The Romance
Jacob and I met through his mother over 6 years ago. I used to work with my now mother-in-law and she always joked about how we would be a perfect match every time we worked together. One morning I went for brunch with my mother-in-law, my mum and my sister, as we all worked together and went back to her place for a coffee. Little did Jacob and I both know, that she secretly planned for us to meet, with her knowing that Jacob would be home later that morning. We got talking, I had plans to travel and Jacob went traveling the year before so he gave me information on all the good places to go to and what I must see when I went to Europe. He added me on Facebook and since then, we never stopped talking.
We eventually went on our first date, and it was the most comfortable date we had ever been on, so much so that I didn’t try and hide how big my appetite was. It was then that I knew there was something there. Jacob later told me a few months into dating that he was impressed with how much I ate for a first date, but also not surprised seeing as we both have Italian heritage. From there, we never stopped speaking and started hanging out all the time.
The Proposal
It wasn’t long before Jacob asked me to be his girlfriend and we’ve been together ever since. I knew within the first few months of dating that Jacob would be the man that I would marry. Everything was always so easy and just felt so natural. Jacob proposed to me almost 4 years into dating - he had been planning my engagement ring with one of my best friends for 3 months and to this day, my best friend said it was the worst secret she’s ever had to keep from me 🤣
We went to the city to watch a show with some of his family and stayed the night, then on the way home we stopped at the Royal National Park and went swimming at Wattamolla Beach. We went over to a more secluded spot on the beach and his family suggested to take some family photos. Jacob played along and whinged about taking photos as he has never been a fan, and surprised me by getting down on one knee while we were getting our photo, so it was all captured on film 🥰
The Planning
I am a very organised person so organizing the wedding wasn’t very stressful for me at all! We knew what our budget was and worked within that. Everyone was also super supportive and let us plan our day the way we wanted it, so that it would be our best day. The big stressor was obviously COVID-19. We were all ready to go for our big day which was originally meant to be on the 28th March 2020, but 5 days out, NSW went into a statewide lockdown.
Weddings were only able to go ahead with 2 witnesses so we made the heartbreaking decision to reschedule only 5 days out. After a month or so, we rescheduled our date to the following year as I had just started studying my postgraduate in midwifery. The wedding was rescheduled to 22nd January 2021 and the day went without a hitch. The planning for the second day was super easy as everything was already done! It was just confirming everything again and hoping we wouldn’t go into a stricter lockdown because of another COVID-19 outbreak happening in Sydney. We ended up having to limit our guests due to restrictions and only 20 people were allowed on the dance floor but we were super lucky that everyone understood and still made the day so much fun.
The Wedding Day
The wedding day was stunning! We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and a stunning sunset, which we were able to get stunning photos with thanks to our amazing photographer, Michael Boyle. I got ready at our home with my mum and my bridesmaids, and Jacob got ready at his mum’s place with his family there too. We didn’t see each other before the ceremony and let our first time seeing each other be at the church 😊. I was slightly nervous but excited at the same time as it was a long time coming and I couldn’t wait to marry Jacob. Jacob wasn’t nervous either, he too was relieved the day was finally here. We were lucky we got married at a church big enough to have all our guests there, so all of our friends and family got to witness us get married, which was super special to us because we both hold such strong family and friend values.
The Ceremony
What made our ceremony even more special was that Jacob’s sister and her little family, with our new goddaughter was there, who was only born 5 days before the wedding. Jacob’s cousins also surprised us by coming to the ceremony as they too, had just had their daughter the week prior to the wedding. We had a church ceremony at St John Vianney’s Co-Cathedral Church. I always pictured myself getting married in a church and this was the church I would go to as a child and was linked to the primary school I also went to, so this church held a lot of meaning to me. The church itself is also stunning so the decision was easy.
Our priest was also so amazing and let us choose our music, so we had a mix of modern and classical wedding songs. My dad walked me down the aisle and this was a very special moment for me. It was an emotional ceremony from the moment I walked down the aisle and Jacob saw me for the first time. The priest also made the ceremony fun with a joke here and there, so much so that everyone complemented us on our priest and how much they loved him! We had just simple plain white flowers at the church to match our bouquets which was just perfect.
The Reception
We had our wedding reception at Panorama House. We were so happy we chose the team here as they were so easy to work with, even during the pandemic and the constant changing of rules regarding restrictions due to COVID-19. The team went to so much effort to make our day the best it could be and it really showed. We chose this venue not only for it’s good reputation but also because of its location and because of how amazing the food was. With Jacob and I both being of European heritage, good food was a dealbreaker for us, and lots of it! We had a stunning panoramic view of the Illawarra and because we got married in summer, there was a beautiful sunset that all our guests could watch also. Jacob and I found our MC the month before the wedding at a New Years party and he also made the night so much fun!! The DJ the venue supplied was amazing and even though we were restricted with our dancing, he still went to the effort to play amazing music and he worked with the MC to host games to keep our guests entertained throughout the reception.
The Honeymoon
Unfortunately due to the pandemic restrictions we were unable to have a honeymoon but we are hoping to book one soon now that travel restrictions are easing 😁😁
Wedding Advice
Plan your day to how you want it, don’t worry about what other people think. It’s your wedding day so make sure it’s all you want it to be. We got given this advice and we stuck to it and honestly made our wedding day the best day of our lives. One of our favourite parts of the wedding was the speeches. These were so heartfelt and you could tell that everyone was speaking from their heart. Jacob’s sister also surprised us with a speech that my best friend read out as she was unable to be there because she had just birthed her own little baby, our goddaughter. This was such a surprise to us and bought Jacob and I both to tears because it meant the world to us.
Our photographer, Michael Boyle, and our videographers, Sarah and Liam from the Mann Project were also amazing!! They snuck us out of our reception to get sunset photos and videos as they knew how much this meant to me. As a result, we have such beautiful photos and the most amazing wedding video.
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