Jessika and Leo tied the knot at the beautiful Novotel Twin Waters Resort on the 25th November 2017. I had met Jess and Leo for their engagement session a few months earlier where their brought their adorable puppy Marley, and the three of them were the cutest little family!
On the wedding day I arrived to take photos of the bride and groom getting ready. Everyone was relaxed and happy when we arrived, the girls had just had the finishing touches to their hair and makeup, and the boys were having a beer and finishing off last minute speeches.
Leo and his three groomsmen wore black suit pants and vests, white shirts and the coolest shoes! The boys wore white ties, and Leo wore a bow tie and a black jacket to set him apart as the man of the hour. They all wore boutonnieres in green and white. The boys were whisked away to the ceremony in a golf buggy half an hour before the start time so Leo could greet their guests and have a chat with the celebrant. By this time, Leo was plenty nervous!
When I got to the girls’ room, Jessika and her bridesmaids all had on matching robes in different colours and matching pyjamas that said “Bride’s Squad”, and they also had matching drink bottles. The bridesmaids wore their hair up with baby’s breath flower crowns, while Jessika wore her hair down in soft curls with a baby’s breath hair flower. The bridesmaids got dressed in purple floor length gowns with different straps and necklines. Jessika sent over some gifts to her husband-to-be, a beautiful engraved watch and cufflinks. When it was time to get dressed, Jessika’s nerves set in and the waterworks started! Once the gown was on there was a small malfunction with the back of the dress, but it was nothing that Jessika’s mum’s mad sewing skills couldn’t fix! Jessika’s wedding gown was a stunning fitted dress with lace detail on the bodice, loose off-the-shoulder sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She also wore a long cathedral length veil that we couldn’t wait to play with for the photos! After mum saved the day with her needle and thread, Jessika was soon ready to leave for the ceremony, and her emotions were fluttering at this point!
At the ceremony site everything was set up beautifully on the Pandanus Lawn, and celebrant Suzanne Riley was there trying to keep Leo calm. He was visibly nervous, and rumour had it that it was the vows that were the main cause for his jitters. However, when Jessika walked down the aisle, he was obviously finding it hard to hold it together, and Leo and Jess both burst into tears when they saw each other face to face! It was beautiful, moist and hilarious all at once, and I think every single person who witnessed this moment were moved by these young lovers’ incredible feelings for each other. Imagine to love someone so much that you just crumble when you see them on your wedding day!
Suzanne delivered a beautiful and personal ceremony as usual – we’ve had the pleasure of working with her on many occasions, – and of course Marley got several mentions! Leo and Jessika’s mums were surprised by being made the witnesses for the register signing, by which they were both so moved and shed a tear. After the ceremony we did group and family photos, before we went off for photos with the bridal party.
First the wonderful staff of Twin Waters took us to some of the iconic spots around the grounds, we got time for lots of veil play (yay!), and even though the sun and the clouds were doing weird and wonderful things which made it a bit challenging, we got some amazing photos of the lovebirds. The lovely Amy and Jack from Twelve08Studios were the videographers on the day and we all worked together to get the best shots possible. On the beach it was a lot more windy than it had been earlier, but Jessika, Leo and their bridal party rolled with it and had some fun! In the end we got some lovely posed and casual photos of everyone, and when we were done we headed back to Twin Waters for the reception. It was finally party time!
DJ Rhino was the DJ and photobooth operator for the evening, and Suzanne was also the MC. After the bridal party made their entrance, there were meals, speeches, shoe game, cake cut, the couple’s first dance as well as father-daughter and mother-son dances.
Jessika and Leo’s wedding was truly something to behold, as is their doting love for each other. We wish them (and Marley) all the best for the future!
Twin Waters Wedding Photography
