Work! I am a RN and Jordan is a wardsman. We worked together beginning 2020 before the pandemic hit on the same ward however Jordan moved to a different ward but we kept talking, it was a slow start for me anyway, Jordan played the long game and says ‘he always knew’ just could never get me to agree to actually go on a date. It did happen eventually – COVID style and now here we are! Fun fact, as much as we worked together it was almost 9 months before anyone else, bar a few of my besties at work, knew we were together.

Jordan popped the question whilst we were on our Europe trip in 2023. In only the way Jordan could, he knew he wanted to propose on the trip but didn’t know when he’d do it, although he says he knew he wanted too in Sorrento as I was most excited to go there. The weather was awful and not at all the European Summer we had imagined, torrential rain and all things cancelled. Our final night in Sorrento the sun came out at 4pm for the first time in 3 days, we went to dinner, did the classic go to the touristy look outs to see the sunshine/sunset and it was too crowded so we wandered home and decided to give another look out not to far from where we were staying a crack to see if it was less crowded. Low and behold it was completely empty, I turned around and Jordan was down one one knee. I didn’t believe him and pulled him up and told him off – only then giving him the chance to speak and ask the question. It was completely us and he did so well, he knew I didnt want it done publicly in front of people and it was a spontaneous decision to ask then and there that night.

We knew we wanted to go somewhere out of Sydney and make a few days of it. Jordan is from England originally – and besides immediate family, all extended family still lives there. I have alot of interstate/out of Sydney family and friends so we wanted to go somewhere that showed off more than Sydney but also matched our vibe of a relaxed, fun few days. We often travel to the South Coast/Jervis Bay so decided to explore there first. We enquired at a few venues and liked the look of them all. Worrowing was the first venue we actually toured and we fell in love with it.

81

Cocktail

November

I don’t think we had strict non-negotiables or must haves as such or in terms of vendors etc. We both wanted a very relaxed, non formal event. No sit down wedding, very casual cocktail, pizza van, drinks flowing and great dance floor. We aren’t people who like the spotlight on us so having it more of a casual and fun atmosphere that felt more like a party was the vibe we were after and I think we did well to achieve that.

I got my dress from Luv Bridal in Crowsnest. I booked a day in with my girls to fit interstate and shift worker rosters. I had no idea what style I would go for, I knew it would have some flow and nothing form fitting and I assumed a relatively plain and simple style but I knew it would be a process of trying different styles to see what I liked. I found one at the first store and by the end of day had convinced myself that’s what I was getting,  I still had one place left to try the next day but I was so sure I’d get this dress I looked to see if there was an appointment for after and they had one so I booked it. My mum, sister and cousin came with me this time, I went in convinced however the stylist suggested a style slightly off from what I had gone for, a wild card she called it. Slightly more form fitting but with a ruching and a little flow so it didn’t at all look like it was hugging me, I wasn’t convinced but then I tried it on.. And I got it! Stylists really know there thing, I was lucky to have met her. It was a fun process, not at all what I was expecting and I hated having the spotlight on me but at the same time, when else do you get to play dress up all day, definitely a fun experience.

Wedding theme was a very relaxed, casual, fun party vibe! We combined our love of our engagement in Sorrento and our Kombi which we take on many a beach adventure across NSW. It was bright and colourful, with a hint of the Amalfi Coast. Wood fired pizzas, a gelato cart, cocktails,  no seating charts or strict formalities. Very much like us as a couple. Good food, drinks flowing, dance floor pumping and just general laughs and fun all round.

I was slightly nervous purely because I was not ready to walk down in front of a bunch of people but very happy for the day to just be here, we had back and forths about the weather and what was happening not matching the radar and plans changing but we just went with it. I was calm and happy and just so excited for the day to be here and ready for it all to start. Jordan is relaxed no matter what, he was happy as long as I was happy. It was hot and humid getting ready thanks to a huge summer storm but we danced in our with our bridal parties (well the girls did, cant speak for the boys) and were ready well before we had to be.

I don’t know if either of us having a specific moment, we just loved that the day we had been planning was here. We both loved having our nearest and dearest with us to celebrate and just the whirlwind of the whole day coming together it was so quick but also felt like forever. We loved that we spent time together but got to go about separately talking to people. I loved that so many joined the dance floor and had a good old boogie.

The only thing that didn’t go to plan was I guess we had this huge summer storm, with some hail and the decision was made at 12pm to go with the back up wet weather option. Because of this the layout of our reception changed and I hadn’t exactly thought of it as a walking down the aisle option so it was unpracticed and slightly messy when the moment came, but no one else would have noticed it, I loved the wet weather option anyway! You cant change or anticipate the weather and it made for some pretty spectacular photos in the dark clouds and green bush background and we got an amazing pink skied sunset! Oh and our first dance, I had been asking Jordan for months to have a basic routine for our first dance, so that we at least had some idea but he is a very much ‘wing it’ guy, so to me our first dance felt awkward and again messy but it was us and we loved it so it really wasnt a big deal and I’m sure no one else has given it a second thought.

Nothing

Odd saying we are husband and wife, but a good kind of odd. It feels very much the same as before but in a way more special to say we are married.

Honestly, booking the WEC for coordination, set up and clean up. Our venue was a DIY which is why we loved it and we initially thought we could do it all ourselves, however after research and talking to other couples we booked the WEC. The whole process was a dream but the on the day coordination/set up alone was well worth it. There was no way we would of been able to pull off the last minute wet weather change, a bride and her bridesmaids in hair and make up having to move an outdoor ceremony to undercover because of a surprise unexpected storm? Let alone organise the vendors to be safe from the storm and undercover as well. My stress levels would of been high and I would of been panicked at the thought of anyone in the bridal party having to spend the morning doing that so it was perfect to have them handling all of that for us, not to mention even without the weather all the little details you don’t think of and don’t want to deal with on the day are just handled! Oh and the clean up, wow is there anything worse then having to roll out of bed bright and early after your wedding to clean up the mess from the night before? All we did was get out of bed when we felt like it, spent our first morning soaking in all the moments from the day before and getting to the venue to grab all our staff that was packed up neatly for us and all we had to do was load it into the car, perfect. Genuinely could not recommend this style of service more.

Definitely over, but not in a bad way. I was very naive in how much things would cost and with the way inflation has been going things were definitely more expensive. However when we realised this, we changed the budget and sort of took things as they come, it was less than what the second budget was so we had a small win there!