Julie & Eddie

For us, we live to tell wedding stories, but today’s is one that encapsulates everything we love about wedding stories. The words, shared by the bride, tell us about every detail – the beautiful Winter setting, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous red wedding gown and a proposal that is definitely movie-worthy. It is the words, coupled with the beautiful imagery by  Zea of Anna Blackman Photography that are the best way to spend a Tuesday!

As for that proposal? Julie shares, in her own words “It, was December 2016. Eddie and I decided to spend Christmas and New Year in New York together (my most favourite time of the year). I had said to Eddie prior to leaving for New York I hadn’t bought a Christmas gift for him as I was going to take him to Tiffany’s in New York and get him to select a new dress ring to replace the ring I had bought him on our very first Christmas together 8 years ago. Therefore, it was no surprise for me when Eddie said on an extremely cold and very windy winter morning that we should go up to Tiffany’s.

As I was searching in the men’s’ dress rings I look around and see Eddie is no longer with me but engaged in conversation on the other side of the room. Eddie called me over. Flustered and rather confused I started to take off my scarf and as I did, I dropped my hat. I turned around to find Eddie (doing what I thought was helping retrieve my hat and scarf) on his knees and behind him were beaming and smiling Tiffany staff (with glasses of champagne). Eddie had chosen the most beautiful ring and he was asking me to marry him. What an incredible and wonderful surprise ….we went back to Tiffany’s in April this year to select our wedding rings. x”

The groom and groomsmen dressed in dapper black suits and crisp white shirts from Formal Image.

It was the preparation for the day (with the help of hairstylist Mae You Be and makeup artist Makeup By Megan), that turned out to be one of Julie’s favourite parts. She shares “I loved having the opportunity to spend time with my amazing bridesmaids, stunningly beautiful daughters, daughter in law and gorgeous granddaughters in the bridal suite as we prepared for the wedding ceremony. We had very relaxed luxurious surroundings with amazing food and glasses of champagne (which) was an extra bonus of my wedding day that I had not thought of as something that would remain with me as an incredible part of the day. However, on reflection, this time was probably the most favourite part of my day leading up to the actual wedding itself. As our makeup and hair was done, we swapped stories, laughed and had the most wonderful fun together, as we admired the incredible talent of our hair and makeup artists to create totally individual styles and looks for all of us. So very lucky to have this memory.”

“I was given by my sister, my mother’s brooch which I pinned on to my flowers as a special heirloom to carry on the day. Another very unexpected and very special moment and perhaps new tradition also unfolded. Before I went downstairs to the ceremony my grandsons came up to the bridal suite and gave me a guardian angel to pin to the inside of my pocket, a new tradition has begun. I will be giving this guardian angel back to them to pin on each of my grandchildren when they marry.”

Julie chose Diane Lewis to create her showstopper red wedding gown, a decision made after both of my daughters chose Diane to make their own gowns. She explains “Twenty years ago my daughter in law chose Diane Lewis to design her wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses as did my daughter three years later… the results were simply stunning. For me, there was no other person I wanted to design my gown. I wanted my gown to not only make me look elegant and stylish but be fashion-forward and emulate sophistication and grace befitting an older woman. I wanted NO mother of the bride fading into the background outfit for me!!!

Diane was wonderful! As soon as I saw my thoughts and ideas put into images Diane drew at our initial meeting I knew I was going to thoroughly enjoy this once in a lifetime every woman deserves to experience. She really understands woman’s bodies she seeks out every woman’s assets to ensure that every woman feels confident and beautiful in a gown created just for them.”

Fleur My Darling styled the beautiful bouquets, “To be perfectly honest I have no idea when it comes to flowers” tells Julie, continuing “I was very lucky to have recommended to me Samantha Andon as a maker of floral heaven. Our flowers were designed and chosen by the super talented Samantha Andon from Fleur My Darling. From my initial meeting with Sam I voiced my vision for the wedding and told her the colour of my dress. From here Sam created a floral paradise for our ceremony and reception WOW so exquisite!”

