Jessie + Teddy by Miranda Stokkel

We really let the greenhouse lead our styling choices for the ceremony.

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

We both grew up in the inner-city of Sydney and, for the most part, have lived out our love story here. In true Sydney style, we grew up outdoors and on the water, inheriting a love for the beach and sailing from both of our parents. You’ll often catch us camping, hiking and swimming all up the east coast of Australia.

I come from a big Portuguese family, so spending time sharing great food and wine with our loved ones is a big part of my life, something that Ted and I are strongly aligned on! Once a week, we spend hours at my Grandma’s house with our extended family, having a big dinner.

We both work in health; Ted is an Intensive Care Paramedic in the city, and I’m a Registered Nurse currently working in solid organ transplantation. Through our work, we discovered a fondness for country towns and the slower, more relaxed areas of Australia. In 2020, Ted’s job sent us and our sweet dog Rex 300km west of Sydney, where we spent a year living and working in an old goldmine town. We learnt to slow down and spent more time appreciating things that often go unnoticed in the busy city – sunsets, gardening and reading, to name a few. It was a time that brought us even closer and proved to us that we could live anywhere, and do anything together and still have so much fun.

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

Truthfully, we don’t remember the first time we met. Sydney can feel like a small city, especially if you grew up here. We always had mutual friends and ran into each other from time to time; we probably met at a house party as teenagers…

We recount our meeting as 8 years ago at a busy pub on ANZAC Day. We were 22 years old, and we ran into each other in a crowd of about 200 people playing two-up. I told Ted I’d never played before, and he gave me a $5 note. In this game of heads and tails, I bet tails, and naturally, I lost immediately. That bet may not have paid off, but we played the long game and came out on top in the end!

In Jessie’s words: I fell for Ted’s passion for life and fun immediately. He was adventurous, kind, funny and a bit of an old soul. On our first date, we followed mysterious party lights up to an empty Latin bar and got an impromptu Sala lesson from the bartenders. He unashamedly spun me around the dance floor and held my hand as we walked up the high street. Not even 6 hours after our first date, he messaged me to tell me how much fun he had and if he could see me again. He was so genuine, I knew he was special. We had 3 more dates that week and have been inseparable since.

In Ted’s words: Jessie is down to earth, energetic, funny, and kind. When I first met her, she was so unassuming and always had a plan.

She was very confident in her own skin and wasn’t afraid to stand up for what she believed in. She immediately introduced me to all her family, and I found that so endearing. There were no secrets and no mystery, no games. She was unapologetically herself and had such warmth surrounding her. Each and every day since then has been filled with that same energy.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

It may sound like a cliché, but we really weren’t trying to do anything different or reinvent the wheel. We just wanted to create an intimate day to celebrate our love, with the people that we love. A day that genuinely embodied us, filled with our personalities and style.

We had our ceremony at Palm House, the oldest greenhouse in Sydney, located in the Royal Botanic Gardens. We really let the greenhouse lead our styling choices for the ceremony. We loved all the natural light and lines within the structure. We hung drapery that looked like it was cascading from the beams in the ceiling over plinths of different sizes, holding florals.

It was important to us to fill the space with elements and pieces that felt like they belonged in a greenhouse, this meant organic textures like linens, silk and wood. Our stylist/florist created flower arrangements in our colour palette of whites, ivory, greens and pinks, all colours that would complement the gardens. We wanted to bring those elements inside.

Great food, wine and service were the most important elements of the reception for us, more so than the styling. We wanted to do with our loved ones what we do best – celebrate with a long boozy lunch. Fontana, one of our favourite restaurants, was the perfect place to do this. Fontana doesn’t work with stylists for their events, which was perfect for us as we love the space they have created.

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).

I think some of the styling elements that worked best for us were the personal touches woven throughout the day. We wanted the wedding to feel genuinely reflective of our lives together, so we incorporated meaningful pieces from families and homes wherever we could, rather than bringing in things that felt overly styled or trendy.

We used an antique desk and chair from Ted’s parents’ home for the signing table, placed one of my grandmother’s crocheted tablecloths over the top and displayed a needlepoint of our dog Rex on the table. Pairing these sentimental pieces with the beautiful space our stylist created made everything feel more intimate and deeply personal to us.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Truthfully, neither one of us really had any experience putting together an event like this. We had a lot of fun dreaming up the vision for the day, whether it be touring the gardens or taking long lunches at Fontana, making notes of the wines and dishes that we loved. But we had a lot of help, and that would be my first tip.

