. Can I just say the VIBE? It was us! Haha!!”

It was Jayde’s grandmother’s birthday on their wedding, so they wanted to do everything they could to honour her special day. “We had asked her permission to share her birthday with that day, so we made sure to include a shout-out to her during the ceremony and even made everyone sing happy birthday after the speeches. In true birthday luck, she won the wedding raffle and was our first wedding certificate witness too, so that made it more special for both her and us.”

Their first dance was to “Witchoo” by Durand Jones & The Indications. “We love to dance around the house to this song, and we saw the band earlier in the year live and had a special little moment when they played it live.”

A huge thank you to Georgia Wiggs for capturing every laugh, dance move, and heartfelt detail of this incredible day. And of course, our warmest congratulations to Jayde and Will: here’s to a lifetime of love, laughter, and perfect matches.