We wanted it to reflect our fun personalities and do exactly what we loved.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Jaime:
I am a wedding celebrant (Stand by Jaime)! I have been in the wedding industry for over 10 years and a celebrant for 2 years. I have also just launched a new elopement business after eloping myself (The Elope Edit). I am a big people person and have found my true passion as a celebrant. I am a big foodie and love a bevvy. Always socialising with friends, with any excuse to go out a try a new restaurant. We are beach people, who take our dog Patch everywhere with us.
Ebony:
Eb is a high school teacher. Her patience is unmatched and is very good at her job. She finds it very rewarding being able to support kids. She is the complete opposite to me; introvert, loves being at home and playing a game. We both are absolute smitten with our dog Patch (if you can’t tell). He is our fur baby. Eb is very intelligent and also very funny. I laugh every single day.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Classic modern love story: We met in an app called HER in 2018. We had our first date at a local Thai restaurant, Eb picked me up and bought me flowers. I thought she was soooo beautiful, I still remember the outfit she wore. We had a few dates and we were “official” after I drunkingly told my friends Eb was my girlfriend. The rest is history!!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).
We knew we wanted to elope but not miss out on all the fabulous details that came with a wedding. I have seen my fair share of weddings so didn’t want to be right on trend with styling. We wanted it to reflect our fun personalities and do exactly what we loved. So colour, simple, elegant with pops of extravagant details. That came to life through our florals and table styling.
What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).
We booked accom that was going to suit our vibe and also where we stayed for the whole week. So we had a couples day before and after the wedding to enjoy everything. Dinner needed to be romantic so candles were en masse. Being able to go get portraits at the lighthouse and Wategoes beach was a highlight. We had the most picturesque day.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
I loved being able to experience the other side of planning. As a celebrant, I am part of the process for couples. Being able to answer a questionnaire from our celebrant and enjoying the process of choosing people we loved as our vendors. Eb was there on the sidelines with her input but I loved every part of it. My tip for any couple starting the planning process is go with your gut on your vendors. Invest in the people you think will bring the vibes for your day and you get along with. At the end of the day, you only do it once, so create something spectacular. That’s why I created The Elope Edit. To make it easy for couples to have a small scale wedding without loosing out on the good vendors because of minimum spends and availability.
My other tip is: ELOPE! We kept is a secret from EVERYONE, it was hard but it meant we had no outside opinions trying to control any of our ideas. It was so special to share the day, just the two of us.
Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?
Every single vendor. We will sing their praises till the cows come home. As we are Newcastle based, we were able to source most of our vendors from Newcastle to come up to Byron. As it was just us eloping, we wanted to make sure the people sharing this day with us were people we knew and were amazing at their job. Every single person delivered on that. It made our day that much more special. All of them are close friends to us now. That’s the special effect of the wedding industry on couples. We invested in our vendors. We made this a priority in our budget. Lucy (content) was a last minute add on and we are so glad we did. We have so many moments to look back on and our reel was what we shared with our family and friends to announce we eloped.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?
It was hard to choose the vibe we wanted because we eloped. I was tossing up between a mini or full length gown. Eb was set on a two piece to feel comfortable and still feel like a bride. I tried on a lot of dresses and decided a bridal gown was too much for the day we were creating. After ordering a million dresses online, I found mine that was the perfect mix of a long dress but still on the ‘less’ side of wedding vibes. The blue veil for me was a last minute decision. I felt I needed something else to reflect me, that was also a bit different. So Eb used my original choice of veil and I had the blue. Best decision I made was getting that. Then just added some pop of colour with our shoes to tie into our florals.
Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.
We designed our rings together. We designed mine before Eb proposed then, we designed Eb’s once we were engaged. Our wedding bands we designed together. The whole process of creating our rings was really special. We have rings that are exactly what we wanted. Kath from Enigma was the best! Everything was seamless and not too much trouble. We both love something simple and timeless.
What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).
Food was important. We had a private chef cook us our favourite meals for our wedding dinner. Photography was also important. We wanted someone who was fun, relaxed and Beck’s vibe was exactly what we were looking for. We didn’t enquire with any other photographers. Overall, our main vendors were so important. We spent a little more on all of them (budget who?), to make sure we had the best day. No regrets.
Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?
When we walked up to the lighthouse for portraits, it was packed with people at sunset. As we walked up the whole crowd clapped for us, Lucy caught in on video. It’s one of those moments that was so surreal and the pure love of other people was palpable. Our ceremony was also a highlight. Sarah’s ceremony was so thoughtfully put together. You could tell how much time and effort she put into making it special for us.
COUPLE Jaime, @standbyjamie and Ebony, @ebony_petersen LOCATION Salty doors Accommodation,@saltydoors Byron Bay, NSW, AUS PHOTOGRAPHER Beck Rocchi Photography, @beckrocchiphotography CONTENT CREATION By Lucy Weddings, @bylucy.weddings FLORIST The Flower Bar Co, @theflowerbarco CELEBRANT Sarah Chippendale Celebrant, @sarahchippindalecelebrant HIRE A’ Tavola, @atavolanewcastle CATERING Byron Bay Catering, @byronbay_catering WEDDING & ENGAGEMENT RINGS Enigma Jewellers, @enigmajewellers JAMIE’S MAIN OUTFIT Effie Kats, @effiekats JAMIE’S SHOES Siren Shoes, @sirenshoes JAMIE’S ACCESSORIES Earrings from Amelie George Bridal, @ameliegeorgebridal; Veil from Poliana Artistry, @poliana_artistry COUPLE’S HAIR & MAKEUP La.Wyld, @la.wyld EBONY’S MAIN OUTFIT Catherine Deane, @catherine__deane EBONY’S SHOES Vizzano, @vizzano_oficial EBONY’S ACCESSORIES Veil from The Ivory Lounge ,@theivoryloungeplymouth
