Ivana + Mark by Jack In The Box - Together Journal

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Mark is a security officer and I am a primary school teacher. We were both born, raised and live in Perth, WA. Perth has always been home for us and we can’t imagine living anywhere else. We love our sports, spending time with friends + family, travelling around the world and indulging in delicious food at any opportunity.

Mark loves playing volleyball and practises martial arts tricking (a fusion of kicks and flips from martial arts and gymnastics), whereas I enjoy playing badminton and doing CrossFit.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
True modern day love story – Let’s just say we swiped right for the last time haha. I was 23 and Mark was 25. Although we chatted online initially, our first in-person meet happened coincidentally at the gym I used to work at and that Mark was a member at. After this fateful moment, we began talking every day, spending any chance we could together and embracing every moment getting to know each other. Safe to say we never looked back and that was almost 7 years ago now.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
I feel as though, deep down, we just knew. Since the beginning, we talked about what we wanted out of life and never questioned each other’s intentions, loyalty or how long our relationship would last. After travelling together early on, learning to live with one another, supporting each other to grow and realising that we shared the same hopes and dreams in life, it was an easy realisation that we wanted to choose each other for the rest of our lives.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Yes! It was so beautifully simple and just so us. Mark proposed on Rottnest Island on my 29th birthday. After lazing around on a quiet beach, we decided to go for a stroll along the water. Mark brought his backpack along (which I thought was so strange!), he then secretly revealed that he’d bought me an extra birthday present. As I was unwrapping it, he took the box out of my hands, got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes! We sat on the warm sand, laughing, crying, reminiscing on the last 6 years and soaking in this special moment we’d never forget.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
If there was one thing we always knew, it was that we did not want a big wedding. All we wanted was to spend most of, if not the whole day, with each other – Connecting, laughing and appreciating every single moment together without the stress of standard wedding expectations. We envisioned a small, intimate elopement with our immediate family and we have zero regrets – Our day was everything we dreamed of. A romantic arvo-sunlit ceremony, photos at Sugarloaf Rock and a private dining experience on the balcony of our accommodation. Mark and I fell in love with Bina Maya Yallingup Escape the moment we laid our eyes; it is perfectly situated amongst stunning bushland in South West WA and it tripled as our ceremony, dinner and accommodation venue for all guests. Once locked in, we carefully curated an Autumn-toned romantic/boho inspired ceremony and dinner, and it was so surreal when our incredible vendors worked together to bring our vision to life. To celebrate with our closest friends, we hosted a (Happily Ever) After Party the weekend following our elopement. There were no formalities. Just fun, good food + drinks and amazing company!

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Our photographer! I would’ve paid any dollar for Sarah from Jack in the Box Perth. From the moment we saw her work + editing skills, we had to have her. The photographer captures the moments you remember and those you don’t, they capture the joy of the day! I couldn’t tell you the number of compliments we have received for Sarah’s work so far.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful
at the time)?
Mark and I decided to create our own playlist for the ceremony inclusive of pre-ceremony songs and the song I’d walk down the aisle to. It is funny to think about now and it was funny at the time (not stressful!)… But I asked one of our guests to be our music man and play the songs for the ceremony. Two steps: 1. Click this song for when everyone moves to the grass area and is waiting, and 2. Click this song for when I walk down the aisle. As the celebrant gave me a signal to walk, I began hearing the pre-ceremony song, and not the aisle song which Mark and I had chosen together! Because we were all so close in proximity and it was just our immediate family, I called out… “It’s the wrong song!” We all had a laugh and he started playing the right one. It lightened the mood and we had a good giggle afterwards! To be fair, his briefing was very brief and only about 2 hours pre-ceremony haha.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
To be honest, I loved so many different style dresses, I was probably a bridal stylist’s worst nightmare! I liked fitted dresses, a-line dresses, lace… plain white dresses… They were all so gorgeous. One thing I always thought I’d have was long sleeves – I really liked that look. After trying on what felt like hundreds of dresses, I never got that feeling of ‘this is the one’ and began to think that was something people just said! That was until I put my dress on. It was a sleeveless, sweetheart neckline dress, and the only reason why I pulled it off the rack was because I couldn’t take my eyes off the dress’ beautiful lace/pearl detailing. From the moment I stepped into the dress, I got the feeling and I signed the dotted line on the day. The custom sleeves came later. Kathie, from I Do Alterations, made my sleeve dreams come true. She made them from scratch a week before the wedding! For Mark, he always knew he wanted separates. He chose a cream, modern fit linen jacket, black pants and a bowtie. This was paired with a plain white shirt and black leather laced shoes. The colours fit so perfectly with the style of the day and he look so handsome! Definitely pieces he’ll be able to wear again.