If you have not yet witnessed part 1 of Jo and Jon’s stunning soiree then I suggest you go back and have a butchers (and even if you have already seen it make sure you go back and have another look, so much pretty to see……)
And if the ceremony didn’t bring a tear to your eye then the reception certainly will, not to mention give you all a whole heap of inspirational ideas to steal.
Jo and Jon’s big day was all about them, encompassing the story of their relationship and celebrating their marriage with those closest. There is so much laughter, joy and love that I simply couldn’t edit down the images…so I used them all.
Happy HAPPY Thursday you gorgeous lot.
Without Doubt
I was doubtful of many decisions throughout the wedding planning process, my dress, my hair, the décor, my jewellery etc…but the one thing I had complete faith in was the photography. We found Penny and Cameron McKinley-Rodgers online whilst I was in Australia, and I just knew from their blog and then subsequent emails that we were going to love them! I was not disappointed, when we met them for the beloved pre wedding shoot we could have happily spent the day with them as friends.
What gorgeous people they are…and the photography was the stuff of my dreams. They knew exactly the vibe we wanted to capture and I cannot recommend them enough to people. They went above and beyond our expectations in their integration with everyone at the wedding and with the quality of the photos. I can be very fussy with images, and rarely like a photo of myself, but they produced images that everybody (especially me and Jon) adored…We are SO very happy with our photos, and happy just to have met Penny and Cameron! Thank you!!!!!
Rock My Wedding Bride
I was remarkably ambitious with this THE Wedding project and approached it as an artistic feat – my main problem was looking at lots of blogs (checking Rock My Wedding most days from Australia) and having too many ideas! There is such an abundance of inspiration on the blogs that I found it hard to narrow down my ideas and keep to a certain theme.
Even now sometimes I think, ‘ooh that would have been a great idea!’ I did settle though for a very loose travel theme, with some old vintage suitcases around and brown luggage labels everywhere! I wanted the wedding to reflect a going away party since we would be leaving. I also wanted everything to be messy, mismatched and painterly to give an atmosphere of a thrown together, quirky garden party. During the ceremony we had cans of drinks and strawberries available, blankets and cushions on the floor for a picnic-like feel. Determined to do everything myself to make it very personal, I made the invites, the order of services, signs, painted tablecloths, etc…
One of my favourite parts was collecting lots of photo frames from car boot sales and charity shops and spray painting them gold. We used them for the place faces on the tables and also used them on the giant guest book painting wall we created. I made some posts with jam jars of flowers attached at the top for the outside ceremony too, at the very last minute! We attached gold frames with extracts from the vows in them to the posts and they added something unique to the gardens.
Other than that we had a multitude of mismatched lanterns, lots of greenery, some bird cages and stamps sprinkled everywhere. So it ended up a real mish-mash of ideas and I have Rock My Wedding and some other blogs to thank for all the inspiration, and also all those amazing people who dare to do something a bit different for their wedding…I bet I will still be checking the blog most days even without a wedding to plan!
The Sweetest Favours
We always wanted to go for something organic, that people could keep and grow for favours. It was my florist, however, who managed to provide them for us. We went for small pots of Sweet pea shoots in the hope that people would plant them and keep the garden theme going even beyond the wedding.
Cake Love
Ooh, cake…Jon had designed the menu for the starter and the main as he is a fantastically yummy cook, so I was given the task of dessert (very happily). I wanted to make ‘cake’ more the theme of the dessert rather than having one particular special wedding cake. There is an amazing little tea room in Portsmouth called The Tenth Hole which sells the most extravagant looking, chocolately, fudgey, yummy cake (with GLITTER on top), so we ordered 12 of these instead of having one wedding cake and we hope they were enjoyed by everyone.
The Ultimate Soundtrack
For the entertainment we decided to ask friends of ours to do a few different gigs. We wanted music to really be playing throughout the day, in the garden whilst people mingled, in the evening whilst people drank…etc like a soundtrack of the day (I am crazy for soundtracks). Our friends, Jon Walbrin and Johnny Dunlop did beautiful acoustic gigs at different times, and then Jon’s Aunty did a short Motown gig to get everyone on the dance floor for the rest of the eve!
