Sarah & Jarrod

We rave a lot around these parts about having your wedding your way. About ditching what doesn’t work for you, and embracing what you love. For Sarah and Jarrod, their day was exactly that.

“I always secretly laughed at people who said their wedding was the best day of their life” admits bride Sarah. “I just couldn’t understand why when it all seemed too stressful and full of obligations. But I happily ate my words after ours because our wedding was actually the best day of my life and it wasn’t stressful or full of obligation.”

For Sarah and Jarrod there was no wedding party, the bride walked herself down the aisle (in utterly stunning black, there were celebrations at two (!) different favourite pubs, and each tradition completely adjusted so it was true to them. And that? That’s what we call an amazing big day. This one? Captured on the streets of Melbourne by Briars Atlas this was a wedding full of heart, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Sarah and Jarrod chose Melbourne Registry Office for their ceremony.

Sarah walked herself down the aisle. “We didn’t compromise on a single thing because we were dead set on a few crucial points that ensured we did everything our way only.

No traditions, most of them are super boring (cake cutting, snore!).
Walking myself down the aisle, with no wedding party – I had no interest in organising, paying for, accommodating a bunch of people on our special day that was just about us.”

The blooms Sarah carried were arranged by Birchbox Flowers. She says  “I just ran in there the day before and asked for something green.”

There is a special story about the rings, says Sarah. “The proposal ring came from Camberwell Market – which we later had altered to fit around the engagement ring we found at an antique store somewhere in Melbourne (side note – no one NEEDS a proposal ring, the story is too long to tell, haha!).

Esther Weinberg did an amazing job on repurposing my wee rose gold band to fit perfectly around our antique find.”

Sarah says “For us, our wedding needed to be full of love and devoid of drama and archaic patriarchal traditions that meant nothing to us. We wanted dark and moody, free from traditional ideals and got married on our anniversary. We chose a new name that I adopted, and my husband took my name in marriage. ”

After the ceremony, guests travelled via tram to The Evelyn Hotel for post-ceremony drinks and a Scottish toast.

And then? Time to celebrate at the Rochester Hotel! Sarah sharing “The Rochester is where we had our first kiss. We ate, drank, laughed and danced to an incredible five-piece jazz band ( Mood Indigo) – all captured beautifully by our amazing photographer.”

Sarah’s sister in law gifted the newlyweds their wedding cake. Sarah sharing “It was a triple layer consisting of all our favourites, banana, chocolate and lemon. Semi-naked with blackberries on top. The best cake ever made!”

An intimate and carefully chosen guest list suited these two to a T. “We didn’t invite anyone out of obligation. No one was entitled to our wedding day, except for us. Weddings are about the celebration of love between two people, this was our moment and our memory that we weren’t prepared to share with anyone who didn’t love or respect us – and it was so perfect, I wouldn’t have changed a thing!”

A big congratulations to you both Sarah and Jarrod! Thank you for taking the time to share your story with us. Thank you also to Oli of Briars Atlas for today’s beautiful captures!