Modern Autumnal Wedding at The Marion

Kicking off the Alfrecso Issue, we have Rebekah and Jackson’s autumnal wedding! From their first shared laugh at university, Rebekah and Jackson’s journey has always been full of joy and adventure. Their modern autumnal wedding at The Marion in Canberra captured that same spirit, intimate yet vibrant, heartfelt yet playful. Guests were treated to a whiskey bar, a DJ who seamlessly switched from spinning tracks to live solos, and a phone guestbook that recorded endless laughter. Captured through the lens of Bel Combridge, every moment, from the expressions of pure joy to their fairytale-like first kiss, reflected the magic of the day.

It all started during their first week at Macquarie University, where both were living on campus at Dunmore Lang College. Between the nerves of settling in and the buzz of new beginnings, fate was already working its magic on this pair. A passing hello outside a friend’s room was enough for Jackson to take notice, and before long, he was knocking on the door of a brand-new neighbour. “As I get to my room and start unpacking, I get a sudden knock at my door. And lo and behold, it was Jackson. He comes bouncing into my room like a super-friendly puppy, full of confidence, and begins to sit down and chat with me as if we were old friends. I was immediately taken aback by his confidence and chatted away politely until it was time for him to go, and that was that,” Rebekah shared.

“A few weeks later, thinking nothing of it, we happen to run into each other at the local uni bar, and he comes up to me again and starts chatting. Feeling nervous but with a hint of liquid courage, we start chatting away until a rogue hand movement knocks my drink all over his pants. We both looked at each other and laughed, and haven’t stopped laughing ever since.”

Adventure has always been part of their story, so it was only fitting that Jackson’s proposal would take place high in the sky. What started as a casual November weekend quickly turned into something unforgettable.

Rebekah shared: “As we get to the hike and start walking up the mountain, I start to get hot and decide to take off my jacket. Noticing Jackson hadn’t taken his off and could see he was visibly sweating, I asked him if he wanted to take his jacket off. He quickly said, ‘No, I am fine, I will take it off when we get to the top.’ I thought that was weird, but perhaps he’s just being stubborn, as the hike was pretty steep. As we get to the top of the mountain, the view is amazing, and I decide to sit at the end of the rocks, taking in the beautiful scenery. While I am sitting on the rocks (Jackson sitting behind me), I ask him if he could pass me the water as he had the backpack. He quite quickly and confidently said, ‘Sure, but will you marry me first?’. I, in shock, quickly turn around, and Jackson is holding open a ring box with the most gorgeous ring. I, in disbelief, say ‘Omg, of course I will!’ and give him the biggest hug and kiss. As we are blissfully taking in the moment, Jackson tells me the ring was in his jacket pocket the whole time, and that is why he couldn’t take it off. Talk about commitment!”

Jackson wore a beautiful forest green suit from Institchu, paired with a native orange tie and matching pocket square from Peggy & Finn. “What was so sweet and personal was that he got our wedding date embroidered on the inside of his suit and chose ‘The Starry Night’ by Van Gogh as the inside lining of his suit.”

Rebekah herself wore a stunning, modern lace gown from Luv Bridal, featuring gorgeous bell sleeves and a low-cut back. “I went dress shopping with my mum and two sisters. I selected a few dresses and told Mum to pick out one she’d love to see me in, and I asked my sisters to do the same. As I walked past the one my sisters were choosing, I said, ‘I don’t think I will like that. ‘They both look at me and say, ‘You said we could choose one, so just try it on, as you never know. ‘As I went through and tried the dresses on, I came to the dress my sisters chose and tried it on. I instantly loved it and felt the most beautiful in it, and that was the dress I ended up choosing! It was the best experience ever!”

Not only did Rebekah have a first look with Jackson, but she also had private ones with her dad, her bridesmaids, her mum, and Jackson’s mum. “These two moments were so special and definitely a tradition I would love to see continued,” she shared.

“In terms of heirlooms, I wore my mum’s earrings and bracelet. Weeks before the wedding, my mum and I went through her jewellery, and she told me that if I wanted to borrow anything for the wedding, I could. I chose these wonderful Swarovski earrings and the matching bracelet. After I chose these to borrow, my mum told me they were mine to keep.”

The singular detail from this modern, autumnal wedding that really stuck with Rebekah and Jackson was how intentionally they made time for each other in those little moments. “The way we did this was by a first look, sunset photos and having a moment to see the reception before everyone else came in. These small pockets of alone time were the best, as we really got to look at each other, take in the moment, and go, ‘omg we just got married.’ The day goes so fast, so I highly recommend doing this!”

With Jackson being the eldest of six and Rebekah the youngest of three, they knew the wedding party was going to be big no matter what, and they ended up having five people each in their wedding parties. The bridesmaids all wore different shades of green to match Jackson, while the groomsmen wore black suits with matching native orange patterned ties and pocket squares. “As an extra fun touch, each groomsmen, like Jackson, got to choose which lining they wanted in their suits. Also, to make important family members feel a part of the day, we bought our dads and Jackson’s grandfather similar ties to tie in with the theme and colours (my dad wearing a native green tie, Jackson’s dad wearing the same tie as the groomsmen and Jackson’s grandfather wearing a different variation of the tie the groomsmen were wearing).” Rebekah explained.