The Blowers Daughter
The first dance is quite a story. Years ago when Jon and I met in India, the first thing we bonded over was music. We used to sit on the roof of the orphanage at night playing tunes on our Ipod speakers. Gradually, to the soundtrack of Damien Rice, Iron and Wine and Elliot Smith, Jon realised that maybe I wasn’t a ‘cold’, reserved English girl, and I thought there was something more to this Aussie lad.
One night in Kerala, we were listening to Damien Rice’s The Blowers Daughter and I said that one day I would walk down the aisle to this song. Jon looked up in surprise, smiled and said that he had always imagined it played at his wedding. The moment went by quietly and wasn’t talked about until a year later. We first danced to Damien!
Making It Ours
I hope that people considered the wedding unique, but more importantly that they felt it was ‘us’. I think there is something very special about a wedding which is like an extension of the couple, their ideas and interests.
It’s such a great time to throw yourself into planning a party exactly how you would like it, the way that satisfies the little girl inside the bride (although when I was younger I reportedly wanted a fluorescent, glow in the dark wedding dress!). But above all else I would recommend setting a time to say ‘stop’ before the wedding, to cease all DIY-ing and to just enjoy the lead up to the wedding, whether that be 2 weeks or 2 days before it.
I didn’t do everything I had planned because I ran out of time, but it was much more valuable to have a few days with my parents and groom to take it all in than just have a few extra artistic touches. And on the day…enjoy! Things may go wrong (it was a windy day and my ‘LOVE’ sign fell down free times during the ceremony!), but the day will unfold beautifully and with a life of its own, still wonderful even if some elements are imperfect! Oh…and one final thing brides…being married is BRILLIANT!!!
Photographer - Pen Mckinley-Rodgers
Cake – The Tenth Hole
Venue – The Walled Garden at Cowdray
I can honestly say, I was really really sad when I had finished putting this together.
And for all of the W-days we see day in day out at RMW HQ, I am still bowled over by the amazing and inspirational design ideas you gorgeous lot continue to surprise us with. So thank you, to Jo, Jon and all of you other lovely brides and grooms out there, for helping make Rock My Wedding one of the prettiest places on the web.
Big Living Every Moment Love
Charlotte xxx
Wow… Penny did such a fab job capturing so many details and emotions! Love the eclectic feel to this wedding. Needless to say B&G look so much in love – very sweet))
So unbelievably fantastically and uniquely styled. Beautifully photographed and documented. I am just in awe!!!!! Congratulations – both on being married and for throwing together a wedding that has astounded me!!!!!!
xox
Swooning over here! Swooning, I tell you! (And simultaneously wondering why I didn’t opt for a glow in the dark wedding dress, genius idea…) Thunderous applause for Pen yet again, and congrats to the stunning couple on a day that definitely comes across as an individual and personal expression of who they are.
Colour me inspired!
Px
Wowzers this is a beaut mate (it works best if you say it in austrrrraliiiian).
I love the venue but normally the photos I see are of green and white and phillipa lepley gowns (which is totally me by the way) but this is a personal spin on an old classic. J’adore.
It’s the photos. Normally I’d say ‘i love that one’ or ‘or I love the forehead one’. It’s not the lighting I love but the composition and angles and yes, I love the forehead shot.
I saw a Jonas Australian photography guy tweet this week and it said ‘it’s not the typewriter or the fairylights that make a wedding it’s the love and commitment’ and he is SO right. This wedding has it in spades.
No. Chuffing forklift trucks worth.
Oh my goodness I am so exited to sit down properly and read this whole wedding later (Damn work deadlines!)- the flowers are exactly how I want mine and everything is BEAUTIFUL!! Aaaaaah, this is amazing.
x x x x
Absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful! I love her veil, the photography, his brown suit with his shirt hanging out, the table names…pretty much everything really! I have to say it was the Damien Rice part that gave me the ginormous lump in my throat though. Congratulations Jo and Jon!
