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Sian and Jason

I believe in love, in love so big your heart could burst. In pianos in rose gardens with Billy Joel sing alongs, in dude food served at wedding receptions, in balloons, oh how balloons make my heart sing and gathering with friends at a local pub. Thus is the story of Sian and Jason’s colorful, 50s, vintage style wedding in St Kilda. Every ounce themselves and every ounce full of love captured by Jerome Cole Photography.

Sian tells the story of how they came to be. “Jase and I met 15 years ago on the Gold Coast under interesting circumstances, I was dating his good friend and we all hung out pretty much getting up to no good! The attraction between us was immediate, but it would not be until another 10 years passed that we finally ended up in the same place at the same time. For years we would travel interstate, between relationships and every time we had the same attraction. So five years ago, Jase packed up his Falcon and we drove to Victoria to give it a go. We’ve been living together in St Kilda ever since. In the very first moments of 2013, Jase proposed to me in Ubud after 4 years together, in a garden pagoda filled with petals and candles – it was the most romantic moment of my life until our wedding day when he said his beautiful vows to me.”

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“On the morning of the wedding, Jase posted on Facebook “Feeling relaxed. Think I might get married to the love of my life today. Happy Valentine’s Day peeps.” It was such a nice way to start the day.”

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The Flower Boys created the floral arrangements for this Valentines Day wedding. Candice de Ville styling the girl’s makeup.

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Sian’s bridesmaids wore floral printed frocks from Sohomode, The bride, who used to be a dressmaker used a gown she had already made and cut it to tea length. Sian remembers, “We had the best, most supportive bridal party and instead of having an engagement party we had decided to take them out on a full weekend extravaganza which made everyone bond before the wedding.”

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Sian notes “When we set out to plan our wedding we knew from the outset we wanted a down to earth day centred around having a great party with friends and family. We wanted it to be a reflection of us as individuals and as a couple. We wanted something that would be bright, playful, a little bit vintage, down to earth & romantic for everyone.”

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St Kilda Botanical Gardens – Rose Garden was chosen for the ceremony, Sian explaining, “We held our ceremony on Valentines Day in our local botanical gardens in St Kilda, around the corner from our house & a place filled with memories for us. This meant that both the groomsmen and bridesmaids were able to walk to the ceremony. The bridesmaids made quite the spectacle walking down St. Kilda’s famous Acland Street in their bright floral 50s frocks and parasols.”

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Sian remarks, “Apart from the flowers at the reception and our bouquets we pretty much DIY’d everything. The day was a team effort and so many of our friends pitched in to make it go without a hitch! I’m also a stickler for a detailed running sheet and had a very clear view of what needed to happen on the day. The day before Jase and I bought flowers from the market for the vases. We got slightly obsessed with chalkboard paint – making both the guitar signs and the suitcase way-finding signs We designed and made our own invite which was based on vintage instagram-like pics and a short story.”

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Sian and Jason walked down the aisle together, after meeting at the top, Sian remembers. “Very early on, we both decided that the format of the ceremony would be a bit different, in that we would walk down the aisle together. Our philosophy was that we wanted to walk down the aisle both freely giving ourselves away to each other. As it turned out, meeting at the top of the aisle was one of the most emotional parts of the day for us both.”

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“We walked down the aisle together to Nick Cave’s The Ship Song – it reminded us off all those years traveling between States and never wanting to leave.”

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“Overall it was a playful ceremony, underpinned by some very romantic vows from the groom especially. Luckily, the bridesmaids opted for waterproof mascara that morning!”

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Julianne Bambacas performed the ceremony, Sian remembering, “It was one of her first weddings and she was so stellar, funky and put hours into our ceremony for us. We wrote our own and didn’t share them until on the day – it was emotional and touching. There was quite a bit of last minute improvisation during the ceremony including the groom throwing in that he would love me even if I got ‘Hangry’ (definition: when one gets hungry angry due to lack of food). Yes I get cranky when I’m hungry.”

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“The groomsmen wheeled a vintage wheelbarrow to the ceremony full of ice for the beers and bubbles at the gardens, to be served in mismatched glasses from local op shops and donated back afterwards. We are both keen lovers of music, so we made sure that music was a huge priority for the whole day. We even got a vintage piano put in the rotunda in the gardens which was a really gorgeous touch as we mingled amongst the roses after the ceremony, glass of bubbles in hand.”

