best dress

Social media played a big role in our meeting. I was looking for a room to rent and happened to write on Facebook that I was searching for a rental.

Jay and I were friends on Facebook and he saw this status update. He messaged me and said that he had a room that may be available if I wanted to come and inspect it. So we arranged a day and time and we met.

We chatted for a bit whilst I inspected the house and room and then I went on my way.

I didn’t hear back from Jay. I didn’t hear anything from him for some time and I was a little confused. I later found out that he had told a mate that he couldn’t have me move in because he “thought I was a bit of alright”.

Instead Jay asked me to hang out one night. And then another night. And then we had a few dinner dates. Until Jay finally asked “You and me babe, how about it?” – this is a line from one of my favourite songs! I knew from that moment on we were set to make a lifetime of memories.

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The proposal:

Jay proposed to me in September of 2010 after only nine months of being in a relationship with each other.

He set the scene by telling me that I had to be ready for my “birthday dinner” that night. It was a Thursday so I was slightly taken aback that we were headed out during the week. I’m the type of girl who doesn’t like surprises. I like to be prepared and know exactly what’s happening, where I’m going, what I need to wear, etc. So I was feeling a little uneasy all day.

We turned up to GPO restaurant in Bendigo and straight away we saw my family including my brother and sister-in-law who lived in Melbourne at the time. Then we were taken to our seats and there was my best friend and Jay’s family waiting for us. I was led to believe this was my surprise for the night. We got through dinner and everyone was talking with each other when Jay disappeared. I glanced over to see he had returned but was looking rather nervous about something. I didn’t think much more of it and kept chatting.

Then Jay asked me to stand up with him to thank people for coming. I found this odd but was still oblivious to what was about to happen. We stood there together, I felt very awkward, then Jay got down on one knee. I think I went into shock right at that moment. And as Jay asked if I would marry him I couldn’t help but cry with happiness. It was such a sweet moment to have our nearest and dearest there to witness it. The ring was a classic design. Jay had picked it all by himself. I was on cloud nine.

The wedding day:

We set our wedding date for March 16th 2013. I had plenty of time to organise and save money for our special day. That turned out to be a blessing as we welcomed our first child together, Jax, into this world in December of 2011.

We decided on a 1950s/rockabilly inspired wedding to reflect our love of the culture. We also did a lot of the decorating ourselves, including the wedding bouquets. Old records were used as placemats on the tables for the reception, old milk bottles collected from my grandparents house were filled with flowers for centrepieces and Jay made a custom banner for the background during the ceremony.

Our bridal party had one bridesmaid and two groomsmen with our children Sophie and Jax as flower girl and page boy respectively’. The wedding cars were my Uncle Alan’s ‘66 black mustang and Ross Mayes’ award winning ’32 Tudor hot rod BURNT1.

John Whitford conducted the official proceedings and the ceremony and reception were held at The Marong Family Hotel. The venue provided the perfect laid back atmosphere we wanted with delicious food aplenty.

The dress:

For years I said I was never going to get married in a traditional colour. I wanted to wear purple or blue. But after not finding the right style dress or the dress not being the right material, I went searching online through my favourite Pinup clothing sites.

And there it was on PinUp Girl Clothing’s site. A gorgeous ivory satin dress with lace cap sleeves and back that finished just at the knees. I couldn’t believe I had found ‘the dress’ and it was ivory. I showed my mum and she loved it also. I clicked buy it now and waited for it to arrive from the United States. I tried it on in the presence of my mum, and it was just right. I felt incredible in it.

The cake:

We opted for a simple looking cake. With having such a fun theme already we chose a single tier cake with white fondant icing adorned with a purple ribbon and a brooch.

When we cut the cake everyone was shocked to see that it was bright coloured rainbow inside. It looked spectacular.

Kelly at CAKES BY KELLY had done an incredible job. We were so pleased and everyone commented on how scrumptious it tasted.

The photography:

The photos were taken by Liz at Liz Keen Photography who we have claimed as our own. Liz had done photo sessions for us previously so she very kindly said yes to doing our wedding. We also had a second shooter Alysha from Alysha B Photography who works alongside Liz on occasion. Both ladies were fabulous and made the photos so much fun. We have some stunning moments of our special day.

The honeymoon:

The happy couple went to the Gold Coast, Queensland for the ‘honeymoon’ and enjoyed a lovely break as a family with their children.

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