JESSE & JONNY’S NORTHERN RIVERS WEDDING

Not into the idea of a traditional wedding venue, Jesse and Jonny were searching for “a place with soul”. “We’d spend almost every weekend at the Eltham Hotel for arvo beers. We would talk about the kind of space we wanted and one day, we looked at each other and said, ‘Should we just ask Matty (the pub owner) if we can get married here?!’ We were their first (and possibly last – haha) wedding.”

At almost 120 years old, the historic pub was oozing the vibes and fit perfectly with the couple’s laidback personalities. “We wanted the day to feel less like a conventional wedding and more like a festival of love,” they share.

Our mate Brendan Back was behind the lens for the big day, the bride’s sister, Em, of FLWR Studio, pulled together Jesse’s floral dreams, while the couples’ wedding party were dressed in two of our faves Bec + Bridge and M.J. Bale. Scroll for all this goodness from the print archives…

THE PROPOSAL “Christmas Day is my favourite day of the year and everyone knows me as a total Christmas fanatic. We are early risers and when we woke up early on Christmas morning 2019, Jonny asked me if I wanted my “special Christmas present”. Jonny launched into a beautiful spiel about how much he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Having been together for such a long time and having told one another many moons ago that we would spend our lives together, I sort of brushed it off and told him I knew that before trying to doze off again for a few more Zzz’s. At that point Jonny exclaimed, ‘Jesse, I’m trying to ask you to marry me!!!’ We both had a good laugh and I obviously gave him a resounding yes!”

THE DRESS “Dream woman – Kate Willa made my dress. Actor Daisy Edgar Jones wore the Chanel couture dress that inspired the dress Kate ultimately made for me. I saw it on Instagram and could not look away. Kate saw the image and totally got the vision. The dress Kate made for me was even more beautiful than the Chanel dress and tailored perfectly to my style. I was going for something 60s inspired, playful, sexy and relaxed. She exceeded my every expectation. Working with Kate was honestly a dream.”

FAVE DETAILS “The speeches – all of them! They were just so special. All of the tears, the laughter and the big warm embraces at the close of each speech. And the flowers! My sister, Em, of FLWR Studio did the flowers and they were so beautiful. I didn’t want anything that would be too time consuming or labor intensive for her as I wanted to spend max time with her. She pulled together my absolute dream of wild grasses with cafe au lait dahlias, everlasting daisies and my favourite – flannel flowers!”

A WORD OF ADVICE “Photographers and videographers are worth their weight in gold. Weddings are expensive and almost everything you spend money on is used up on the day, but the photos and videos you get to keep forever. They’ll bring you so much joy for the rest of your life so if your budget is getting tight, try to cut from somewhere els! Also Matty of the Eltham Hotel gave us a stellar piece of advice that I’ll forever impart to couples about to get married – at some point during the night, make sure you and your newly wedded lover take a quiet minute to step away from the party and look back at all of your guests. It is an incredible feeling when you look in and see all of your favourite people having such a great time and it’s all in the name of your love!”

This wedding was first published in Issue 37 which is available to shop in our online store. And cos we love you guys so, add issue 39 to your cart (in addition to Issue 37) and use the code TWOFORONE to score issue 37 for free – that’s a saving of $14.95!