The Special Couple: Jess + Rob

THE FIRST SIGHT & THE PROPOSAL

Rob and I met the old-fashioned way, through mutual friends at a bar in Adelaide. We had been dating for 18months before he proposed to me. Together we decided  that we would save for a house, and that felt like a lifetime. I was watching everyone around me getting engaged, getting married and having kids and I wanted the proposal. As a treat for us, I decided that I would book a trip away to Tasmania for Rob’s birthday in January. I wanted to keep the destination a surprise but he managed to figure it out and had planned a surprise day out for us while we were there. I had so many people telling me that he was going to propose to me while we were there, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. We started the day at MONA before we took a helicopter ride to Nant Distillery where a waitress was waiting with champagne. After a tasting and tour of the distillery, we were back in the chopper heading to Frogmore Creek Winery for lunch and more wine tasting. I wanted some photos in the beautiful surroundings and when the old selfie wasn’t quite making the cut, he went back to ask the couple who we had sat next to at lunch to come and take some photos. After couple of photos with the vineyard as the background he asked me “what about one like this?” and got down on his knee and asked me to marry him.

THE INSPIRATION

We are quite laidback people so we wanted a no fuss wedding, I guess you can say that was our theme. We were wanting to stick to neutral colours to match our winery location.

THE BRIDAL LOOK

Nothing really inspired my bridal look, but I had always thought I would have a different style of dress and never pictured myself in a fitted gown. However, when I tried the Badgley Mischka, Autumn gown, I instantly loved it.

HER SAY "YES" TO THE DRESS MOMENT

As soon as I put on the first dress at Eternal Bridal I immediately had my wow moment, it was a fitted dress and I had never pictured myself in one but I knew 100% this was the dress! I loved everything about it! I came out and showed my girlfriends and my mum and they all agreed this was it. My mum was in tears as was my lovely consultant who was helping us. I put on a veil and instantly felt like a perfect bride. I tried on the other dresses we had picked but was so set on the first dress that we purchased it.

THE WEDDING

The night before the wedding the weather was terrible, it was raining and stormy and we were worried that we were going to have to change our plans at the winery. But the next morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies. The morning of the wedding felt like it went forever, I was quite the eager beaver and just wanted to walk down the aisle. The time came and it was perfect, seeing how happy my dad was to walk me down the aisle made my day. It was overwhelming seeing all of our family and friends there but once I got to see Rob and Jagger our dog waiting for me, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The ceremony was beautiful and included a reading done by Robs niece and nephew which they had been practicing, it was amazing to see them read so well and be a part of our day, we were so proud. The reception was very relaxed and was such a fun night celebrating with everyone closest to us, everyone was on the dance floor enjoying the saxophone DJ. My only complaint is that this portion of the day/night went too quickly. We ended the night with a sparkler send off.

THE HIGHLIGHT

I have so many highlights from that day. But my top four highlights would be; seeing Rob and Jagger waiting for me at the end of the aisle, having my dad with me to walk me down the aisle, seeing all our amazing family and friends at our wedding especially because most of them had to travel to be there with us and watching our gorgeous niece and nephew do their reading at the ceremony.

BRIDE'S ADVICE

My advice would be to try on everything even things you wouldn’t think be your bridal style, and don’t stress, just enjoy the whole process. Getting married is something most girls dream about and it’s the best experience.

BRIDE'S ETERNAL BRIDAL EXPERIENCE

Like most brides I wanted my closest girlfriends and my mum with me on my hunt for my dream dress. They had all flown over from Adelaide and I had lined up the bridal boutiques I wanted to visit while they were in Melbourne. The first two boutiques were good, I tried on a few gowns, but I hadn’t got that “wow I’m 100% sure” feeling yet. The third boutique was a flop and made me feel a bit discouraged, but I still had my appointment at Eternal Bridal and wanted to make the most of having friends and mum down. The staff at Eternal bride were fantastic, very helpful and they even called to advise they were running a touch behind schedule, which I thought was very thoughtful. Once we arrived, each of us picked a few dresses we liked, and the first dress I tried on was the very dress I said YES too.

Jess wore Autumn from Badgley Mischka. See more gowns from Badgley Mischka Collection here.

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