Understated Romance in Adelaide

Photography by Danielle Symes for Jess & Kyle

A palette of delicate blush and pastel pink hues set the tone for this elegant and modern celebration nestled in the Adelaide Hills. Jess and Kyle wed in a garden ceremony decorated with fragrant, full-bloomed roses and rows of whitewashed Bentwood chairs framing the aisle. The bride adorned in a chic, embellished Pallas Couture gown, beautifully complemented the simple yet sophisticated styling of the day.

The celebrations ensued in a heritage building boasting high ceilings, textured walls and exposed rafters, the perfect blank canvas for their Italian-inspired feast. Long wooden tables filled the candlelit room, with delicate silk runners and vintage pendant lights suspended from the ceiling, evoking a dreamy ambience for the evening’s festivities. A rustic dessert bar dressed in a selection of cakes handmade by the bride offered a personalised yet stylish touch to their guest’s dining experience.

Jess and Kyle’s wedding was a romantic and understated affair, effortlessly captured by Danielle Symes.

Our Story

Names / Jessica & Kyle

Wedding Date / 15th February 2020

Guest Numbers / 150

How We Met

Kyle and I met at the Oakbank Racing Carnival in the Adelaide Hills over six years ago, we were introduced by one of my best friends (and Maid of Honor) and after a few nights out together, we quickly became inseparable. Early on during a night out, I said to my best friend, “I’m going to marry that man”, (which is completely out of character for me) and sure enough, Kyle proposed three years later.

Our Engagement Story

For our fourth anniversary, Kyle organised a weekend away in the Barossa Valley. I didn’t think much of it at the time as we had discussed our future plans, our home, and starting a family, but we had never discussed marriage. We started the day at one of my favorite wineries, Hentley Farm, and we then went to Seppeltsfield Winery for a beautiful long lunch and after a lazy afternoon in the sun. We decided to go for a long walk around the winery and enjoy the last of the sunlight as we quickly found ourselves amongst the vines. As we were walking along, Kyle started to walk ahead into the middle of the vineyard, as I followed to find him, he was down on one knee. Naturally, I can’t recall a word he said and I’m still not sure if I even said yes, it was one of the best moments and probably the biggest surprise of my life. A day I’ll never forget.

Marriage to us Means…

The promise to choose one another again and again, at the start and at the end of every single day. Forever and unconditionally. To share the rest of my life with my best friend, how lucky I am to have found him.

The Details

Wedding Location

Our wedding was held in the Adelaide Hills in a rustic heritage building surrounded by a canopy of trees in Uraidla. After many months spent trying to find the perfect venue, this beautiful old building with raw white walls, exposed rafters, and high ceilings was the perfect blank canvas for us. As a bride doing all of my own floristry and styling, I needed a venue that would allow access the days before and luckily we found just that. We spent the days leading up to the wedding with our nearest and dearest styling and setting up. Fortunately, it was very close to home for us which made this all achievable.

Preparation

My bridesmaid and I spent the night before in a cottage at Mt Lofty House, we had takeaway of course and spent the night laughing about almost anything and everything. In the morning, we had a light breakfast and most importantly, plenty of coffee. I gifted the girls personalised The Daily Edited bags filled with little Mecca cosmetics. The time absolutely flew by with hair and make-up. I then did a first look with my dad and spent some time with him. My uncle then drove my dad and I to the ceremony, those moments with my incredible dad are some I’ll treasure forever.

Overall Aesthetic / Style

I wanted our wedding to feel romantic, elegant, and slightly moody. As it was quite a rustic venue, I decided to make it more formal with elegant long tables, white roses, and an overall black-tie style.

“I think it’s really important to remember to take the pressure off yourself particularly as a bride, the more pressure you put on yourself the less you will enjoy it.”

Ceremony Décor

We held our ceremony just outside of the reception hall in front of all of our loved ones beneath a heritage pine tree, surrounded by lush green lawns. We loved the relaxed and minimalist feel of the venue. I chose simple white Bentwood chairs, with an aisle of white roses petals and a handmade arbour adorned with roses. I had two large floral arrangements filled with delphiniums, dahlias, lisianthus, roses and hydrangeas.

Reception Décor

I own a little cake and flower company, so I decided to do all of my own wedding decor. I wanted to create a really romantic and moody space, so I opted for long white tables, adorned with romantic silk runners, hundreds of candles and fresh, wild roses. I kept the colors very neutral with white, beige, and soft blush roses. My beautiful nana, friends and I handmade all the napkins from a delicate cloth fabric, this was extra special. I also added warm, drop bulb lighting throughout the hall for a little extra atmosphere in the space.

