Jim + Mads by Redbook Studios - Together Journal

It was during this time that we both knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, as life was always better together.

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

We live in inner city Melbourne and love spending our weekends at the MCG for Friday night footy or bike riding along the Yarra to the botanical gardens. When we’re not working, we love to keep busy by catching up with our friends and family at a local pub or escaping Melbourne for a weekend down in Lorne (where we got married).

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

We technically “officially” met in high school when we were 16 years old at a school camp run by both of our high schools. The only issue is that I don’t recall meeting Jim, and Jim’s first impression was that I was far “too cool” for him. A few years later, at the age of 18, we were re-introduced by mutual friends. It was the summer holidays between finishing year 12 and starting University. I had my close friends over for a swim at my parents’ house (the same girls who would go on to be my bridesmaids), and Jim was invited by one of my friends’ boyfriends at the time. We spent most of that day chatting and getting to know each other – we instantly clicked when we realised we would be studying the same course at the same University. My first impression of Jim was that he was charismatic, funny and so easy to chat to – the conversation flowed effortlessly. Jim’s first impression of me was that I had an infectious personality – he knew I was someone that he couldn’t wait to see again and wanted to spend more time with. After this day, we started spending a lot more time with each other and quickly went from friends to girlfriend and boyfriend, and 12 years on, we have been inseparable ever since.

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

In 2015, when Jim was studying in the Netherlands, I was backpacking around Europe for nine months. We went through periods of travelling together, me visiting him in the Netherlands, and then periods of long distance. It was during this time that we both knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, as life was always better together.

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

In 2022, we were travelling in Europe – a mixture of travel in Spain, just the two of us, time spent in London visiting our best mates and then some time spent travelling in Greece with my family. Jim had packed the engagement ring, ready to propose when the moment felt right. It happened on a Greek island called Hydra. We were travelling together with my family at the time, and it was our last night travelling together as a group. It was my dad’s birthday that day, so we had already organised to have fun last night together, eating dinner at one of the local restaurants. We had spent the day swimming and relaxing, and before meeting up for dinner, Jim suggested that we go for a walk and pre-dinner drink. Jim had scouted the island a few days prior and had found a secluded spot overlooking the water. Once we got to the spot, Jim mentioned he wanted to show me a video. He had edited a video montage of all the photos and videos of us over the course of our +10 years together. I started crying as soon as the video began. The last photo in the video was a photo of him and the ring, to which he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of his life with him. We had a moment to ourselves to have a celebratory drink nearby before returning to the accommodation to surprise my sisters and parents (although my parents already knew and were eagerly awaiting us to get back). Celebrations continued into the night at the Greek restaurant for dinner and onto a Spanish salsa bar where we danced the night away. Everything was perfect, and it will forever be one of the happiest nights of my life.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

Our splurges were good food and good music (DJ!). These were two priorities for us that we were comfortable spending a bit more on than other elements of the day. The Italian Totti’s catering at our Reception did not disappoint!!

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

I was ~ about 25 minutes late to my own wedding ceremony, so Jim was left standing at the altar for longer than expected. This is a true representation of our life together; Jim is always punctual, and I am always late. This also meant the rest of the day was running behind schedule, but luckily, all our suppliers were super flexible and accommodating.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story? The history of the ceremony dress…

Not much of a story. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that I only booked my Wedding dress ~3 months out! I hadn’t seen anything I loved online and was avoiding looking to find a dress as I wasn’t sure what style I wanted to go with. One of my bridesmaids first spotted Prea James release the dress on their Instagram which was similar to others I had been looking at. Within a week, I had flown up to Sydney with my mum for the day, tried the dress on and locked it in. It only arrived to me in Melbourne ~3 weeks out from my Wedding day with alterations required. It was a special dress to wear as I was the first bride ever to wear the gown. It was meant to be but I caused a lot of stress on my family and friends in the process with how late I left everything!