Additionally, Jackson bought all his groomsmen, dad, and grandfather personalised cufflinks and tie clips with their initials on them as a special thank you and to tie everything together.”

Fionna from Peony n’ Pearl brought all of Rebekah’s floral dreams to life, perfectly capturing the autumnal, fresh theme. “Omg, where do I even begin with the flowers?! They were the most amazing flowers I could have ever imagined. The flowers were a mixture of natives, poppies, roses and other soft flowers, in colours of red, orange and soft pinks. We had two pillars of flowers that sort of made an arch for our ceremony, I had a beautiful bouquet and Jackson had a buttonhole. For the reception, the flowers were single-stemmed and hung (depending on the table), mixing in different height dimensions, and featured long and tea light candles. An absolute dream.”

The Marion in Canberra is a venue that Jackson and Rebekah had passed by many times on walks, and one of the first they thought of when planning their wedding. “The Marion is situated overlooking Lake Burley Griffin, and when we first came to Canberra, Jackson and I used to love going for walks around the lake. When we were engaged and looking at venues, I knew this place had to be our first choice. As we both walked into the main room, I immediately could picture our wedding here and was like, ‘Yep, this is the one.’ So much so, when we walked back to the car after the meeting, I cried as it was so perfect and everything we wanted,” she explained.

Rebekah walked down the aisle with her dad as “Simply The Best” by Billianne floated through the air.

Sweet, fun and personal – their ceremony was everything Rebekah and Jackson could have dreamed of, led by their wonderful celebrant Annie. “It was totally us in a nutshell. We wanted something original, non-traditional and fun, and my gosh did Annie deliver that! We had the bridesmaids and groomsmen stand with us and live-streamed it all so my 90-year-old grandma in Scotland got to watch and be a part of our wonderful day. A couple of our many favourite touches were our personal vows to each other, a rock, off to see who would say our vows first, and our mums being our surprise witnesses when we signed our marriage certificate.”

If there was one piece of advice Rebekah and Jackson want couples to know before they plan their own day, it’s this: “Planning your wedding can sometimes be stressful, which no one always tells you about. But enjoy the little moments together, celebrate the wins, take time to soak up all the love and exciting times and enjoy every minute of your big day. Because at the end of the day, nothing else matters except being with your person and the people you love.”

One of their favourite photos looks straight out of a movie – as they shared their first kiss, a flock of galahs joined just in time to capture the moment together. “First of all, Bel was and is amazing; her eye for capturing beautiful moments is just stunning. The way this bird photo came about was that we were just about to finally kiss, and the celebrant was about to pronounce us husband and wife. Little did we know, a flock of galahs was sitting on the grass behind us as we leaned in for the kiss. Everyone clapped and cheered, and then the flock of galahs flew across the sky, creating the most amazing photo. We couldn’t have planned that if we tried, and it was the best thing that could have happened.”

Speaking of photography magic, Bel Combridge captured the whole day in her signature fun, heart-warming style. “Oh, where do I begin with Bel. She was one of the best vendors we could have ever chosen. I had first seen her beautiful work on Instagram and knew immediately we had to get her for our wedding. She was so kind, caring and friendly and made the whole process easy. Jackson and I don’t love being in front of the camera, but Bel made us so comfortable we actually really enjoyed every minute of it,” Rebekah shared.

“As mentioned above, her ability to make magic out of the unprompted and natural gorgeous moments of our wedding day was the best thing we could have ever asked for. We now have beautiful photos and memories to look back on forever, so for that, we are so very grateful. We still to this day get comments from friends telling us how amazing our photos are.”

Every part of their wedding was designed to feel intentional and personal, with just 55 guests making the celebration intimate, warm, and truly special.

Alongside the heartfelt moments, a few standout details made this modern autumnal wedding unforgettable:

“1. A whiskey bar. Jackson and I both love whiskey, so this was a massive hit with everyone and something super unique.

2. We had a DJ, Callum, who also played the saxophone and trumpet. We told no one about this, and he surprised everyone with a saxophone solo during dinner and then ripped it up on the dance floor with his trumpet – he was the best thing ever!

3. We had a phone guestbook so all guests could easily pick up the phone and leave us a message. Everyone loved it, and we’ll have these messages forever to listen back on every year.”

Music and laughter were at the heart of their wedding day. They spent a relaxed afternoon putting together the playlist for cocktail hour and dinner, sipping wine and choosing songs that felt perfect for them. The fun only continued when it came to recording their own voice note for the phone guestbook – a task that had them laughing more than once. “We recorded our voice note for the phone guest book. We tried so many times to make a serious message, but ended up laughing at each of them, so we just chose a funny one that was exactly us.”

Their first dance was all about keeping it light and joyful, picking “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez & Em Beihold. “We didn’t take this too seriously and practised a few simple moves before the big day and kept things easy.”