Wedding Planner

I decided early on to take on as much as possible. This was very debatable but I knew that either way, I wouldn’t be able to sit still in the days leading up to our wedding, so I did all of my own floristry, styling, and cakes. I did, however, ensure that we had the amazing team at Are You Being Served to coordinate the food, beverages, and all the extra things that needed to be organised on the day. I also had a beautiful friend of mine, Chelsea, who went above and beyond to help me pull everything together from flowers to styling. We were very fortunate that many of our family and friends spent days leading up to the wedding helping us with all the extra details, they made the entire process extra special.

Photography

The incredible Danielle, from Danielle Symes Photography, where do I even begin… she absolutely went above and beyond for us. I did look at many styles of photographers but Danielle stood out in a really big way. I was initially drawn to her natural and effortless photography, that is romantic and not overdone, this suited us perfectly. Danielle shared our vision and made the entire process so easy. Her ability to capture all the emotions and candid moments were unbelievable, I will be forever grateful that I found her. She is a treasure and a talent!

Videography

Solomon from Fragment Films was one of the easiest and quickest decisions we made. I absolutely adore his style of raw and emotional films. For me, a videographer was a non-negotiable as I knew there would be a considerable amount of moments that we wouldn’t be able to see on the day or be able to relive, this was one of the best decisions we made.

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

I knew I didn’t want to wear anything traditional or simple but nothing bold either, so I tried on a few dresses in Adelaide before flying to Sydney to try on a gown I had fallen in love with online, but when I tried it on it was totally underwhelming. Fortunately, the following day I made a last-minute appointment with Pallas Couture to try on some different designs. The beautiful girls at Pallas Couture gave me a few selections to try, including one gown to which I really didn’t think I’d like at all, but as soon I put it on it was love at first sight. I very surprisingly had the cliche ‘this is the one’ moment. Considering I am possibly the world’s most indecisive person, it was absolutely nothing like I’d ever imagined I’d wear. The gown was embellished with delicate beading and crystals on the most incredible fabric, with a fitted elegant bodice and a blush undertone lining. It had a very plunging back and the longest train possible. I also opted for a custom made cathedral veil by Pallas Couture for the ceremony.

Bridesmaids Dresses

I envisioned the girls wearing a simple, beige coloured dress that was delicate and flattering. Three bridesmaids were pregnant so making sure that they felt comfortable was essential. I actually found their dresses by chance online.

“Don’t expect to be anything but yourself on the day.”

Bridesmaids Shoes

The girls wore their own comfiest nude coloured heels, as I really wanted them to be as comfortable as possible.

Flowergirls

Our little flower girl wore a white tulle and lace dress, with roses in her hair and she carried a little bouquet of roses down the aisle.

Wedding Ring

Kyle and I had matching understated rose gold wedding bands made by G.W Cox jeweller.

Jewellery / Accessories

I really wanted to keep it simple as my dress was heavily embellished and I don’t usually wear jewellery, so I only wore my engagement ring, again true to my style!

Groomsmen Attire

Kyle was very particular about one thing only and funnily enough, this was it. He wore an ivory suit jacket and shirt by Calibre (finding the right shade of ivory was challenging) with black suit pants and black bow tie. He looked incredibly handsome. The groomsmen all wore matching black suits with bow ties from Peter Shearer.

Hair

I really wanted to keep my hair as natural as possible. I’m loving balayage, so my beautiful hairdresser Isabella from Yots Hair did my usual color with waves which were perfect.

Makeup

The incredibly talented Jessica Searle did my makeup. I wanted a really natural, dewy, and luminous base with a darker eye. I then added a bold red lipstick for the reception as this is my usual look.

Style Notes

Stationery & Invitations

I handmade our wedding invitations designing the font on white linen card, with bowed beige silk ribbons and dried bunny tail grass. A wonderful friend Francesca made all of our menu cards. I wanted to keep these really simple and kept with the theme of white linen. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I sent out a handmade venue map and some finer details to each guest.

Favors

In lieu of favors, we decided to make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation and The Cancer Council of Australia on behalf of each guest. This was really special for us, as my beautiful Maid of Honor, Tayla, was diagnosed with breast cancer just prior to our wedding and she coincidentally finished her final round of chemotherapy almost a year to the date of our wedding day. We also had personalised white sugar cookies handmade by a dear friend for each of our guests.