Beautiful French Jacquard was chosen for the gown, the bride telling “Diane uses the most sophisticated garment construction as well as the most highly sophisticated fabrics from the best fabric houses in the world. My gown of French Jacquard was specifically woven for me in France and the French ribbon lace bodice with a splash of Swarovski crystals was dyed to match. The results were incredible not only for myself but for my bridesmaids (in their black crepe and corded Chantilly lace individually designed gowns). Amazing fabrics would have been nothing without Diane’s attention to detail and her commitment to ensuring the fit and finish of each garment was perfect. We felt like we had stepped out a page from a Vogue magazine. We were so fortunate to have this amazing empowering woman work her magic for us.”

The bride to be walked down the aisle with her son to Nat King Cole’s “The Very Thought of You”.

Sue M Jackman officiated the ceremony, Julie telling “Our ceremony we wanted to be relaxed and fun – a celebration, with all the people who have shared our journey as a couple to have the opportunity to enjoy seeing us married in an amazingly beautiful venue with amazing views relaxing and listening to the music chosen by Eddie and me, music that meant a lot to us and reflected our love for each other.”

The Southern Highlands Gibraltar Hotel Bowral was chosen for the weekend wedding, Julie shares “We chose the Gibraltar Hotel not only because of the magnificent views for our guests and the serenity of the beautiful countryside. We wanted the venue to reflect elegance and style for our day and this the Gibraltar certainly offered. We also were very mindful that we wanted it to be a wonderful very relaxing weekend away spent in luxury and sheer enjoyment for our closest family and friends. This the venue did in spades. Alicia and her wedding team went above and beyond to ensure not only our day was perfect and ran like clockwork but they were easily able to accommodate a large party of 50 for a pre-wedding dinner, pre-wedding activities of golf for the groom and his friends. Spa and beauty facilities for the bride and her party. We were so very lucky to find everything we were looking for in the one venue.”

Julie and Eddie actually met online, the bride remembering “One Tuesday night after we had been chatting on the phone for over three months he asked if we could meet for coffee, then before I could answer, he said, “no dinner, we need to meet for dinner!! You are such an interesting and intelligent woman to talk to”. Yes I know, heaven help me, a smooth talker! But that actually got me! No one had ever wanted to take me to dinner because I could hold an interesting conversation!!! We met for dinner and the rest is history.”

Julie remarks “There are no words to do her justice – what an incredible talent Zea of Anna Blackman Photography has. Every image was stunning, visually immaculate.

Zea captured our wedding with such an amazing eye. I never in my wildest dreams believed I could look so beautiful. I am amazed at how brilliantly Zea captured the pure essence of how happy we were on our day. Perfection is the only word that comes to mind. We are so very blessed having chosen you. You guys are everything!!!”

Guests gathered for a sit-down dinner to celebrate the newlyweds, topped off with a tiered cake created by Cake Arcade. Julie remarks “Creating a dream wedding requires a team of dedicated professionals, it truly is a team effort and boy did I have the dream team. Diane Lewis of Diane Lewis Couture for creating the incredible gown. Zea from Anna Blackman images for creating the perfect images that captured the pure happiness of our day. Megan from Makeup by Megan for making me believe I was beautiful enough and then magically making me so beautiful to wear such an amazing gown. Michelle from Mae You Be/The Future Mrs for understanding the need for and then providing for me a vintage classy look to support the makeup and gown. Samantha from Fleur My Darling for creating the floral masterpieces that reflected elegance and style. Catherine from the Cake Arcade for the cake that left our guests wanting more. Alan our DJ from Pro Discos for creating the playlist from guests’ suggestions to have everyone dancing all night. Sue our celebrant for making sure Eddie and I had so much fun. Lastly the incredible wedding team lead by Alicia at the Gibraltar Hotel – WOW you guys went above and beyond to ensure the day went so well. Thank you so much dream team you were perfection!”

Shares Julie “We wanted to include and to invite to our wedding not only our amazing families and friends to help us celebrate but we also wanted to include anyone who helped us grow to be who we were today, who without them, we wouldn’t have been….. Just right for each other …… and this took some searching…. but so worth it for us to have these special people at our wedding.”

And then it was time to dance! Julie remembers “Eddie and I chose Fallen by Lauren Wood as our first dance ….. The lyrics get us every time!”

A big congratulations to Julie & Eddie! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us! Thank you also to Anna Blackman Photography for sharing today’s beautiful wedding!