Jacqui & James

A splendid Melbourne wedding is a beautiful one. The soft, romantic colours of Jacqui’s bouquet against the modern setting set the tone for the day in which the couple paid homage to their heritage and the urban feel of Melbourne.

Jacqui explains how the couple met. “James and I met 7 years ago in a nightclub on Chapel Street (in Melbourne) called CLUB EVOLUTION! I was hanging out with my girlfriend at the time just having a “girl’s night out” when James spotted us and came over to introduce himself.  James offered to buy me a drink at the bar, to which I said YES, however once at the bar James realised he had no money in his wallet and I felt extremely sorry for him so ended up buying him the drink!

James kept asking me for my phone number but I only wanted to give him my email address; however since he was so persistent, I finally agreed so that he could leave me alone!!! James called me the very next day and was ever so persistent in pursing me…after a few months of being friends and getting to know each other, I agreed to start officially dating James.  Therefore we “officially” started being boyfriend and girlfriend after approximately two months of friendship.  The relationship bloomed and seven years later, we married!!!”

Photographs today are Stewart Leishman Photography. Stewart’s graceful photography always creates such a sense of elegance and beauty.

James and his groomsmen wore suits from Prinzi Collections.

Jacqui chose a strapless gown from Henri Josef website with shoes from Wittner Shoes  and jewels from Swarvoski and Paul Bram . Her bridesmaids wore white gowns from Witchery  and Wittner Shoes. Their makeup was styled by  Gloria Chu from Amber Freelance and hair by Helen Hair Styling.

Jacqui and James married atSt Justin’s Catholic Church . Jacqui remarks “I walked down the aisle to “Spend my life with you” By Eric Benet and Tamia.  There was no other song with these lyrics which could possibly explain the way James and I felt about each other.  It is the best love song ever!”

Jacqui says one of her favourite parts of the wedding was, “All my beloved family and friends being in the same room and smiling laughing and enjoying the day/night! It was really pleasant to look around the room and know that people you cherish made an effort to be there (especially from overseas and interstate) to share the most important day of your life with you!”

Jacqui remarks, “Neither of us cried or got too emotional during the ceremony part, because we were so focused on perfecting the kiss – when the kiss came around, we kissed  the way we have practised at home and it was perfect!  Most couples, fuss over the vows etc, we were more fussed over our kiss!”

After the ceremony, the couple and their bridal party headed off for photographs – one of Jacqui’s favourite parts of the day. Jacqui explains “I loved our photos at the Kings Domain gardens! It started raining and it was absolutely freezing, myself and my bridesmaid (being least covered up) were extremely cold and our heels dug into the mud whilst walking into the garden. However it was so much fun, as we had the umbrellas out and we were laughing and giggling the whole time! We took photos where we were huddling close – to keep warm, and they turned out fantastic! James and I had a fantastic time as we both love nature and he kept holding my hand tight, making sure I wasn’t going to slip or fall and when the wind blew, it made my veil look like it was floating in the air.  We had a lot of fun doing the location shoots. ”

Of their photographer, Jacqui says “Our photographer on the day was Stewart Leishman, he was extremely friendly and had a really warm personality that automatically made you feel comfortable and at ease around him! What we like about Stewart is that he is SO passionate about his work, which made us believe that he was a responsible photographer who will actually make us look amazing on the day due to the fact that he takes a lot of pride in his work and therefore we felt he was the right photographer to proceed with.”

Byron’s For Flowers (03) 9842 3400) created the beautiful bouquets and floral arrangements.

