Real Wedding – Courtney & Justin, Cremorne VIC
Look no further than Courtney and Justin’s dream day for the perfect balance of amped-up yet blissfully laid-back vibes, lush forest meets inner city chic, and stunningly loved-up celebrations. These high school sweethearts chose to do their celebration their way, resulting in an occasion that felt as relaxed as it was meaningful and allowed them to relish every sweet moment.
Glasshaus Indoor provided the gorgeous greenery-filled backdrop, with only soft styling enhancements required. Florals in creamy cinnamon, ivory and burnt sienna complemented the dreamy foliage look, whilst a wedding party in charcoal and soft champagne added a timeless touch.
But of course, it was Courtney and Justin who drew all eyes to them. Glowing and gorgeous, Courtney wore an all-over lace gown by those who do it best, Grace Loves Lace. As celebrant superstar Teagan from Panache & Co wove magic around them with her words, the new Mr and Mrs looked every bit the blissed-up, beautiful centre of this epic occasion.
A party like this calls for a DJ who can truly amp up a dance floor – enter our friends, One More Song. With the night in their hands, it was indeed one to remember, captured to perfection by Tahnee Jade Photography.
The meeting.
Justin reached out to Courtney over Facebook when he found out she was moving to his school.
Justin: I thought she looked like a model in her profile picture, so I decided to message her to get on the front foot. At the time, we were only 15 (going into year nine, so in 2011!). We were really good friends at school, and being complete opposites made it interesting – Courtney would often get me in trouble for talking in class while she would copy some of my answers. We simply grew closer over time, and the relationship started naturally from a close friendship.
The ‘one’.
There was not a real defining moment. As we grew older and closer in our relationship, we faced the challenges of navigating early adulthood. We complement each other and face all challenges together, and we have always had mutual respect, which has made us stronger and stronger every day!
The proposal.
(Justin) We stayed at Disneyland for three nights while in America, and the plan was the propose in front of the Disney castle on the final night. We walked around for about an hour and a half past the castle about six times as I kept freezing from nerves each time we got to the spot. Eventually, I got the courage to ask Courtney to take one final photo in front of the castle. I handed the camera to a stranger, already recording, and whispered that I was about to propose. The film turned out great with the Disney castle in the background; however, I ended up putting the ring on the wrong hand as we both realised that we had no idea which hand it was meant to be on! The photos we got afterwards needed to be flipped, so it looked like the ring was on correctly (oops).
Planning process.
Courtney: This was my domain as I already had most of my tribe screenshotted on my phone, ready to contact way before wedding planning. I mainly used Instagram and other people’s weddings as inspiration! I also had a Pinterest account that I regularly used to save some stuff. When we both started planning, it was a very overwhelming process to figure out what kind of wedding we wanted and what theme we wanted to go for.
We found a lot of real-life weddings the most useful, looking at tagged vendors on posts that appealed to the vibe we were going for while also reading a lot of articles and information!
We then got super organised and pretty much had all the big things (photographer, venue, DJ, caterer, celebrant, dress) booked and ready to go 12 months in advance. Thankfully covid was no issue with us, and we booked our date before covid hit and didn’t have to postpone – perfect timing!
Style inspiration.
For our big day, we really just wanted to spend as much time as we could mingling and having fun with the guests and each other, with as few formalities as possible. So, choosing a cocktail wedding suited the relaxing vibe we wanted. Also, we are major nature lovers and were conflicted about having a city wedding as it is the complete opposite. But, once we saw Glasshaus, we fell in love. We had the opportunity to choose all our vendors, decorate it how we wanted and knew it was perfect for us.
Asking for advice from others and using social media platforms were the main things that helped us make our decisions.
The outfit.
Even before I was engaged, I knew about Grace Loves Lace and just knew my wedding dress would be from there! Over a year before the wedding, I went in, and I loved the first dress I tried on, so I just got it. The more choices I have, the harder it is for me to make a decision, so I tried my best to trust others’ advice and not overthink it!
Favourite moments.
Our favourite memory of the day was getting our photos with Tahnee. We got our photos taken before the ceremony, and being together with our bridesmaids and groomsmen, knowing there was so much of the day to come, meant we were all just on cloud nine and having so much fun! We also hired a limo so having a few drinks in that before the ceremony and seeing Justin before walking down the aisle eliminated all of our nerves and just put us in the best mood for the rest of the day.
Another moment which we loved was dancing after all the formalities with our favourite people and just enjoying their company!
Meaning of marriage.
Marriage to us is just a beautiful way of celebrating our love and the beginning of the next step of our love story! We decided to get married as our relationship and love have been so effortless over the past years that it simply felt easy and natural for us. We were pretty much already married as we lived together beforehand, own three fur babies and most disagreements are surrounding housework!
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: I Like Me Better by Lauv (Boyce Avenue ft. Emma Heesters acoustic cover).
We didn’t have a reception entry song, but our end-of-ceremony song kick-started the reception straight away: You Make My Dreams Come True by Daryl Hall & John Oates.
Funny stories or near disasters.
(Courtney) It was a long-running joke for years that I would get a cold sore right before the wedding, as I tend to get them at the worst times. Two days before the wedding, I felt one coming through and went to the chemist and spent a ridiculous amount of money on every single thing I could use to stop it! Thankfully, it stopped and went away! So, I dodged that disaster!
The lead-up to the wedding and the day ran perfectly, and there were zero mishaps. Thankfully we had covered all grounds to have a backup plan for everything and had the most amazing vendors that knew exactly what they were doing, so we were so lucky.
Planning surprises.
Not really; we were on top of all the planning and did everything super in advance!
Words of wisdom.
Try your hardest to organise as much as possible in advance, and do not overthink it! Put your trust in your vendors and let them take control. We made a few controversial decisions about our wedding not being super traditional, so we had to stick to our guns when discussing it with others. But, at the end of the day, the wedding was ours, and everything that happened was how we wanted it.
Want your wedding to be party-vibe-level fun from the minute your guests arrive? The amazing Aleks and Eddy from One More Song share their expertise with us on how to create the right atmosphere for your sweet celebration, here on the blog.
COURTNEY & JUSTIN’S VENDORS
Ceremony & reception venue: Glasshaus Inside. We chose Glasshaus because of the accessibility, ability to style the wedding our own way and the amazing greenery that is present.
Celebrant: Teagan, Panache & Co.
Photography: Tahnee Jade Photography. Tahnee was fun, relaxed, professional and captured all of the important moments. She was easy to work with on the day and was happy to take any suggestions from us. We ended up having much more photos than we initially expected which was awesome! We were really nervous about our photos because we just thought we would be super awkward, but Tahnee made us feel so comfortable and confident just to be ourselves! The day after the wedding, we received 100 photos already edited as a sneak peek, which was certainly a highlight as we could reflect on the day right away with some good snaps. We didn’t have to wait too long for the rest to come through either – only a matter of weeks.
Hair: Andrea Hall, Styled by Andi (style) and Em Cornell Hair (colour).
Make-up: Makeup Artistry by Brodie.
Tan: Lujuria Studio
The dress: Grace Loves Lace
Shoes: Novo
Rings: Bevilles
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Bec + Bridge
Groomsmen’s suits & bow ties: Ferrari Formalwear and Bridal
Catering: Good Life Party Food Shop
Bar: Glasshaus Inside
Cake: Cake N Co
Entertainment: One More Song
Transport: 1300 Limo Now
Décor & hire: Place Settings
Honeymoon: Mexico – Secrets the Vine Cancun
