Could you get a cuter bride and groom? Not to mention their beautiful blue eyed fur baby. We are in love. And very clearly, so are Jess and Hamish. “We have been together for just over eight years,” explains the bride. She describes their coupling as a “classic Hobart romance, really.” With a weird twist to boot! “We met at a party through mutual friends and about a year later we started talking after Hamish helped me fix my broken hard drive. I rocked up to his house to meet for our first date and it was the same house my dad lived in when he was a kid. So weird.”
After a two year engagement (thanks COVID), they got married in this gorgeous wedding – shot by one of our fave lens ladies, Miranda Stokkel – on a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Brickendon Estate, in glorious Tasmania. “We wanted somewhere that let us do our own thing without too many rules. We didn’t want to have to change locations between the ceremony and reception and weren’t super keen on a sit down wedding. It just felt right. Plus our dog, Samson, was able to come to the ceremony.” Let’s take a closer look at some of these stunning on-the-day details, shall we?
THE DRESS I started looking for a dress pretty early on, mostly just because it was fun. But I am also pretty picky about what I wear and I just wanted to feel like myself. I spoke with Celyna from Ziolkowski at a bridal fair and told what I was looking for – a white slip dress with a long-sleeve sheer top to wear over. I hadn’t really seen what I wanted anywhere and at that stage I hadn’t even considered getting something custom made, because I thought it would have been way out of my budget. But she was able to make what I wanted from scratch within my budget, so we got the process underway. The whole experience was amazing. She was so easy to work with and her knowledge of how things will fall and sit on your figure was outstanding. She is going to take it up for me soon so I can wear it again, and it’s also machine washable. Win!”
DIY “We made the signs for the ceremony, entrance and ‘no smoking’, my [Jess’] dad made the timber frames and the signs, and Hamish helped me paint the words onto the signs. Dad also made the timber box that held the doughnuts (from Lady Hester). I also designed our stationery – a vintage botanical invite with simple typography, which basically just said go to the website because I didn’t want to ruin the design with too much info. Working in the design industry, so much of what I do every day is creating designs for other people so I actually loved being able to design our wedding invites and website.”
LITTLE LOL I did print the wrong URL on our wedding invites. I purchased the URL jessandhamish.com but then wrote hamishandjess.com on the invites. Hamish realised when the final print run arrived in the mail! Haha, such a fail. Luckily the URL I printed was still available. But it was a stressful couple of minutes!
FAVOURITE DETAILS “I [Hamish] think the flowers were my favourite detail. We just gave Abigail, of Wildly Abigail, a super loose brief that we wanted natives in earthy colours and trusted her to do her thing. Everything she does is locally and seasonally sourced so we had no idea what kind of flowers were going to turn up on the day. It was such a nice surprise. They were perfect. She was a dream to work with too – she 100 percent got what we wanted from our flowers.”
WE’RE GLAD WE “Did a first look. It made our whole day run so smoothly and took lots of our nerves away. We also stayed together the night before the wedding!”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Every single vendor was so amazing to work with. But the absolutely standout was Miranda Stokkel. Every photo is just bloody amazing and she is just a wonderful, talented human. She made us laugh and feel so comfortable in front of the camera and I honestly kept forgetting she was taking photos. The way she captured the light, the mood and all our family and friends was just amazing. We are so grateful she was able to be our photographer. It was also really special to be able to have Alistair, of Jack Ivy Fine Jewellery, make our rings. Hamish has been friends with him for a long time and he was so easy to work with, even though he was in Melbourne and all my trips over there ended up getting cancelled due to COVID. And Wildly Abigail, who did our flowers. She is so good at what she does and created the most beautiful flowers for us. It’s so nice when your vendors are just chill and organised.”
REFERENCES “I found Miranda Stokkel in Hello May about three years ago. Being a photographer, I have been in awe of her work since I first started following her. We actually picked our wedding date based on Miranda’s availability! As for our other vendors, it’s Hobart, so we found a lot of them by word of mouth or people we knew. Alistair from Jack Ivy Fine Jewellery, who made both of our rings, is one of Hamish’s best friends. Chanaya Speakman has been my hairdresser for a few years so she was an obvious choice. Liv Rodgers Makeup Artist came highly recommended from friends, and Hamish’s brother is good friends with the owners of Lady Hester. I also went to a bridal fair at the Hobart waterfront last year, which is where I found my dressmaker, Celyna from Ziolkowski.
Ready for a scroll through some downright magical photos, courtesy of the talented Miranda Stokkel? Let’s go…
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Miranda Stokkel Florist Wildly Abigail Stationery Jess Oakenfull Printer Stitch Press Ceremony & Reception Brickendon Estate Catering Gather & Graze (grazing table) Food Truck Taco Taco Desserts Lady Hester (sourdough doughnuts) Hire Items Op shops, Kmart Sound Hire Modern Musican Signage DIY Entertainment Jed Appleton (ceremony) Celebrant Kathleen Ryan Rings Jack Ivy Fine Jewellery THE BRIDE Bridal Gown Ziolkowski Shoes Joe Mercer (ceremony/photos) Blundstone (reception) Accessories Holly Ryan (earrings) Hair Chanaya Speakman Makeup Liv Rodgers Makeup Artist Bridesmaid Dresses Bridesmaids’ own. THE GROOM Jacket, Shirt & Pants Routleys Menswear Hobart Tie John Henric Shoes Florsheim Grooming Chanaya Speakman Groomsmen Suits Routleys Menswear Hobart