Flowers & Bouquets

I absolutely adore floral creations so I really wanted to do all of my own. I kept the bouquets very simple with neutral colours and long stems. I opted for my absolute favourite creamy white Ecuador roses. The bridesmaids had a touch of nude and blush in their bouquets. I made the arbour with the help of my darling papa, I really wanted something non-traditional so I had two tall pillars of greenery and filled them with fresh roses. I used only tones of white, beige and blush throughout all the flower styling, I wanted them to feel really romantic and soft, but also formal.

Cake

In the days leading up to the wedding, I made our wedding cakes. I decided to have three different styles of cakes, a selection of lemon brulee, chocolate ganache and vanilla bean with raspberry. They were a mix of naked and textured creams. I styled them with fresh roses, hydrangeas and Lunaria.

Food & Beverages

On arrival to the ceremony, guests were greeted with Jansz Cuvee and Croser sparkling. We also had the Adelaide Hills Distillery 78 degrees gin and fever-tree tonic infused with thyme and botanical fruits or lavender rose and fruits. We also had a variety of local Bird in Hand and Shaw and Smith sauvignon blanc, and a selection of reds from Henrys seven to Kyneton Euphonium red blends from our favorite local winery, Henschke (with the help of a special groomsman).

Our menu was Italian inspired and created by the incredible team at Andres Cucina. After the ceremony, we had roaming canapés of kingfish carpaccio, beef carpaccio and arancini. Entrees and mains included a family-style sit-down selection of hand made gnocchi Ragu, beef porterhouse, and rosemary chicken with sides of our favorite polenta chips and heirloom burrata salad. We later had a dessert table, with Nutella and pistachio cannolis, glazed donuts, petit fours, and a selection of cakes.

Transport

My beautiful dad is a collector of vintage cars, so we were lucky enough to use his favorite Mercedes Benz. This was incredibly special.

Honeymoon

We planned a European summer holiday traveling through Greece, Italy, France and Spain but sadly due to COVID, our plans have been canceled. However, we were lucky enough to spend the night of our wedding at the luxurious Sequoia Lodge at Mt Lofty House Estate and we then had a minimoon at the incredible Kings Beach Retreats on the Fleurieu peninsula.

Gift Registry

We decided not to request any gifts from our guests as their presence was all we asked. For those guests that wished to celebrate with the kindness of a gift, we had a wishing well available at the reception. We were incredibly spoilt and hopefully one day in the near future, we can put this towards a belated honeymoon.

Wedding Songs

I walked down the aisle to an acoustic cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, by Kina Grannis. We entered the reception to our all-time favorite artist Drake, ‘Nice For What’.

The father-daughter dance with my dad was to ‘Here Comes The Sun’, by The Beatles. This was incredibly special and a moment I will never forget.

Kyle and I then had our first dance to ‘Adore’, by Amy Shark. This was from our very first holiday together. We had it on repeat and it has stuck with us ever since.

We then started the dance floor with the bridal party and all of our guests to ‘Love Me Now’, by Ziggy Alberts.

Entertainment

We had an incredible friend, Blake, play acoustic for our ceremony and throughout the canapes. We then opted for a DJ for the reception. This was an easy decision for us as we love hearing our favorite artists’ songs. We sent our playlists to the DJ and from there they created a similar style.

Readings

We wrote and read our own vows which were really romantic and special, I’ve since had these printed and framed in our home. We also had some very incredible speeches, the best man surprised us with a video he made for his speech and it was just the best thing ever.

Special Details

Sources of Inspiration

I drew most of my inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest, and of course my forever obsession with The Lane.

A Memorable Moment

Walking down the aisle to see all of our family and friends, and seeing Kyle’s handsome face was a very special moment. I’ll never forget that feeling. Also, the incredible amount of time I spent with my dad leading up to the wedding, from the first look, traveling to the ceremony in his car with him, walking down the aisle, to his speech, and our father-daughter dance together, were moments I’ll treasure forever.

One Thing I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Wedding Plans…

Don’t put any pressure on yourself or the day…

If I Could Give Brides to be One Piece of Advice…

I found the days following the wedding really surprising, the realisation that it was all over and reflecting on if I could have done anything differently or been more present in the moment or felt any differently on the day… I think it’s really important to remember to take the pressure off yourself particularly as a bride, the more pressure you put on yourself the less you will enjoy it.

Don’t expect to be anything but yourself on the day.