Real Wedding - Jade & Michael, Dromana VIC

February 2, 2017 In Real Weddings By Jessica Brawn

Real Wedding – Jade & Michael, Dromana VIC

For Jade and Michael, it may not have been love at first sight, but it was love that inevitably followed! The couple celebrated their wedding day in true barefoot bohemian style, at a private property in Red Hill, before continuing the party at the award winning Trofeo Estate in Dromana. This relaxed, fun-filled affair was captured beautifully by photographer, Nicole Willams.

In Jades words…

The meeting.

It was SO not romantic, but we met at a nightclub whilst I was underage clubbing at 16! He was the hot, mysterious DJ with the to-die-for side fringe. I was smitten!

The one.

I knew I would end up with him. I was just so drawn to him over the years of being friends and we always found our way back to one another. I guess there was no “aha, this is it” moment, but the Japanese have a saying; “Koi no yokan” which basically means that instead of love at first site, it’s more of an “I know that it’s inevitable that we will fall in love” kind of thing. That is how I felt.

The proposal.

Well, I thought it was coming weeks earlier on our anniversary trip to Tasmania, or my birthday. So when it didn’t happen on our trip I was a little disappointed, but got over it. On February 27th we decided to go to our favourite spot which is Warburton Redwood Forest for a picnic and to eat a bunch of mangoes. I actually said “if you ever ask me to marry you, please do it here” about 20 minutes before he did it. I make YouTube videos and was filming that day, so he insisted for me to use my tripod. I wasn’t too interested, so he ran to the car and got it and set it up while I wasn’t watching. He asked me to close my eyes to play a game. When I opened them and he was on one knee. I cried like a BABY! It was magic. You can watch the video here!

The planning.

Super relaxed. I knew I wanted to DIY a bit of decoration and my dad helped creating the wood arch and other signs and stuff, so it was easy for us to do that! I am trying to convince my dad to start a business out of it! He is so talented.

Style inspiration.

We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of us, so I guess we were our own inspiration. We wanted natural, relaxed and lots of wood!

The dress.

I bought my dress,’Tara’, from Grace Loves Lace on a trip up to the Gold Coast with my bridesmaids! I originally loved another one and it looked beautiful on, but I loved the back more than I loved the front. So I chose a safe bet with ‘Tara’.

Favourite moments.

Being hoisted onto the shoulders of my friends and family at the end of the ceremony while Michael was on his friends shoulders. The last song was Shooting Stars by Bag Raiders and we just all screamed, sang and danced so hard to it while on our mates shoulders. It was iconic!

Traditions.

Nope, not really. It wasn’t a very traditional wedding at all!

The meaning of marriage.

Unconditional love, growth and fun!

Wedding soundtrack:

Aisle: Bella by Angus and Julia Stone.

We didn’t have a first dance or a reception entry as we wanted it pretty relaxed! We definitely boogied hard to lots of house anthems from 2007 (think Ministry of Sound 2007). Magic!

Funny stories/ near disasters.

Oh gosh, well I turned into an anxious mess before walking down the aisle even though I thought I wouldn’t. The day completely takes you by surprise! Once at the reception, we were stoked with our meals (all vegan of course) and my Maid of Honour, Simone, and I were offered the last cucumber topped with beetroot dip. I went to offer Simone half, then spilt beetroot dip all over the front of my dress! I looked up at Simone and bluntly said “get me to a bathroom.” We laughed our lungs out while scrubbing the beetroot out of my dress. Most of it came out, it was hilarious! Another bonus was my 9 year old brother getting into dance battles with our friends. He even did the splits, it was pure GOLD!

Planning surprises.

Seeing Michael get so emotional while reading his vows was a surprise. He doesn’t show loads of emotion, so seeing him struggle to speak was really something else. Everyone else said they cried while he read. I did too (obviously!), it was really beautiful to see him speak with such emotion.

Words of wisdom.

Live in the moment and don’t feel obliged to invite people just because you think you have to. By us having a intimate wedding we were able to speak with everyone and really connect. And our dance floor still went off!

Last words.

Be present and don’t wear shoes!