Real Wedding – Jess & Luke, Cadello VIC

A summer garden wedding in a European-inspired countryside—did someone say dream vision? For Jess and Luke, two years of planning allowed them to carefully curate a day that is as aesthetically sublime as it is subtly enhanced with effortless romance.

Beginning with a perfectly humourous and heartfelt ceremony by celebrant superstar Megan Thompson, the tone was set for the celebrations to continue. Surrounded by stellar gardens and elegantly rustic interiors of Cadella Park, the newlyweds and their guests partied to the sweet tunes of legends Hey Jack.

We love Jess and Luke’s perfectly on-point colour palette. Sorbet hues of the softest pastels weave through captivatingly crafted arrangements by Prunella, while mismatched bridesmaid gowns add a sense of dynamic artistry to the overall effect.

But it’s the electrifying excitement between Jess and Luke that truly caught our hearts—every beautiful moment captured with evocative style by Tess Follett.

The meeting.

Jess and Luke: We met on a night out while both holidaying in Byron Bay in 2015. We ended up sitting and talking for ages, and we both recall feeling a connection very quickly. We were living in separate states at the time, so there were weeks in between seeing each other again for our first and then following dates—but it was worth it!

The one.

Jess and Luke: When we went on a camping trip for a few weeks up the east coast of Australia. This was a few years into our relationship and we had known we loved each other for a while, but this is when it became really clear that we wanted to spend every day together and that we were truly best friends.

The proposal.

Jess: There is a special place on the Great Ocean Road where I have always spent family holidays. Luke had set up some champagne on the beach down there to stumble across whilst walking our golden retriever and then popped the question! We then went to dinner, and Luke had organised some friends and family to join us for the rest of the weekend to celebrate. It was an amazing couple of days.

Planning process.

Jess and Luke: We were engaged for two years before getting married, so we had given ourselves a decent amount of time. Despite this, it truly felt like any less time would’ve been rushed! There is a lot more to organise than we initially thought.

The hardest part was probably finding the perfect venue, because everything else is halted until you have a venue and a date – but it was also really fun to picture our day in so many different ways whilst we were venue hunting. We started booking our vendors as soon as we had a date, and we are glad we got in early as we really had the dream team on the day.

We tried to romanticise the wedding planning process as much as possible (although admittedly, there were also many hours lost in the Instagram abyss trying to find every perfect vendor). Some of our favourite memories from planning our wedding were when we booked a night away to cosy up and answer the questions for our celebrant, went and saw live performances of wedding entertainers, made date nights out of learning our first dance, and visited wineries to choose our wine list.

We each had our different strengths in wedding planning and found ourselves referring to Luke as the “logistics guy” (with strengths in bus schedules, alcohol orders, and budgets) and Jess as the “vibes girl” (colour schemes, florals, and stationery). Our different strengths and teamwork helped a lot!

Style inspiration.

Jess and Luke: We wanted something that felt at least akin to a summer garden wedding in the European countryside (we can dream). We fell in love with our venue because it had all the country elements but still felt very manicured and glam. We used things like the mismatched bridesmaid dresses in pastel colours, umbrellas, parasols, acoustic music, stunning florals (Prunella is a genius at florals), and limoncello spritzes to bring this vibe to life.

Jess: I spent a lot of time looking at wedding inspo from Ivory Tribe, and listening to podcasts (you & me, and real weddings edit were my go-tos). I found it useful to hear from real experiences in order to prioritise what was most important to us.

The ceremony.

Jess and Luke: We loved our celebrant, Megan Thompson. We knew we wanted someone who was that perfect mix of emotional and funny. She created a very casual, intimate, and romantic ceremony that really told a story of our relationship. We wanted to highlight some key people in our ceremony – so we had Megan introduce our bridal party and explain why we loved them. We also had our siblings, parents, and our nieces and nephews all walk down the aisle, not just the bridesmaids. I think this helped it to feel really family-centric too.

We also chose to make fairly long personal vows to each other (about five or six minutes each). Even though it is impossible to say everything we mean to each other, we wanted to try! This made that moment feel really rich to both of us.

The outfit.

Jess: My dress was the Sienna gown from Mariana Hardwick. I went to about five different bridal stores, and nothing felt right until I tried on this gown; I loved it immediately. Initially I wanted to buy a dress second hand to snag a bargain and give something a second life – but after I tried on this I couldn’t find anything I loved quite as much, it broke me!  The process with Mariana Hardwick is so special, though, and it was lovely to build a relationship with the team throughout the fitting process and get to see the dress come to life.

Luke: My suit was from Oscar Hunt, initially Jess came across them at a wedding fair and immediately felt their staff were just really personable. At the first fitting, it was clear they would make a great suit and that I was in good hands. I couldn’t have had a better experience – and will definitely be back for more suits in future.

Favourite moments.

Jess and Luke: It’s so hard to pick one moment, but the vows to each other and the speeches from our friends and family were really the moments that made the day feel so special. Having so much love in one room is an unforgettable feeling.

Meaning of marriage.