Jacqui and James held their reception at  Waterfront Venues Docklands – The Harbour View Room.  Jacqui explains “The venue we used was absolutely stunning. It was located in Melbourne Docklands which was surrounded by the water and the docking harbour. Our reception venue was raised up high on level 2 and it had a balcony on which served the canapés, and overlooked the harbour itself.  The actual reception room itself had massive big windows with 180 degree views! It was so beautiful the backdrop of the city lights, as the sun went down, all you could see was the shimmering water as well as the blue neon lights on the Bolte Bridge and nearby city skyline.  The view captured our hearts from the beginning and to top it off – there was a full show of fireworks at night time, which just made our night even more special!!!!  (James said he arranged the fireworks, but then the reception venue said they did…so it was quite amusing because everyone tried to claim they arranged the fireworks! Hehe)

Purity Cake Design created the incredible layered wedding cake. Jacqui says “I loved our 7 tier wedding cake – all edible, every single layer was made from real cake! Some of the guests thought our cake was fake but when they realised it was real, they were shocked at how beautifully presented it was because it actually looked like a display cake! The flavours were coffee cream, chocolate ganache, vanilla flavour and peanut butter flavour. The outside was cream with soft chiffon sponge inside!”

Guests enjoyed a traditional banquet. Jacqui remarks, “We had an amazing 10 course degustation wedding menu, yup that’s right 10 courses! That was one of the most important criteria of our wedding was to have fantastic and good quality food. Which is exactly what we got. Our menu comprised of Japanese style teppanyaki tempura food, it ranged from Atlantic salmon to creamy lobster tail, to self grilled wagyu on hot rocks! It was so amazing and the feedback we got from every one of our guests was that they were rolling out of the doors because they were so full. Each guests gave wonderful compliments and they all said they have never been to a wedding with so much food!! It was like a culinary experience.”

There was one little DIY touch- the wedding favors! “I did make our chocolate boxes (the plastic ones) and filled them with chocolate for our wedding favours. We had alternating wedding favours and I ordered the pear soaps (caption: the perfect pear) from American website and all I had to do was undo the wrapping!  It was very nice as each guest received an alternating wedding favour! We made our own menus; we bought the paper from KW Doggets, and then printed them ourselves. (This was easy) We had our wedding invites printed and we tied a gold ribbon around it so it looked ‘pretty’.”

The speeches were a favourite for the bride who recalls, “During the reception, James totally stuffed up his speech!!! He was practising at home for weeks and weeks, he had it down pat absolutely perfect. However on the night, he was so nervous that he totally lost track of the speech and stuffed it up… The only part he got correct was the part he dedicated to me – which was the most important part, so it worked out still OK at the end.

My dad is a very private person and growing up he kept his feelings to himself and usually did not express them at all. My dad is a strong character and is the rock in the family and being the only girl in the family, I knew it was difficult for dad to make a speech in front of 150 guests about his little girl getting married and growing up! However dad’s speech was magnificent and he didn’t even need notes – he memorized the full 5 minutes of it!”

James and Jacqui hired David Galea (0418 315 042) to MC & DJ the reception. Jacqui says “Our first dance was to “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen, the reason we choose this song was because my favourite movie is DIRTY DANCING!!!! James always knew I loved this movie so he was happy to dance to Hungry Eyes.  We took about 6 bridal lessons and we woww’d the audience with our spins and dips! Especially, since I changed into a purple flowing silk dress, which made the dance a lot easier to move in, rather than the wedding gown.  Our wedding singer actually sang the song “live” so it made the experience even more special. It’s such a happy and sexy, romantic song – we had so much fun doing the bridal lessons and learning the whole routine!!

My MC/DJ is David Galea, I thought he was absolutely awesome! He was funny, confident and did such a great job of undertaking the MC role as well as DJ’ing for us! We had the wedding singer at the start of the night, and once all the 10 course degustation menu was over. David started the dance music, which went from Mariah Carey, to Whitney Houston, to Michael Jackson. It got the crowd dancing – even the older guests, and it really set the tone of the night and every where I looked around, there were big smiles and laughter every corner.  I remembered the night concluded around 12.00pm (it was meant to finish at 11.00pm) and the crowd just kept hooting to David “one more song, one more song” so he agreed to play the last song…”

Congratulations James and Jacqui! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Stewart Leishman Photography for sharing today’s photographs with us!