Jess is a criminal defence lawyer and Dan is a journalist, so the dinner chat between these two would be the goods, no? They’ve been a couple for nine years now and surprised their family and friends only a few weeks out from the wedding about the fact that they were not only engaged but getting married so soon! The nuptials were held at The Mint, the bride wore a stunning Prea James Bridal two-piece that she bought from Sydney bridal boutique, Hope X Page and the couple’s rings were from none other than Grew & Co. Damien Milan documented the day beautifully, so scroll down for all the deets…
THE VENUE “We wanted to get married outside in a garden. We also wanted it to be private, have a wet weather option available and didn’t want to have to pack up anything or set it down. Enter The Mint (Sydney Living Museums). It was very easy and a beautiful venue – a sandstone courtyard, pretty tree and well-kept lawn. We wanted it to be low key, personal, happy and fun. I think we pulled it off.”
FAVE DETAILS “The food at Automata. We had a seven-course degustation with matching wines, plus snacks beforehand. Our guests have kept telling us how great it was and we can’t wait to go back. Dan read out a satirical news story about our family at the end of the wedding ceremony for some laughs, and the brass band played the classic ABC News theme.”
THE DRESS “I wore a Prea James Bridal two-piece featuring the Maya Skirt and Cecile Blouse. I did almost zero searching for a dress. I saw this dress on Instagram, googled Prea James and liked what I saw. I looked up where to buy it from (Hope X Page) and booked an appointment. This was all before we had told anyone we were even getting married. Hope X Page were great. I told them I only wanted to try on that dress and that’s what I did. I liked it and I bought it on the spot.”
REFERENCES “We found everyone on Instagram and Hello May.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “ Walking down the aisle together. It was important to us that we started married life together as equals. We don’t believe that a man should give a woman to another man, so we decided that we would walk down the aisle together. Just before the ceremony started we were standing together waiting to walk down the aisle. The band was singing our favourite song ‘Dog Years’ by Maggie Rogers. We just stood there together for a few moments holding hands and singing the song together – it was really nice.”
A WORD OF ADVICE “We learnt that weddings can bring up a lot of emotions and thoughts from (well-meaning) family members about what their idea of a wedding is. We are glad that we had a small wedding, got ready together at our house, walked down the aisle together, had no bridal party, wrote a ceremony that reflected us and our values and got photos with our cat.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “Held a ceremony that reflected us. Our celebrant gave us a template and other than the legal bits said we could change whatever we wanted – and we changed a lot. It was important to us that the ceremony was a coming together of two equals and as far removed as possible from its patriarchal roots. We changed the order so that the man didn’t always speak first, said the same vows as each other, had our mums sign the marriage certificate and our dads hand us the rings.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “We had only a handful of vendors. They were all extremely professional and the day went off without a hitch. We particularly liked our photographers, Nastia and Damien Milan. The photos they took are beautiful and we have had so many comments about them. We loved 343 Brass Band, they were minimum fuss and maximum fun. We found them online and they brought such a great vibe to the ceremony. They went above and beyond, learning the song ‘Dog Years’ by Maggie Rogers especially for our ceremony.”
Impressed with Jess & Dan’s wedding photography? Check out more incredible real weddings captured by Damien Milan, by heading to his Directory listing with us. You should also check out Grew & Co’s and Hope X Page. You’ll find inspo and rave reviews by real couples for days. And lastly, the impeccable venue, The Mint. But first…
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Damien Milan Florist Flowers by Nicola Ceremony Sydney Living Museums (The Mint) Reception Automata Drinks The Old Clare Hotel Cake Andy Bowdy Pastry Entertainment 343 Brass Band (Ceremony) Celebrant Jessie Cacchilo Rings Grew & Co Transport uber THE BRIDE Bridal Gown Prea James Bridal Bridal Boutique Hope X Page Shoes Dear Frances Accessories A. B. Ellie (Earrings) Hair Cheveux Bridal by Connie Makeup Aimie Fiebig THE GROOM Suit, Shirt & Bow Tie P. Johnson Shoes Florsheim Cat Socks FourFeetSocks via Etsy Grooming Edwards and Co & Cheveux Bridal by Connie