Beth + Jake by Miranda Stokkel - Together Journal

The vision for our wedding style was fun and colour! Each of the bridesmaids wore mismatched bright-coloured dresses with matching bouquets.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Beth: We’re all about making fun out of nothing and getting the most out of life. We’ve been together for over a third of each other’s lives but it still feels like we’re at the beginning. We’ve grown a lot together throughout our 20’s. University, new jobs, travelling and other personal milestones.

Jake is a Landscape Gardener and I work in Digital Marketing. Polar opposites in the field but we balance each other out in every other respect. He’s calm, I’m chaotic. I’m messy, he tidies up. He’s a shit-stirrer and I let him stir me up way too much.

We love to travel, eat pasta, watch repeats of our favourite sitcoms, drink Pepsi Max and make fun of each other every chance we get. We love our cat Roo, quoting our favourite movies and sitting at home in our matching tracksuits.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Jake and I met over 13 years ago at the Phillip Island foreshore after both of our best friends introduced us. We both disliked the idea of a forced set-up, and we were also still very young at the time, so started out as friends. Eventually, we started getting closer, started talking and hanging out more frequently until eventually we caught feelings and started dating. 12 years later, here we are!

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

After I finished university, I booked a one-way ticket to India for a little soul-searching. Initially, it was a solo trip but about a month before I left, I asked Jake to meet me over there. It was completely out of his comfort zone but he came over and met me, and it was the most amazing trip together. We travelled all over India and Sri Lanka, ate incredible food and met amazing people. I don’t know when exactly but throughout that trip we just connected so much more than we ever had and we knew it was forever.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

After the lockdown ended in late 2021, we organised a day date along the Yarra River on one of those Go Boats. Since we’d both organised the day together, something we’d do often after dating for so long, I didn’t see it coming. We had just turned around to head back towards the city and Jake pointed out how good the city views looked. As I turned around he got the ring out and proposed. Not entirely sure if he said the words “Will you marry me” but it was always a yes. We then stayed at Crown for the night and celebrated.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…

Although we had traditional elements, we also really wanted to opt out of some of the traditional wedding day things and create something unique for our wedding day, something that just felt completely like us. This involved puffy sleeves, colour, soul music, cocktails, heaps of food and lots of laughing.

We always knew we wanted an outdoor garden party style wedding with the greenery, fairy lights and picturesque views but knew it was a gamble with Melbourne weather. Stumbling across Acacia Ridge meant we could have the atmosphere of a garden party with the added benefit of the open marquee.
We wanted our guests to be social and to chill out, which is why we had an extra long cocktail hour with Aperol spritz, lobster rolls and the opportunity to mingle before sitting down for the more formal reception. We wanted the reception to feel intimate and engaging, opting out of the long speeches and including spot prizes for select guests to hype up the crowd.

For the style, the vision was fun and colour! Each of the bridesmaids wore mismatched bright-coloured dresses with matching bouquets, we had single-stem flowers in bud vases scattered over the long tables and personalised colourful placemats that matched with our welcome sign and seating charts.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a splurge, but rather an investment. I knew I wanted to invest in both photography and videography. I wanted to look back at our day knowing all of our fun, crazy, special moments were captured by the best. Getting both photography and videography isn’t always an option for everyone but it was something I knew I wanted to include from the very beginning of our wedding planning journey. I can confirm it was a great investment in our memories because Miranda & Lachy were a dream team to work with. They brought the vibe, were bouncing off each other all day and night, and have been so great to work with from initial planning to post-wedding.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

I’m a Disney princess at heart and without even trying, I managed to pick the most Cinderella dress you could find. I initially tried my stunning Karen Willis Holmes dress without sleeves. I loved the crisp white Mikado silk, low neck, fitted waist and big skirt, but when those sleeves came out, I fell in love. I was never a lace or beed girl. Initially, I told myself I wanted something understated and simple but I quickly realised I was kidding myself and the statement KWH dress was 100% me.

Aside from my dress, the shoes are my favourite part of the outfit. Sticking to the colour theme, I was on the hunt for statement ‘non-bridal’ shoes. Jake and were shopping together looking for suit shoes when he pointed out these colourful, playful heels and said they looked like something I wear. They were perfect and I just love that he essentially picked them out for me.

Our rings are another favourite. I couldn’t find a wedding band that didn’t take away from my engagement ring so decided on going non-traditional and getting a brand-new ring made to wear on my other hand instead. Jordy, our incredible jeweller (and friend) who lovingly designed my engagement ring, made me a rose gold ring made with a parti sapphire. Jake’s ring is also quite unique and a bit of a statement. He’s a Landscape Gardener so a little rough with his hands, so he had a brushed signet ring made with a small black stone added in the corner.

As for jewellery, I wore my ‘B’ initial Sarah & Sebastian necklace that I wear every single day, because I felt naked without it. Simple jewellery was the vibe so paired it with pearl drop earrings from Jolie & Deen and a little bit of bling on my wrist from Arms of Eve.

Jake’s outfit was from Peter Jackson and although not as much of a statement, it was made for him. He tried on beige blazers and a full black tux but ultimately he looks his best in navy. Made so much cuter by both our nephews wearing matching miniature suits to him. My nieces also wore almost identical flower girl dresses to mine which was so special.