70s-Inspired Disco Glamour Wedding at The Warehouse

Today’s wedding isn’t about the beginning of a story: it’s all about celebrating ten years of one already well underway. After buying a house, starting a family, and even swapping an engagement ring for a bathroom renovation, tying the knot felt like the perfect excuse to throw a proper party for John and Jillian. The brief? Late-70s glamour disco with a Soul Train twist, plenty of sequins and guests dressed to impress. Luckily, Lovers and Legends was there to capture every sparkling, dance-floor-filled moment!

Jillian had just returned to Australia following the passing of her beloved grandfather. Deep in her grief, she wanted to get back to the things that used to bring her joy, like singing (and the luckily proximity of a certain bass player). “I used to sing in high school, so I thought I’d look for a band to join in Brisbane. The only band I could find looking for a singer was a Motown cover band. I hate Motown, but I thought it would be good to do something outside my comfort zone. The band wasn’t any good… but I promptly got a crush on the bass player. It took him six months… but he reciprocated!”

While she was pregnant with their first daughter, Jillian and John went to Scotland and Ireland for a baby-moon. “At a castle in Scotland, John gave me an ’80s Walkman with a ‘Will You Marry Me ‘mixtape inside!”

Another inspired outfit, this time drawing inspo from Ryan Gosling’s suit from the 2024 Oscars. John wore a black tux with an open collar and incredible sequin trim. “It was the perfect balance of classic and glitz. Black Jacket Suiting did a great job at tailoring the tux and setting me up for sequins to be hand-sewn by The Fitting Room on Edward. Everyone seemed pretty stoked to work on something a bit different!”

Jillian worked with the talented Susan Ogg to create the dress of her dreams: inspired by a Carolina Herrera dress from the pre-fall 2018 collection, full of confetti colours and sparkles. And when we opened the gallery and saw this dress… GASP!! “I am not a very traditional woman. I was not interested in wearing a white dress and everything it represented. Susan held my hand every step of the way and listened and adjusted when I changed my mind (again and again). In the end, she created the dress of my dreams!”

John’s brother, Graham, was the Best Man, wearing a matching tuxedo to the groom, sans sequins. Jillian had her sister, Trisha, as her Maid of Honour, wearing a beautiful black one-shoulder dress. “Trish lives in Canada and between the two of us, we tried to find dresses internationally. That failed, so the day she arrived in Australia, we went on a mad hunt of every Brisbane dress shop only to end up where we started at ‘A Formal Affair’.”

Their wedding took place at the tail end of Brisbane’s winter, with the perfect blue skies and mild temperatures. A fun fact about Jillian is that she actually has Zeus on her side! “Jillian often jokes that she has a special relationship with Zeus (yes, as in the Greek god), who helps her find car parks, upgrades and stops the clock when she’s late for work. Although she didn’t want rain on the wedding day, she put it out there to Zeus that maybe he could cough up a non-rain rainbow. He did one better and gave us an earthquake on the day, the biggest one in Brisbane in something like 100 years!”

The amazing duo Steph and Elliott of Lovers and Legends handled all photography and videography for John and Jillian’s day. “They were so helpful throughout the whole process, and not only took some epic photos/videos but helped us through the day and helped calm nerves, did logistics, etc. They did a great engagement shoot too and are just downright good people. We’re especially really happy with our video highlights reel, it was so well edited and put together, and captured the night so well,” Jillian shared.

With half their guest list travelling interstate and internationally, Jillian and John wanted to pick a venue in Brisbane that was accessible in the CBD and showcased the city’s cool vibes. “Ultimately, we chose The Warehouse because it offered us three separate function spaces. A spot for our ceremony, a rooftop bar for cocktails and a great reception space, also, it offered us a late curfew,” John explained.

“And because we’re lovers of music, we thought it’d be cool to get local artist Borley Design to mock up a sort of gig poster as the invite to the wedding: ‘one night only’ etc. He did an awesome job, and we used it on our website, then we had it printed as the welcome sign. We now have it framed and hanging up in our house.”

The incredible styling and flowers were done by Main Event Weddings, filling The Warehouse with gem tones and bright colours. “They did a stellar job, and the place was covered in lots of deep colour. We ended up taking a lot of them home, couldn’t bear to bin them!”

Jillian and John walked down the aisle together, after all their nieces, nephews and two daughters walked before them. “We chose Johnny Cash’s cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life”: a real tearjerker but also a nod to Jillian’s grandparents, who were big Cash fans.”

With the help of their celebrant, Roxy, the ceremony was kept to the most important parts: their own words. “After ten years, there was much to say. We spent months working on them separately. Jillian had made a scroll of hers, which unravelled all the way to the floor! Roxy understood the brief and set us up with a few words, and then we were into it. Lots of laughs and lots of tears.”

They exchanged two custom rings made by the wonderful Steven Childs. “We wanted both of our girls to have one from each of us. We reached out to Steven a year or so before the wedding. Jillian had very specific ideas about what she wanted her rings to look like. Steven was very receptive and helpful the whole way through. The rings are so unique and beautifully made. Such a special legacy for our children.”

If there was one piece of advice Jillian and John have for couples planning their own special days, it’s this: “Work on your vows. It’s the only time in life you’ll get to say all the things about your love in front of the people you love. It was an absolute highlight of our day. We loved having our children there… honestly, the lead-up was such a special time, our girls called it “our family wedding”, and our 7-year-old even wrote a speech to say to us. It’s a memory we’ll share forever.”

The venue’s 70s-inspired disco-glamour setup was all intentional. From the bright Bangin’ Hangins on the ceiling during their ceremony to the giant pile of brownies from I Heart Brownies, everything was put together with the goal of pure joy. “About 6 months before the weddings, (unprompted) our girls drew pictures of us at our wedding with very fancy clothes on. We loved the drawings so much, we printed them on tea towels and gave them to guests as wedding favours. Everyone was pretty into them, and also everyone was in their 40s.”

Even though Jillian and John have both lived in Brisbane for years, neither grew up there so their guest list was pretty varied. Their remedy to this? A dance lesson from Anna Johnston from Mad Dance to kick off the reception! “We wanted to do something that broke the ice early on in the night and helped everyone get at ease with each other. Our dance teacher got all gussied up in this epic disco costume and taught everyone a few moves to “We Are Family” right after cocktail hour and before dinner. The idea was that everyone had to do the choreography whenever they heard the song come on later in the night. It was a heap of fun, and everyone loved it!”

Their DJ Erl Francis from Together Agency, kept the good vibes (and tunes) going all night long. “We had a great DJ! We’re very particular about our music, and he gave us a lot of time before the wedding to go through the type of playlists we wanted at each part of the day. He absolutely nailed it, read the dance floor perfectly and all without playing Love Shack!”

If there was one non-negotiable for their first dance, it was that their daughters experienced it alongside them. “They were beyond excited for this, and we hired the wonderful Anna from Mad Dance House to choreograph it. We started our dance (just us) to Randy Travis’ “Forever and Ever, Amen” as a nod to Jillian’s grandparents. Then we got our disco moves on to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor”. Our daughters, who basically live the lives of (kids show) Bluey characters, joined us for a rendition of the Bluey intro theme. Then we all danced to Play School legend Justine Clarke’s “Everywhere’s a Dance Floor”. The look of pride & joy on our daughters’ faces will stick with us forever, especially thanks to the shot of the four of us at the end of our family dance.”