Be realistic about what you can achieve with your resources. Get quotes early, write a budget based on the quotes and see where you land. A wedding planner was not in our budget, and if my best friend Alex wasn’t a producer, we might have had to have a pretty different-looking day. She helped us so much, from creating mood boards and a wedding bible with me, putting us in touch with a stylist, creating a run sheet and coordinating our vendors for the day, so all we had to do was show up. We could not have pulled it off without her guidance and the hard work of our families.

My second tip is having a central goal to tie to all your decisions. For us, it was so important to create a day that felt genuine to us as a couple. Planning a wedding can feel overwhelming, and at times we felt ourselves being influenced by opinions and trends, but we measured every decision by “does this feel like us?” and it really helped us cut through anything that felt unnatural.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We honestly feel so lucky with the team of vendors we had around us. Every person involved brought so much care and talent to the day, and it really wouldn’t have been the same without them.

The food, wine and service at Fontana were second to none. Ivey was a dream to work with and created such an intimate atmosphere for the reception. Lola Varma founder Courtney Illfield and her team had a tighter turnaround than usual to create my gown and were so generous with their time throughout the process.

Kellie from The Future Mrs, along with hair stylist Carly Vandermeer and makeup artist Katie Moore, made the morning feel so relaxed and fun for my mum, sisters and me while we were getting ready.

Our stylist Jess Elcock stepped in at the very last minute and tied the entire ceremony together beautifully with less than a month to work with. Lastly, our photographer, Miranda, was just pure joy. Ted and I connected with her instantly – she made us feel completely at ease, and so many of our guests commented on how naturally she blended into the day while capturing it so perfectly.

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

Ted wore a dark brown double-breasted wool suit by P. Johnson. A traditional black suit and tie never quite felt like him, so instead he chose something classic with a more relaxed feel, pairing it with a structured off-white shirt and opting for no tie.

To make it more personal, he had “Jess + Ted” embroidered inside the jacket and wore his grandfather’s WWII-issued antique Omega Seamaster watch. The whole look reflected his personal style perfectly, was comfortable and looked damn good too.

When it came to my wedding dress, I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to wear. Early in my search, I came across Melbourne label Lola Varma and instantly fell in love with their silhouettes, sheer textures and modern take on bridal wear. Lola Varma felt perfectly aligned with what I had been looking for.

They had just opened a space in Sydney and, by chance, founder and designer Courtney Illfield was there for my very first fitting, which felt a little like fate. I went in to try on the Paola Gown, and it quickly became the benchmark for every other dress I tried. Working with Courtney to create my gown was incredibly special; she is very talented and made a point to be in Sydney for all my future fittings.

Because the gown is made from 100% silk, it can be dyed, so one day soon I plan to take back my dress and have it altered and dyed black so I can continue wearing my dream dress forever.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Ted’s wedding band is a family heirloom that originally belonged to his grandfather. Ted’s dad, who is a sculptor, had incorporated the ring into one of his sculptures displayed in the family home, so it had quietly been part of Ted’s life for years before his parents gifted it to us after we got engaged. The hallmarks inside the band tell us it was made in London in the 1950s.

I’ve never really worn a lot of jewellery, so Ted did well to choose an engagement ring that I love and is so well-suited to me. My engagement ring is a 1920s antique from a jeweller in the Strand Arcade in Sydney. It’s an 18ct gold ring with five, claw-set, round white diamonds. A couple of weeks before the wedding, I discovered one of the diamonds was missing. After searching everywhere and almost losing hope, we finally found it glistening in the sun on the passenger seat of the car, which felt like a small miracle at the time! For my wedding band, I chose a gold band with a subtle wave detail by Melbourne jeweller Daphne Huguette, whose work I had admired for years.

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?).

Photography was probably the biggest one for us. We decided early on that we didn’t necessarily need a videographer as long as we had a photographer we completely trusted to capture the day.

Our photographer, Miranda, is based in Melbourne, and we were having a Sydney wedding, but I loved her work so much that I felt really strongly about reaching out anyway. From our very first meeting, we just clicked, and after that, we couldn’t imagine having anyone else photograph our wedding. We never even met with another photographer!