Jess: I feel that marriage is about saying ‘life is better with you’ – in that, there is an acknowledgement of what life is. That there will be big great days like our wedding day, or the birth of our future children, holidays, achievements and promotions – but that there will also be really, really hard days when life brings with it inevitable grief and loss – and then there will be the mundane days of chores, and traffic, and work. Marriage, for me, is saying that in all of those days, I want to share it with you because you make things better, easier, and more meaningful. Ultimately, I couldn’t imagine not sharing a moment – whether it was good or bad – with Luke.

Luke: Marriage, for me, is about choosing each day to support each other to grow together and as individuals in the crazy journey of life. It is about the little things as much as the big things – its about saying “I love you” and having a kiss and cuddle when you part ways as much as it is travelling the world together or starting a family. It’s about recognizing that what I’ve found in Jess is so special, and it is about not taking that for granted because I know I am so lucky to have found what I have.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle (family): Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Aisle (bridesmaids/bride): We had our duo (indie duo at Hey Jack) perform a slow acoustic version of Next to Me by Rufus and it was so good, we loved loved loved this song choice.

Reception entry: World of our love by Client Liaison

Bridesmaid entrance: Let’s get loud by J Lo.

Groomsmen entrance: Old Town Road by Lil Nas X

First dance: Love you for a long time by Maggie Rogers (we mashed up a slower version with the original)

Funny stories (or near disasters).

Jess: I really wanted to be savvy and DIY our own stationary. However, we were two weeks out from the wedding, and I still hadn’t done it. Therefore, there were many last-minute hours spent on Canva and desperate trips to Officeworks—I just kept ordering the wrong size, changing my mind, printing it on the wrong paper, and even sending it to the wrong location for printing. I think we ended up with all the stationary in hand only two days before the wedding!

Luke: The night before, we were having a rehearsal dinner at our accommodation, and as people were arriving, we found a bat in one of the bedrooms. There was lots of laughter and panic as one of the bridesmaids’ husbands tried to guide it out of the house (luckily with success).

Planning surprises.

We both naively thought we were really on top of things and were pretty much ‘done’ after we had our vendors and venue booked, food chosen, and invites out. So we were both a bit surprised when, four weeks out from the wedding day, it suddenly seemed like there was a mountain of things to do. It was things we hadn’t even thought of or accounted for in our planning process – just lots more specifics, decisions, and logistics than we initially thought.

Words of wisdom.

Jess: Think about what will feel significant to you both as a couple in years to come and make sure you make time for this – whatever that is to you. There can be a lot of noise in the wedding planning process but at the end of the day, it’s about marrying the love of your life and having a day with all of the people in your life in one room. That’s really special.

Luke: Get stationary done professionally (haha)! Also lock in your most important vendors early or you will miss out, we booked our photographer, venue, and celebrant nearly two years in advance and Tess (our photographer) said she received another enquiry for our date just hours after ours.

If, like Jess and Luke, you want to carefully assemble a team of only the most high-quality, talented humans, we hear you. We’ve handpicked some of the best vendors in the business over on our directory.

JESS & LUKE’S VENDORS

Ceremony & reception venue: Cadella Park, Cadello VIC.

Celebrant: Megan Thompson. We actually saw Megan officiate the wedding of our friends a few years ago. We weren’t even engaged then, but both had said how great she was, so when it came to choosing our own celebrant, we immediately thought of her. It turned out she was also one of the recommended vendors from both our venue and photographer, so it was just a no-brainer for us!

Photography: Tess Follett. The pictures speak for themselves, but beyond her amazing photos, Tess is a dream to have there on the day. She is so warm and fun and it’s very easy to feel relaxed and comfortable around her. Couldn’t recommend her more!

Videography: Micky Caparelli – Bellatrix Films. Micky is so good at being a fly on the wall and capturing natural moments as they happen. We wanted our video to be candid and natural and reflect the spirit of the day, and he did exactly that!

Florist: Prunella Flowers. We were so lucky to have Prunella; they are just so good! Prunella is attached to Cadella Park, so if you book with the venue, you will also get this floral dream team!

Hair: Emily Tavlian and Ruby Becroft. Both of them did an amazing job at glamming everyone and were just such fun and kind people to have there on the morning of!

Make-up: Steph Ke at Tonic Agency also nailed everyone’s make up and was a very friendly and calming person to share the wedding morning with!

The dresses: Sienna Gown from Mariana Hardwick, and the second dress was from Rachel Gilbert.

Veil: Mariana Hardwick

Shoes: Jess’ shoes were Manolo Blahnik and Luke’s were from Oscar Hunt.

Rings: Jess’ engagement ring and wedding band are both from Cushla Whiting. Luke’s wedding band is from Uniform Black in Seddon. Both experiences were so personalised and special – I definitely suggest checking both out!

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Acne Studios, Bec + Bridge, Anna Quan, Sir the Label, and Lexi Clothing.

Suits & bow ties / ties: Luke’s suit was Oscar Hunt and the groomsmen suits were all rented from Black Tie Classic.

Catering & cake: Spoonful Catering – yum!

Bar: We brought it all from Dan Murphys and wineries we liked, then had Cadella Park staff serve it.

Stationery / Signage: Us

Entertainment: Hey Jack

Transport: Organ’s Coaches

Décor: Cadella Park already had such beautiful styling elements we didn’t have to bring anything in!

Honeymoon: Europe!