Real Wedding... Heather and Jed

It took mutual friends of Heather and Jed’s to make the introductions at a farewell party for Jed’s flat mate Tom who was heading overseas.  On his return, much to Tom’s amusement a romance had blossomed between his flat mate Jed and co-worker Heather leading to a proposal three years late at Stradbroke Island as the sun rose.

Jed somehow convinced Heather to venture outdoors with him in the chilly darkness for a walk along the beach.  Heather recalls “My first attempts to scale the dune were a bit of a disaster, because the sand kept collapsing underneath my feet. Once at the top, Jed popped the question, and then the cork on a bottle of Moet - it definitely made the morning's boot camp style effort well worth it!”.

Heather and Jed married on April 25^th 2010 in front of family and friends at Broken Head, just south of Byron Bay.  The couple wanted their guests to travel for the wedding, so they could enjoy the celebrations for the entire weekend.  “I am originally from the United States, and I particularly wanted to choose a spot that people would travel around the world to see, and not be disappointed! “ Heather said.

“We loved the idea that people could just amble down to the beach to see the ceremony, and then just amble back for the reception, with a glass of champagne in hand!  The beach path was a bit difficult to navigate in high heels, so we provided thongs for the ladies – that also helped set the tone of the day, elegant but relaxed at the same time.”

The couple first chose the ceremony and reception location and let the beach and beach house inspire the theme of the wedding choosing colours that complimented the scenery – shades of blues, greens and browns.  Britte at Beautiflora in Byron Bay created the floral arrangements, Heather said “I fell in love with their simplicity and the fact she used so many native flowers and incorporated other natural elements, i.e. twigs and apples in the centerpiece.”  The couple were inspired by this theme and used stationary by Alannah Rose.

Heather looked picture perfect in the ‘Sharon’ gown from the ready to wear collection. The corseted gown features a sweetheart neckline with ribbon and top stitch detail on the bodice and a bias paneled skirt.

“I love the fitted corset, which really showed off my waistline, as well as my height.  Also, the cabbage rose detail is so unique and special – I just love it.”

Heather accessorized her gown with a handmade cabbage rose shoulder corsage, giving her gown an individual and unique look.  Heather bought along her friends Isabel for final approval and “she helped confirm the decision I had really already made in my heart.”

Heather’s sister, Lara travelled from the US to serve as her maid of honor wearing a Harvey and Ella dress and Jed’s brother, Peter was best man suited in Hugo Boss.  Heather wore earrings on loan from the jeweler who designed her engagement ring and wedding rings.  For the beach ceremony, Heather wore satin ballet flats but switched to sparkly Christian Louboutins for the reception. Heather did not wear a headpiece or veil, joking that she “didn’t want to battle the wind”.  Tracey Tresize did Heathers hair and makeup.

For the reception the couple used Byron Bay based Eat Drink Catering. Simon from Eat Drink Catering had heaps of ideas for the couple and suggested that the food have a Moroccan theme featuring a tagine bar with chicken, North African lamb and vegetarian tomato tagine, because Heather and Jed were stopping there as part of their honeymoon.

For their wedding cake, Heather and Jed chose cupcakes from Charlotte at ‘Let them Eat Cake’, displayed with a blackboard sign of the different flavors including carrot cake, vanilla and passionfruit and of course mud cake, “they must have been good, because they were all gone by the end of the night (I caught several guests actually eating them before dinner!)” said Heather.

Greg Mace was the photographer for the day and Heather found him online, loving his website and his focus on candid photos.  While the guests danced the night away at the reception with music from an iPod it was a touching moment when Lara, Heather’s sister sang Jack Johnson’s “Better Together’ and Jed’s old flat mate Tom accompanied her on guitar.