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Jay and Jo

A year on.

This post has been long in the making. This is a thankful post of that beautiful day of the 2nd of November 2013. This is our way of saying thank you again to the wonderful people who helped us create our dream quirky wedding. Enjoy!

“What is the one thing we’ve got to have at the wedding?” I asked my fiancé.
“A food truck”
*high fives*

That’s how it all started. The ideas flowed. “We’ll have it at a park! There will be picnic rugs and a lemonade stand! Let’s hire a live band too! Can we get Michael Buble to sing??”

Before things got out of hand, we needed a wedding planner who was crazy enough to go along with the plan. Candice from Mackenzi Creations was the girl for the job. Her enthusiasm and passion was what we needed to bring our ideas into fruition and work within our tight budget. This woman was not fazed at all at my long list of wants. All she said was “No worries!” I don’t think she would blink an eye even if I told her I wanted a unicorn.

The one thing that neither of us could say “No worries!” to was… the unpredictable Melbourne weather. It rained the whole week leading up to the wedding day. But our prayers were heard and it was a sunny day with a cool breeze on the 2nd of November of 2013. And so, we got ready for a day of fun.

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The guys always seem to have the goofiest and best photos. These guys were dressed in grey slacks, white shirts and a purple polka bowtie. Jay wore a Hugo Boss suit that he bought in Malaysia.

I found my dress in Adelaide at the Bridal on Pulteney. After trying on about 30 dresses in several different stores, I finally had “The Moment” when I slipped on the A-line lacy, Nicolina “Grace” dress and my maid of honor said, “It’s the one!”. That really is a thing.

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I was surrounded by girlfriends who have flown in from different places. They wore deep purple dresses, paired with black heels and wore dainty headbands. Their hair and makeup were done by good friends (Sue-Lee from RIAH) and my sister in-law, Yen. Girls, thank you for being there for me and for just being my sisters.

Karina from Style by Nature filled the wedding venue with the prettiest garden posies and gave me the lavender bouquet I’ve always wanted. The baby’s breath bouquets matched my bridesmaids dresses perfectly and the lavender boutonnieres for the men were so sweet. Her work was amazing.

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I was determined to be a DIY bride and Candice encouraged my creativity. I had help from my maid of honor, my mother and amazing friends. We made silk fabric flowers to hang on the wedding backdrop, assembled our wedding invitations, vintage shopped for wedding decor, online shopped for wedding props and accessories, made the vintage book wedding ring holder out of an old Webster dictionary, sewed metres and metres of fabric bunting and painted chalkboard signs. Candice waved her magic wand and put the look together. When I walked up the aisle, my heart was bursting with pride and love, seeing all the hard work in personalising the wedding.

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It was a beautiful ceremony. It was everything that we had envisioned. All we wanted was a fun, wedding picnic that everyone could enjoy.

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The moment when I couldn’t get Jay’s ring on.

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You must be wondering if we did find our food truck? Of course! Cornutopia was what we were looking for. Ellie and her team served yummy and fresh Mexican food. Tacos and salsa always make people happy. Jay Sonn was definitely a happy foodie that day.

 

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Candice whipped up a vintage lemonade stand and had made the coolest drink station.

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What’s a wedding without some cake? Barbara from Sophisticakes had that in the bag. When she asked what sort of desserts we wanted. Jay Sonn loves lemon tarts. So I said, “Anything with lemon, please.” And she made the most scrumptiously delicious lemon wedding cake and made it just like how I sketched it.

We even had a photobooth set up by EventsFocus who were so accommodating and amazing to work with. They compiled a book with all the pictures taken on that day. It was really special.

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The fun doesn’t even end there. Jay had this brilliant idea of having a live painter from SydneySarah Rowan Dahl to paint a beautiful picture of us during the wedding ceremony. To tie the whole picnic feel together, Jay found a live band, Grupo Bombeiro to play some funky lively tunes while guests frolicked and mingled around with sangrias and lemonade in their hands.

Our families have been so supportive of our ideas for the wedding and we could not have asked for more. We were so blessed to have family, relatives and dear friends fly in just to surround us with love. Jay and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we love you guys to bits.

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Happy First Anniversary Jay! Love your quirky loving heart. Here’s to many more years of fun days.

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“ When life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like, “What?!?!” – Phil Dunphy, Modern Family .

All the beautiful pictures taken by the talented Sutejo Tan and Fred Zhang (Thank you for capturing the moments and giving us beautiful pictures to cherish forever).

Wedding Videographer credits go to Preface Films who were a joy to work with.

Ms Gingham says: A beautiful wedding full of fun and laughter! Wishing Jay and Jo a very happy first anniversary with many more to come!