Brooke + Jake by Georgia Munns - Together Journal

I wanted a retro, colourful 60s vibe to match my everyday style, home decor, and the era I wish I’d grown up in.

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

Jake was born in Tasmania but grew up as a little grom on the Sunshine Coast, while I’m a Brissy girl who left the city as soon as I could. We both love good food, schooners, the beach, surfing, and travelling, and we’re known for making spontaneous and sometimes irrational life decisions. We’ve done a few snow seasons together but always crave being by the ocean. Now, we live in Mudjimba on the Sunshine Coast and love it here.

Our ideal date night could be anything from a trendy restaurant to riding our bikes barefoot to the local surfy. We both come from the restaurant industry—Jake is the chef, and I am the front-of-house. Now, I’m studying to be a nurse while Jake is still busy being a chef, making bug rolls and strolling a golf course.

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

About nine years ago, in our early 20s, Jake crashed on my couch between leases on the Gold Coast—and you could say he definitely overstayed his welcome, though we loved having him around. Since then, we have stayed in each other’s lives through various relationships, with Jake holding me accountable for our friendship despite my terrible communication. He never let us go too long without going for a beer. Early on, after a tough breakup, I called Jake in tears, and he told me that whoever ended up with me would be the luckiest man alive—little did he know it would be him.

For years after this, I secretly found his extreme bluntness, deadpan expressions, and dry sense of humour incredibly sexy. But it wasn’t until we became COVID bound to the Sunshine Coast that we started seeing each other casually. We decided moving in together was a great idea, though neither of us admitted our feelings. We set up in separate rooms, but luckily, I have never slept in my own room since.

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

Honestly, within the first month of dating properly, I knew. I remember telling my best friend that I was going to marry him one day, and Jake was it for me. I was totally obsessed with him, and there was nothing I wanted more. It made it easier that we skipped through most of the “Get to know you” bullshit as we had been friends for so long. Jake says he knew there was something special about the Brissy gal pouring him beers at the pub when we first met.

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

Yes! We’d just moved from Bali to Mudjimba, and on one of our routine daily walks to the beach, Jake proposed at our favourite spot for a swim. As we came out of the water, he asked me to pass him his towel, and the ring box fell out. He stood there like a stunned mullet for what felt like forever until he said, “Yeah Fuck, what do you reckon?” Classic Jake, no bent knee, just casual as always. He had then planned a weekend away in Maleny (Sunshine Hinterlands) with surprise visits from friends and family, eating and drinking all weekend. It was perfect.

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

I wanted a retro, colourful 60s vibe to match my everyday style, home decor, and the era I wish I’d grown up in. I sourced everything—from plates, cutlery, and glasses to couches and vintage Aussie coasters—from op shops and filled the playlist with old-school classics. We knew we wanted to get married by the beach without actually being on the sand, and we were obsessed with the view from the Yamba Lighthouse and the surf club, the only building on the beach and venue where we could party until 12 pm. We weren’t super traditional, and our main focus was fun; I had two maids of honours, and one of our best friends married us. I loved the idea of the entire wedding party being within walking distance to the activities the night before, wedding and recovery at the iconic Pacific hotel; we took over the small town and partied for 3 days. It was the absolute best.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

My dress (sorry, babes!) and, of course, the food and wine! Jake and I both have high standards when it comes to food and wine, having worked in restaurants our whole adult lives. With our hospitality backgrounds, we wanted something beyond the usual wedding bland alternate drop spread. Jake wrote the menu and prepped everything from our kitchen at home. With so many chef friends invited, they jumped into the kitchen in their suits to help send the food, all half pissed. We BYO’d over 100 natural, skin-contact wines, and we wanted people to be able to walk away with bottles from the bar, which they definitely did!

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Not on the wedding day itself, but in the days leading up to it, I was extremely sick and couldn’t move. We thought it would be a great idea to plan an entire wedding ourselves and chose a blank canvas venue, meaning we had to bring everything—from 500 meters of fairy lights to the furniture—down in trailers. On the night of the wedding, we had to be out by 6 am the next morning, so anyone still there by midnight helped haul everything out—people on ladders taking down fairy lights and throwing glasses into trailers. Extremely hungover after the recovery, Jake and I drove a two-seater ute home without air conditioning, with three couches in the back, for five hours. We unloaded mostly broken returns in true chaos, then flew out on our honeymoon the next day.

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

I wanted my dress to be unique yet timeless, something I’d love forever. I knew I wanted gloves and found inspiration from a New Zealand wedding I saw on Instagram. I worked with Van Der Kooji, a designer I’d been obsessed with, to create the dress. She specializes in Silk Dupion, which I absolutely love. She’s incredible and only works with a limited number of brides each year, so the whole process was a dream. I was supposed to take off the puffs and gloves for the reception, but I was too in love with them! I wanted as much colour as possible, so I chose blue slingbacks as my something blue.