SOPHIA + ADAM by Alex Jack Photography

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

We met on Tinder, but from our first date we hit it off like we always knew each other. 

We are both shift workers (Sophia is a nurse & midwife and Adam works in a coal mine) so when we started dating, we had similar rosters & days off which made it easy to spend lots of time together for our relationship to bloom.

We are both adventurous, love the outdoors, road trips, waking up early to watch the sunrise, jumping in ocean and just making the most of each day.

On our road trips we had to find a way to compromise between Adams beloved heavy metal music and Sophia’s acoustic music, so we ended up finding some really good ‘punk goes acoustic’ play lists which we actually both loved!

We are both very easy going, light-hearted and humorous and love cracking jokes on each other.

Sophia is 1 of 5 siblings and Adam is an only child, which makes for a really fun mix of both family dynamics.

https://vimeo.com/415808019

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…

The week leading up to our wedding COVID restrictions were rapidly coming into effect. Due to the overwhelming uncertainty and anxiety surrounding COVID most of our wedding guests could not make it to our wedding anymore.

Five days before our wedding our reception venue (Shoal Bay Country Club) had to close down.

We decided to change our wedding day to Thursday with only a ceremony and no proper ‘reception’ with our remaining 25 guests in the hope to just get married and beat any further impending restrictions as everything was becoming so uncertain.

On the Tuesday night we were absolutely shattered to hear that as of midnight Wednesday we could only have 5 people at a wedding which included the celebrant and 2 witnesses. Adam was still optimistic and emailed the celebrant asking if he would still marry us the next day before these restrictions came into place. I told Adam he was crazy and there was no way it could happen as we lived 4 hours away from our wedding destination.

The next morning our photographer called me saying she had just spoken to our celebrant and they were both available and willing to still help us get married that day. Coincidently I then received an email from our videographer saying if we decided to still get married that day he would still be there.

I was in so much shock but also so ecstatic that we were still going to get married. We gathered all our wedding things and started the 4-hour trip to our original wedding destination. We called our parents and told them to leave asap.

I called my H&MU artist in the car on the way and she was so thrilled to hear we were still getting married. I went straight to her house and she did my H&MU in half an hour.

I called the music company and they found us an amazing fill-in guitarist who was available for our ceremony. Walking down the aisle to an acoustic guitar was always my dream.

Our celebrant asked us what our wet weather option was, I thought that was a funny question because I would have been happy to get married in the rain by this point as long as we still were getting married. We did end up getting umbrellas and we didn’t even need them! I also had a nervous chuckle when our Celebrant asked us to send him our vows because it reminded me that I hadn’t written mine yet! Call me crazy but yes I wrote my vows in the car on the way to get married!

I also managed to book a beautiful big house across from the beach for our accommodation which was able to sleep all ours guests. It was also the most perfect place to host a ‘reception’, Everyone sat around telling stories and memories of us and we had woodfire pizza for dinner (which I was kind of happy about because it is my favourite food).

In the end we managed to have 10 guests watching us get married. We are so grateful for our vendors, as we could not have pulled off such a perfect intimate ‘elopement’ if it wasn’t for all of them helping us in their own way. As much as nothing worked out for us that week, on that day everything worked out perfectly. It was a really grounding moment with no arbour, no crowd and no fuss. It reminded us of the true and raw reason of marriage and love and to be grateful for what we did have and what we were able pull off that day. 

Tell us about your main outfits:

I found my Luna Willow Bridal gown at a boutique wedding dress shop in Gerringong on the south coast. The gown was a classic matte french crepe fabric in ivory, with a higher neckline. I added a pearl fringe to the back of the gown to give a little extra glam to the dress. Two months before the wedding I decided to add pearl wings to the dress instead of a veil. I got them expressed posted from LWB in Canada just in time. Adam wore a dark navy suit, white shirt and waist coat with cute burgundy bow tie from Tarrocash.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?

I will never forget the morning of when we received the phone call from our photographer saying they were still keen and able to help us get married that day. The rush and excitement in that moment was immeasurable married after all the uncertainty. I started racing around the house to pack and then called my other vendors. To my complete and utter shock all my vendors were still available. I am forever grateful to them as it would not have been such a perfect day if it wasn’t for their commitment and support. 

It felt so surreal standing at the top of the aisle arm in arm with my dad, looking down the hill at my soon to be husband and my 10 guests. I was so unbelievably grateful in that moment that we had actually made it and pulled off a wedding in such a short time frame.  

The morning was such a crazy rush that being announced ‘Husband and Wife’ was the best most surreal slow-motion moment.

I cried listening to my mother-in-law’s in prompt speech welcoming me into their small family. She would never have spoken in front of 85 people; it was so beautiful that she did in the end. 

My Aunty and my cousin were always planning to make my wedding cake. To my surprise on the day they still managed to bring it all and put it together in the form of cupcakes, iced and decorated with custom made ‘Mr & Mrs Wright’ sign.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?

In the end the only thing that matters is declaring your love to each other, saying your vows, signing your marriage certificate and just being married. Don’t let the stress of ‘the perfect wedding’ override the main reason for the day. Be in the moment and enjoy the day for what it is. Don’t focus on the things that don’t work out on the day if it cannot be changed. I highly recommend a videographer it is worth every cent.

Photography: Alex Jack Photography | Videography: The Barefoot Bride | Ceremony location: Nelson Head Lighthouse Reserve| Reception location: Shoal Bay Accomodation | Celebrant: Monty King | Bride’s gown: Luna Willow Bridal from Storybook Bridal | Groom’s outfit: Tarocash | Rings: Michael Hill | Shoes: Nine West | Makeup and Hair: Makeup by Bonnie Lee | Fragrance: Paco Rabanne Parfums | Entertainment: Silent Shout | Flora: Film and Foliage