Real Wedding – Isabel & Jacob, Ripponlea VIC
Not long after becoming engaged, high-school sweethearts Jacob and Isabel decided they couldn’t wait a moment longer to become husband and wife.
Just two months out from their engagement party they resolved to wed earlier on that same date and transform their planned celebration into a surprise reception.
Despite the tight turn-around, their dream ceremony came together as effortlessly as their love story – including a ready-made Vera Wang gown that fit Isabel in Cinderella-like fashion.
Musical masterminds Amelia and Ryan, of Paper Hearts, provided the acoustic soundtrack to the intimate nuptials leaving the equally brilliant Ministry of DJs to set the dancefloor alight once the couple’s nearest and dearest were let in on the happy secret later that evening.
Scroll on to see how it all unfolded as captured by Bianca Virtue.
The meeting.
Jacob and I met in school back in 2015. Jacob was in the year above me and we actually had never met. Jacob had asked around about me and wanted to ask me to the year 12 formal, so he ended up sending me a message to ask me on a date, which, funnily enough, was on Valentine’s day. During the date he invited me to the year 12 formal and we have been together ever since.
The ‘one’.
Everything about our relationship feels as though it was “meant to be” since the beginning. It was very much like a movie, we had never crossed paths at school and out of nowhere Jacob took a chance to ask me on a date without having ever spoken to me. When we met for the time it felt so easy, it was almost like we had known each other forever. At that point, I saw myself being with Jacob for a long time and I knew quite early on that Jacob was my person.
The proposal.
The proposal happened this year in June, my now husband had a week’s break from work and I thought it would be a cool idea to book a tiny home somewhere as we had always wanted to try one. A bonus was we could also bring pets along so I thought it would be fun to take our dog and get away from the city. I ended up booking a tiny home in Johanna around four weeks in advance, and I had regretted it because the weather was terrible in Melbourne at the time and once it got closer to the week we were to go away, I wasn’t overly excited. As I had predicted it was very wet and muddy at the tiny home and we had little to no reception. On the day of the proposal, we were sitting on the porch at the tiny home having an afternoon snack, just relaxing and talking about the trip. Jacob was (weirdly) eating a lot of the snacks and then announced he needed to get some water but ended up going inside to grab the ring. Jacob then spent some time contemplating what to say and eventually proposed. I was absolutely bawling my eyes out while Jacob was waiting for my response, which was obviously ‘yes’. We then spent the afternoon making dinner and sitting by the fire with our dog. It was a complete surprise for me and what made it so special was that I didn’t expect it. It was a classic Jacob move.
Planning process.
The process behind the wedding was a bit more complicated as we had actually planned our engagement party first. The party was all sorted by early September, and then around mid-September, I started to think maybe we should just get married before the engagement party and surprise all of our guests, using the party as our reception. At that point it was two months out. The main reason for this was because Jacob and I had been together for almost 10 years now, and I really just thought “what are we waiting for?”. With the help of one of my good friends, I started to reach out to venues, celebrants and photographers and somehow everyone was available on this day. In hindsight, the planning was quite stressful due to the last minute decision and time frame to plan the ceremony but, once the main things were sorted, I found that I really enjoyed the small turnaround as I didn’t have to wait too long for it all to come together, and it made us be very decisive in what I wanted for our special day.
Style inspiration.
The inspiration was sort of a garden party. Our venue was at the beautiful Quat Quatta and the ceremony was held outdoors in the courtyard. I wanted it to be quite classic and minimalistic with a white and green colour palette for the flowers and signs, and then I requested guests to wear colourful attire.
The ceremony.
I think the most special thing about the day was just that Jacob and I have been together for so many years, it was a very emotional day and something that I had wanted for a while. We were able to have our most important people at our ceremony, with multiple guests flying all the way from London to be there even with the short notice. Even though it wasn’t how I had originally pictured my wedding to be, it was better than anything I had ever hoped for and truly the best day of my life.
The outfits.
In all honesty, the most stressful thing about my wedding was finding the perfect dress. With the short time frame, I was limited to ready-made dresses which I needed to order ASAP. I ended up going to several dress fittings on my own due to the lack of time and friends/family availability. I hadn’t had much luck and even though the wedding was low-key and intimate, I still wanted to have my “this is the dress” moment. In one of the bridal stores, the shop assistant suggested this Vera Wang dress, which I had initially thought was not my style, but once I put it on and saw myself in it, I knew this was the dress. It was so timeless and classic, and it fit me so well, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so the next day during my work lunch break, I went back to the store and bought it.
Favourite moments.
There were actually a few favourite moments of the day, starting with walking down the aisle. This was such an emotional thing for me – this day felt like a long time coming and I know many of my family and friends felt the same way – so when the time finally came I was so overwhelmed with emotion, almost everyone was in tears and it just felt so right at the time. My second favorite part was when my two dogs came to the ceremony. I really wanted to involve them in some way and so we were able to get them to the venue for some photos. My final favourite moment was at the reception when we surprised everyone that we had gotten married earlier that day. We showed a brief video which our videographer was able to put together in the time between the ceremony and reception. It was so great to finally share the exciting news with everyone.
Meaning of marriage.
To us it means two people dedicating their lives to each other. It’s so much more than just a signed piece of paper, it means looking after each other through the hardships of life, being each other’s support, making memories and celebrating the love they have for each other. I think marriage is both the security and reassurance that someone you love, loves you back just as much.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle – XO by Beyoncé (acoustic)
Signing – L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole
Ceremony exit – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John
Funny stories/near disasters.
I think the fact that we had to keep the whole wedding ceremony a secret and all the guests coming to our engagement party had no idea that it would actually be our wedding reception. It was very tricky to keep the surprise and several times I had to do some serious covering up when people started to speculate that it might be a surprise wedding. I also may have let it slip to a couple of people accidentally, so having to rely on others to keep the secret was hard as well.
Planning surprises.
By some miracle, everyone that I reached out to whether it was our photographer, venue, videographer or celebrant, they were all somehow available on this day, which I was shocked at given it was only two months out. So that was amazing and made my life a lot easier.
Words of wisdom.
I think the main thing couples should remember is that it’s their wedding and they shouldn’t care about other people’s opinions when it comes to any decisions or choices related to the wedding. I also found that it’s also okay to ask for help. At times I would forget that I had the most amazing friends to lean on when I needed help.
For more micro-wedding inspo, read all about Chanel & Mark’s special day.
ISABEL & JACOB’S SUPPLIERS:
Ceremony venue: Quat Quatta
Reception venue: Glass Haus Brücke
Celebrant: Shura Taft
Photography: Bianca Virtue
Videography: Lachy Films
Florist: Bloom Blessings
Hair: Jelena Vasic (Joey Scandizzo)
Make-up: Sheridan Graham
The dresses: Vera Wang (Wedding Dress) + Alin Le Kal (Second Dress)
Veil / headwear – if applicable: Anna Campbell
Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Rings: The Diamond Guys
Suit & tie: Menz Club
Cake / Cake topper: Tiramisu as our wedding cake from Dzert
Stationery / Signage: Still Haus Studio
Entertainment: Ceremony – Paper Hearts + Ministry of DJ’s for reception
