Jo + George by Anémotion - Together Journal

The concept behind our wedding was driven from within ourselves. We wanted to create a vision for a raw, ethereal romance through a lens that was unique in representation of who we are.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
JK & GH – Interestingly, it is through what we do for a living that initially drew us to each other; aspiring architects, turned into construction managers, and finally to wedding brand designers focusing on creating contemporary wedding stationery.

We are both creatives at heart and mind, and since we had both moved on in our careers outside of where we first met within the walls of architecture, we kept our creative spark alight through our wedding stationery business, which forms the crux of our work and personal lifestyle.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
GH – Jo would tell you she’s a lot smarter than I am because she knew from very early on in our university days that I was the one for her, and that I was a little slower to the party. But I like to think of it a little differently. My mind was captured by Jo before my heart even had the chance to realise the feeling. I was instantly connected to her from the first few times I met her in class, and although I didn’t know exactly what it was at the time, I somehow couldn’t live without her and wanted her around me all the time for everything I thought and everything I did. It was the realisation of that many years later that was when my heart finally admitted to what it was feeling and I knew wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jo.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
JK – Of course there was (I wasn’t going to let him get away with 7 years in the friendzone without an out of this world hold your breath type of proposal)

Here’s the story…
We had both moved on in our careers outside of architecture at the time and started our wedding stationery gig. I got a call one day from my fav floral designers to be a part of an event they were holding – and although I was completely unaware at the time, this was the beginning of George’s plan. The day came and I was way too excited that we had this opportunity to be part of a styled photoshoot. It was a Friday afternoon so I was coming straight from my day job and would meet George at Sydney University, where we had met years and years before, as this was where the “photoshoot” was taking place.

I saw George in the distance. It felt nostalgic standing there outside our old architecture building after so many years had gone by. A lot had changed since then, but the same person that was by my side all those years ago was still standing there that day. George came over to me and we started walking toward what appeared to be the photoshoot set. As we approached I noticed the table was only set for 2 – whereas I was told 12. I’m not really sure what I was thinking at this point other than ‘thank goodness I got a fresh mani this week.’ We got to the table and my 12 carefully put together menus were sitting in a single pile. George then asks me to lay them out around the table, so I do, and as I reach the bottom of the pile the last card is not one designed by me. It read “Marry Me.” No question mark, so I believe that meant I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I said Yes anyway.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
JK & GH – The concept behind our wedding was driven from within ourselves. We wanted to create a vision for a raw, ethereal romance through a lens that was unique in representation of who we are. With this, we wanted the style to evoke us so that our family and friends felt like they were coming to a dinner at our home (perhaps just a little fancier). The venue also played a big role for us in allowing our vision to come to life. We instantly knew The Linseed House at The Grounds of Alexandria was the venue for us. The heritage nature intrinsic to the architecture, the raw internal exposed brickwork which engulfed the space and the high ceiling void which exposed the trusswork were all part of the foundation for the beautiful blank canvas which allowed us to create our own aesthetic so naturally.

We designed, styled and created each and every detail of the day ourselves; from as little as sourcing all our tablespace elements from all over the world, to as large as mapping out of the draping and lighting installations, arranging our own composition for our entry song, and (of course) design and hand creating all the stationery! We both distinctly remember walking into our reception for the first time that evening, it was like one of those room reveals except we were revealing it to ourselves – and we knew each and every little detail of what was behind that curtain – but it was so magical. To finally see everything come together for the first time in real life was really special and so fulfilling. From the whimsical floating drapes hanging from the ceiling to the lighting waves mapped over the kings tables. The sea of candles lit from one end of the room to the other with bursts of sculptured florals, to all of our guests dressed in black and white, we made it! As fast as the day went, time stood still in this moment.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
JK & GH – I mean, yep, you guessed it – stationery. We absolutely could not help ourselves. Budget had no chance against our love for all graphics and paper goods, so boy did we splurge! We played client and creator, and put all faith in our own creative process and trusted each other.

Although it started with stationery, it didn’t really stop there. For us it was about creating a brand for our wedding, we wanted to enhance the stationery through our own styling. Creating the tablescape was probably one of my favourite elements to style and we looked all around the world for the most perfect touches. We sourced paper from India for the place cards and Germany for the guest menus, our cutlery came from Asia, placemats from the UK, with special creators from around Australia too who helped us curate some really beautiful custom elements – one of my faves were our beautiful custom tourmaline and antique gold dipped concrete candles we used on the bridal table from incredible The Escape Co.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
JK & GH – Our vision for the styling was all about the mood – dark room, dim lighting, warm candlelit features for romance. So naturally we purchased 1000 pillar candles to be clustered through the centre of our kings tables and run end to end – perfect idea right?

The night came and oh was it moody – tick! During my Dad’s speech, the room was quiet whilst everyone was intently listening at all the “Dad jokes.” Then from the corner of our eye we noticed a flame burst upward from the centre of one of our friend’s tables. George nudged me as it grew a little higher and more intense. Our friends jumped up, the waiters crowded – and then it was gone. Dad’s speech just continued. I don’t think anyone else other than us and the table it happened on even noticed. We later learned that it also occurred on 2 further occasions on 2 other tables. We can confirm no one was injured during the course of the evening, our decorative cheesecloth on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. Lesson learnt, don’t lay 1000 exposed pillar candles on layers and layers of billowing cheesecloth…

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
JK – The brief was timeless – but modern, for the both of us. Leah Da Gloria allowed this vision to come to life in the most seamless way possible. The first time I saw Leah I went in with sketches, posted notes and about 300 photos to describe all my ideas – and she so calmly listened and brought all my visions to life in one single sketch, and then we just ran with it.

I had always known I wanted a sleeve, so having my wedding during the hottest month of the year wasn’t a force which was going to stop me. I wanted vintage detailing with raw textures which exuded a sense of romance. We chose a delicate french lace as the base layer of fabric which draped the entire dress. Leah then created a custom 3D embroidery pattern made from layers of woven threads, chiffon, soft iridescent beads and classic pearls, which she poetically mapped out over the top of the base layer of lace.

For the groom’s suit, it simply came down to the creation of a timeless contemporary tuxedo. From the selection of the hand-woven materials and textures to the design of the exuberated lapels, bowtie and cumber band, completed with the all the finer details as witnessed through the hand-stitching of my initials, it really was the perfect black-tie dinner suit. Tailorship personified, by John Pierre at Tailor & Co; bravo.