Jess + Tom by Love Good Images - Together Journal

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

T. My name is Tom. I am Plumber from Melbourne and I love my wife, food and our dog Fletch.

J. I’m Jess. I’m an interior designer from Melbourne. I love creating, gardening and food but my biggest loves are my husband and our families.

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

T. We first met at a dingy night club in Ringwood (a true love story) followed by a month of dating at various restaurants and cafes. I thought Jess was beautiful, thoughtful, smart and funny and fell in love with her instantly.

J. It was one of the first times I’d been out with a uni friend. I was dancing when I met Tom and we hit it off right away. My friend made herself scarce noting that he seemed like my type. Turns out she was right! It’s particularly good as neither of us are real club-goers, so I felt like it was a bit of serendipitous meeting. I thought Tom was very cheeky, attractive and fun.

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

T. After a couple years of dating I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else but it still took me a good 8 years too finally ask the question. I wasn’t in a rush I already knew I would spend the rest of our lives together and wanted it to be perfect.

J. I can’t quite put my finger on when exactly. But we got to a point in our relationship where I just could not imagine myself without him. He is really my person. We’ve been through so many different stages of our lives together and have really grown to be our best selves, together.

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

T. I proposed on a trip to Tasmania in 2019 with Jess, my sister Bronte and her husband to be David. We were on the East coast near St Helen’s at a little track called Halls Falls. After walking for about 30 minutes we ended up at a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the bush. I had the ring hidden in my sisters bag. Jess was out on a rock in the middle of the river so I snuck up behind her, got on one knee asked her to turn around and popped the big question!

J. I had no idea that he planned to propose in Tazzy, and I am so glad I didn’t know! When we were at the falls and Tom asked me to turn around I immediately said ‘what are you doing?’ (I’m so romantic!) When he asked I said ‘of course!’

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

J. We both love the outdoors so we decided to base the style of our day on the beautiful scenery of the venue at Christmas Hills. We wanted it to be a bit rustic and relaxed but also thoughtfully styled. We were so lucky that our venue brought it’s own character and we were able to DIY most of our décor. We even grabbed some branches from the trees around the hall to decorate the tables.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

T. FOOD and BAND we love to dance and eat so this was easy!

J. I second Tom’s answer here. We were happy to splurge on food and dancing- and I was so glad we did. Both elements had our guests talking for weeks after!

Burn City Smokers brought their big smoker and the smell pouring out of it really set the mood of the reception. We had a beautiful grazing table to start followed by delicious smoked meats and vegetables for mains. We cheekily skipped the line ahead of our guests and sat together for our first meal as husband and wife!

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
J. When I started looking for my dress I felt like I knew what I wanted, something quite plain and classic. When I came across my dress online, I really liked the cut of the bodice and the fall of the skirt. But I really loved that it came with the optional jacket and while it wasn’t really what I was looking for, once I tried it on, nothing else compared! It had to be ordered though so that was a bit nerve wracking when it was a month late due to COVID shipping delays! I picked my dress up at the end of October, only a few weeks before the big day!

While we were setting up the wedding the day before, Tom had said to me jokingly ‘You’re probably wearing something with some sort of ridiculous sleeves!’ I had a private little giggle to myself- then when I reached the end of the aisle on the big day we couldn’t help but laugh about the sleeves. He really knows me!

T. We didn’t anticipate being in lockdown for such a long time so the boys and I didn’t have a lot of time to get our suits! The first weekend out of lockdown (3 weeks from the wedding), we were straight to the shops. We got all the suits including ties and pocket squares in one day.

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

J. What didn’t happen? We were so stressed about the capacity restrictions easing and whether or not we’d have to cut our numbers at the last minute. Some of the restriction and density limits were so vague but we didn’t want to break any rules. My mum, our friend Jen and I were getting our nails done on the Thursday morning when Dan announced that the restrictions were lifting that night. I nearly melted into my pedicure bath. Dad was the first to call me actually and he said ‘We’re on J!’ After that, absolutely nothing could stress me- I thought nothing could ruin this wedding for me now.

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