Jess + Jacob by Gillian Keough - Together Journal

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

I (the Bride) am a Social Worker, and am currently working in the Disability Sector. I am an avid reader of all genres, but admittedly favour contemporary romances. My now Husband is an Architect, Soccer player, and makes mean cup of tea. We share a passion for Soccer, but mine ends at 2am, while Jacob’s continues at all hours if Liverpool are playing.

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

We actually went to high school together. Jacob often jokes I “bullied him” because our first ever meeting was me clumsily walking head first into him knocking his book out of his arms, and in true awkward 12-year-old girl fashion I giggled like an idiot and ran away. We eventually became friends, but didn’t start dating until 2015, a year an a half after we graduated highschool.

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

We were pretty lucky in that we already were so close and knew so much about one another when we first started dating, that from the start we had a pretty candid conversation that this was going to be a serious relationship and we were in it for the long haul. We joked we had actually already been dating for 6 months prior to realising it, with all the time we had been spending together and “dates” we didn’t realise we on together.

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

Jacob planned a trip away to Tilba Tilba, a small town I used to holiday at with my family when I was young. It was organised to be 4 days away in early September just before my birthday on the 29^th of September. However, mid August; Jacob injures his wrist at soccer, and putting off seeing a doctor for a week, much like all men do, it turns out he has a complex break and fracture and needs surgery which pushed back out planned trip by a month and a half. Jacob was absolutely devastated, me completely ignorant just kept reassuring him he will be fine to play next season…

We finally get away and have the most amazing trip down and on the first full day, we explore and go for a drive and pub for lunch and then Jacob plans an afternoon picnic in the gorgeous garden of the estate we are staying at. Unbeknownst to me, while I was napping he went and set out a whole spread. He came back waking me up and demanding I put on my nice dress, I took it for granted he would know I would like a nice picture together, hence the outfit change. I realise at this point I should have known something was up because we didn’t even make it 2 minutes walking around the garden before he practically pulled me the spot he had picked. Now I want to reiterate that I still did not have an inkling he would be proposing, nor that he had hidden decorations and sign in the car when before we left. So when we approached and I saw the sign saying “will you marry me?” surrounded by a beautiful white blanket – not my K-mart one – instead of making the rational conclusion, I panicked thinking we were about to ruin a beautiful proposal for someone else. I turned and said “STOP”, then noted he was mid getting on one knee, and it was in fact my proposal. After a brief heart attack on his behalf and I reasured him of my mistake, he proposed with beautiful words, and we spent the next 2 hours in our own cocoon before calling all our friends and family. I loved celebrating with my friends and family, but getting that time just us was perfect.

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

We didn’t have a clear vision of style at the start besides not wanting it too busy or overpowered by different styles and bright colours. I think once we visited Seclusions and fell in love, I knew I wanted to complement the beauty there and the greenery, and let the scenery talk for itself. I also wanted it to be simply and elegent, and not overly rustic, thankfully Jacob agreed.
We pretty much started the brainstorming by saying everyone loves the concept of dressing up and, and after the pandemic we really wanted people to look forward to that and to just have a big party. So our main objective was to create a mood that complimented that – ‘Formal afterparty’ vibe.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

HAIR AND MAKE UP! I was honestly so anxious about this because I have super sensitive skin and so does the majority of my bridal party, and I am a snob for some quality make up. I wanted to ensure we were looked after, and loved the finished product too.

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

So our wedding took place in the middle of the huge flooding and severe weather of Feburary/March. As the wedding was on the Saturday, we drove to the venue in Lithgow Friday morning to get there early for set up. Once we got to Katoomba we hit traffic, as a landslide had taken out half a bridge, and it was only allowing one way traffic to cross. The entire Friday we spent sending out multiple messages to our entire guest list to inform them of updates, and how long to leave to get to the venue on time. It got to the point we had to tell them to leave 4 hours earlier than they needed, some already travelling from 3+ hours away. Come Saturday morning and we are so worried vendors and guests wont make it. Then about 12:00 rolls around and so far all vendors had made it on time, and then we get an influx of messages to say “we are here” 2.5 hours early. Overnight they fixed the road and opened it, allowing traffic both ways. Everyone made it on time and it all worked out.

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

Jacob (the groom) knew from the start he wanted an MJ Bale Suit and was hell bent on a Tux. One look at him in it, and I (bride) obviously strongly agreed.
(the bride) had brought him a gold watch for him to wear, giving it to the best man to give to him the morning of the wedding. After I had conveniently “forgotten” to take his everyday watch to get fixed.
Jacob also wore a tie clip that belonged to his grandfather, with his initials. He had unfortunately passed a few weeks before our wedding. As he was wearing a bow tie, Jacob wore it clipped on his jacket pocket next to his boutonniere.

For myself, (the bride) My Mother and Sister-in-law took me dress shopping. I had been research for months struggling to find a style I liked, and found two dresses by Love Honour Bridal, I liked the look of, which were only available at The Bridal Atelier. It was the first and only stop I made. We all picked out two dresses for me to try on and it was the second dress I had picked and I fell in love instantly. Turns out I was the first in state to purchase the dress as it was only released a month prior and had only hit the store a week before. We made a few alterations at a Dressmaker store in Glenbrook, Blue Mountains, to shorten and change the style of the sleeves.

Jacob (groom) sourced a perfume I had been searching for for months, in an elaborate scheme involving a very kind French customer service team with a somewhat accurate translation to get a perfume shipped to a location in the USA, to then be shipped to him in Australia, because the French brand didn’t ship directly to Australia. I cried a lot when I received it the morning of the wedding.
My Mother had also brought me a gift of a diamond bracelet, from the same business that crafted my engagement ring, to wear on the day.