Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:
Jacqueline: We are Jack and Jacqueline. We live in beautiful Sydney at Bondi Beach. Jack and I have been together for 10 years. When it all began, we were in the same circle of friends, so we knew of each other, however had never really spoken. We first officially met on a trip up to the Sunshine Coast for a mutual friend’s birthday.
We were both too shy and awkward to make the first move, but after a year of suspense Jack build up the courage and asked me on our first date. We have been inseparable ever since. After being together for all this time, on the 23rd December 2019, Jack made the decided he wanted to propose while at one of our favourite spots where we go for a walk and swim regularly in Neilson Park in Vaucluse.
We were walking back to the beach and Jack popped the question, we celebrated with a champagne picnic that Jacks amazing sisters had prepared while overlooking the harbour. We then had dinner and drinks with friends and family – It was the most perfect day!
We love to travel, Jack and I lived abroad for 2 years in London. We have seen a lot of the world together; We were actually originally planning our wedding to be in Italy – my mum is Italian, and Italy is one our favourite countries – so we thought it would be perfect, however during the planning process COVID-19 hit Australia, so we aborted mission and decided to be safe and keep the wedding in Australia. We chose Milton Park Country House in Bowral in the Southern Highlands of NSW. It reminded us a lot of the English countryside – We fell in love straight away!
All of our friends and family came to the highlands for the weekend for the big day, we also had a recovery lunch the next day at the Burrawang Hotel which was nice to properly catch up with everyone and have some more fun!
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details:
We always wanted our wedding to be themed black tie. So, when we found Milton Park Country House, we thought it fit our vibe perfectly!
The Country House has stunning gardens, so we planned for an outdoor ceremony and Reception. I was adamant it was going to be a perfect sunny day, so you can imagine our disbelief when we saw the wedding forecast of rain for 8 days straight. Our wedding actually ended up falling on the weekend of NSW floods – it was the heaviest rainfall since the 1960’s. We had to laugh, or we would have cried!
Believe it or not our wet weather plan ended up exceeding my expectations, we got married in the “Bathhouse” around a swimming pool. Reception to follow in the Ballroom. We were lucky enough to get a 30-minute window to run out and get photos in the gardens.
The ceremony in the bathhouse ended up being my favourite detail of the day, it was cosy and so much natural light from the big windows. We had beautiful florals made by Kashaya & Co. The outside of the bathhouse was covered in lush vines, it made great pictures!
Tell us about your main outfits:
Jack: Suit- was custom made by Tailor & Co. We were very unorganised and left Jacks suit a little late. We were so grateful they were so accommodating and did the most amazing job!
Jacqueline: Dress- was custom made by Moira Hughes Couture in Woollahra. I had seen some long sleeve dresses on Pinterest, I saw some amazing dresses made by Moira on some other brides on Instagram. Moira Hughes Couture were so accommodating and helped me every step of the way of making the dress!
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:
The entire day was perfect – From getting ready with my bridesmaids and family, right until the last song at reception.
If I had to pick one my all-time favourite moment was meeting Jack at the altar. We had both anticipated the day for so long, so to finally meet after all the rush and madness is the most special feeling.
I think what made our night unique was the dancefloor – it was one of the first times so many had danced because of COVID. Our DJ’s also can play saxophone so one of the boys came out and played on the saxophone all night which was a fun addition. It was so fun to let our hair down and celebrate with all of our favourite people after such a tough year!
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:
Eat Eat Eat! We both forgot to eat the entire day, there is so much adrenalin and so much going on in the day. Take a moment to slow down and enjoy the moments together and eat eat eat!
If you can try and organise a catch-up day with your guests, the following day I would strongly recommend. It is so hard to get around and talk to everyone in the one night, we had so much fun celebrating with lunch and drinks the next day at the lovely Burrawang Hotel in the Highlands.. After all it is your day, so spend as much time together as you can!
No matter what obstacles are thrown at you Rain, hail or shine – it is the most special day!
Photography: @mattgodkinweddings | Videography: @anchoredcinema | Ceremony and Reception location: @miltonparkcountryhouse | Celebrant: @chrissys27 | Bride’s gown: @moirahughescouture | Groom’s attire: @tailorandco | Rings: @affinitydiamonds | Shoes: @jimmychoo | Makeup: @sanazfakhramakeup | Hair: @dompellihair | Fragrance: Chanel | Entertainment: @duan.and.only and @sohoduo | Hire: @simply.seated | Flora: @kashayaco | Cake: @pasticceria_caruso