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“A little surprise that our guests had up their sleeves was all blowing bubbles as they pronounced us man and wife. It was so magical at one point and almost had an Alice in Wonderland feel to it with big oversized balloons, vintage suitcases and guitars as way finding signs, crystal jugs full of wild flowers, and big towering hedges all around the rose garden creating a private amphitheatre.”

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“You would think it would be hard for a 6 foot guy to be inconspicuous but Jerome was so discrete and was able to capture those special moments and the emotion of the day. Looking back at our photos, I can barely remember him being there during the more intimate memories but he was and he captured them beautifully. In saying that, when required, Jerome, really got the group in the mood, made us all laugh, and his catch cry of the day which we have all since adopted is: “Show me full joy!”. He was quirky, and put everyone at ease. He also completely went above and beyond and I’ve never seen someone so passionate and engaged in their work!”

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“The piano created quite the stir – when we got back from our wedding shots as a group with Jerome, a group had crowded around it and they were all having a good old sing along. It was such a moment of ‘full joy!’ What were they singing? The Piano Man, of course!”

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“There was some wet cement and my brother’s naughty friends wrote “Sian & Jase 2014″ in it. Unfortunately, it was the slab for a bin so was covered the next time we went to see it!”

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” At the gates of the gardens the bridesmaids popped the oversized balloons and they exploded rainbow coloured confetti all over us and our unsuspecting guests. It was such a cheeky touch and really made everyone laugh and get into the mood for a party!”

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“In a nut shell, our wedding was an intimate, bright & playful party and I think we all felt the Valentines love throughout the day. Everything looked fabulous, but more importantly everyone walked away with a couple of new friends that night! Perhaps the full moon had something to do with the great vibe!”

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The couple chose venues that were easy enough to walk between – the newlyweds and their guests walking from the ceremony venue to the reception. Sian remembering “On our walk to The Local, we had to go past my workplace. Many of my colleagues knew we would be walking by and they all leaned out the office window and screamed ‘congratulations!’ It was so unexpected and funny! Looking back, walking as a big group was a brilliant way to mingle en route and keep up the party vibe.”

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Celebrations continued at The Local Taphouse, St Kilda East. Sian explaining, “The Local is exactly what it says…its our local! We go there all the time and love their huge range of boutique beers, the rustic feel of the place, and the warm relaxed atmosphere. We wanted our wedding to feel like a big party and hoped that guests would mingle and meet lots of people. The reception was stand up canapés and we were keen to showcase some of Victoria’s great craft beers with some dude food to match.”

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The Flower Boys styled the florals for the wedding, Sian telling, “The Flower Boys, really got the theme. They carried the up -cycled look through everything and did big floral displays in old leather doctors cases, used a vintage typewriter, jars and just made the entire venue perfect!”

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“We used colourful crepe paper to make big pompoms at the reception. A good friend whipped up the cake and the topper we used was from my Aunt’s wedding in the 1960s. Being the creative forces behind our wedding made it even more fun and the months leading up to it were spent shopping in op shops and bouncing ideas off each other over a glass or two of wine! ”

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Music was a highlight for the couple, who tell, “We had an amazing acoustic guitarist Brooke Taylor, followed by a DJ (Vince Peach ) spinning vinyl from the 50s late into the night. Boy did we boogie!! We tried to keep it all very simple, with as little interruption to the festivities as possible apart from speeches – which turned out to be all the guests’ favourite part of the night- we had some great speech makers that night! I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house – even our groomsmen cried!”

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The dancing didn’t go quite as planned, because the couple were having too much fun! Sian remembers, “We had planned to have a first dance called the anniversary dance which involved the bride and groom beginning the dance and asking others to join. Slowly the dance floor diminished with the bride and groom one of the first couples to leave, and leaving only the oldest couples on the floor and those who had been together the longest. The idea was to skip the bouquet throwing component of the wedding and instead present the flowers to the couple who had been together the longest in a celebration of commitment and enduring love rather than new love or finding love. To be honest – on the night we were having so much fun that we skipped the whole thing and chose to have our first dance boogying with our friends. I gave my flowers to Jason’s parents who have been together 45 years.”

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Thank you so much for sharing your story with us Sian and Jason! Congratulations on your marriage. Thank you also to Jerome Cole Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!

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