Oh I think I might cry…….. The sunset pictures are so romantic.
Such s beautiful wedding it has all the romantic elements but with a laid back elegance. All the little details make this wedding and the bride and groom are just so dreamy and in love.
Really gorgeous dress very different which is nice to see
Perfection xxx
Charlotte, that certainly was “worth waiting for!”
What a stunning wedding!
Sx
Wow beautiful!
I was very excited to read this as this is my venue too! Come October I will be walking through that beautiful garden. I can’t wait! x
Is this wedding even real???!!! It’s just too beautiful!
That. Dress. There are no words. It is my absolute dream dress!
I love everything about this wedding and I’m going to read it all again later! x
Morning Lovelies!
Lucy you are so lucky…. what a beautiful venue.
Love the “messy wall” guest book. And the table centres. And the kangeroo cake topper. Generally love everything.
*sigh*
Charlotte xxx
Wow this has been such a moving story and such a beautiful wedding that I am sad it had to end, but happy they have all their lives together!
It really does move you just looking at the photos..think would have been blubbering away in a corner if had actually been there!
Thanks RMW for being the prettiest most inspirational blog.
xxx
What an absolutely delicious wedding in every single way.
If I were still in the midst of planning our wedding I would be most definately be borrowing how they’ve displayed words from the wedding ceremony throughout.
This couple just ooze romance and charm… I love the timeless feel of this wedding too and the photography is Amazing!
x
I think I just found my photographer……
X
WHAT a beautiful bride. And you can really see the love between them, awwwww. I loved the photos but too expensive for me, shame!
Oh my god, this is the BEST wedding I’ve seen for a VERY LONG time, absolutely amazing, so creative and truly truly unique. Some take-your-breath-away details and beautiful photography x
Wow, this has to be my favourite RMW wedding – absolutely beautiful, and I love all the handmade touches. And the photography has just blown me away – amazing.
So beautiful! You can absolutely feel the love flowing out of these pictures. I love everything about it, from the dress to the cake toppers, from the flowers to that frankly ingenious guestbook wall.
I think this is in my top three favourite weddings on RMW.
So dreamy…
xxx
Oh swoon… if I could meet a couple like this with the creative vision to pull this off I would seriously reduce my fees. It isn’t always about the buck, somtimes I just want to be a part of of the day and help create everlasting memories..
Wow, wow, wow this is amazing! Love this wedding so much, so much inspiration here! Everything looks so perfectly styled but not over styled. Fab. Seems like such a happy day. One of my favourite on RMW!
The photos are amazing as well and think they capture the couple so well. You just keep getting better Pen & Cam! I can’t frickin wait for you guys to capture our wedding now! Just hope our wedding is as kind to your camera as this one!
xXx
It just gets better and better – I love all the details and personal touches but you are all right its the love that really shines through. Definitely one of my fave weddings on here!
Rachie xo
PS: I adore The Blowers Daughter song!
Oh my. Such a beautiful bride, such a fantastic wedding dress and a handsome groom to boot. Somehow, though, the details- of which there are many and so lovingly rendered – are not the reason why I love this wedding. (Although I will be talking to Mr C about having a write on me wall!)
It’s the way they look at each other. And the way people around them look at them. And the way her Dad just made me cry a little bit with his wiping away of a tear. Superb.
Congratulations to Jo and Jon – a wonderful life awaits you, I’ve no doubt.
The couple shots are just beautiful x
I love everything about this wedding. Just so beautiful.
Thanks so much for featuring Joey and Jon’s engagement shoot and wedding. The wedding truly was amazing and Pen and Cam captured the whole day brilliantly. They really were like part of the family, such lovely people who I would recommend to anyone.
As for Joey and Jon, well they’re a very special couple, but then again I’m biased!
Thanks for all your lovely comments, we’ve been addicted to checking and reading them.
Love to you all, Mother of the Bride.
Thanks again for the amazing comments here. It was such a joyful day to shoot, and to be part of, I am glad you feel that comes across in the images too! Thank you again Charlotte (+RMW team) for featuring this wedding – you have awesome readers
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