Bride’s Full Name: Gabriella Whittaker
Groom’s Full Name: Jordan Whittaker
How did you and your partner meet? How did he propose?
We met at the end of 2012. Jordan saw a picture of me on Instagram and had it as his phone wallpaper for a month before he found my profile. He then started following me and I was like OMG he is so handsome and I sent a pic to my friend Nicole saying how gorgeous he was and I wondered where he lived and what nationality he was etc and I left it at that. He used to leave comments and like my photos and then he added me on Facebook. I am quite private and I only have people I know on FB so I didn’t accept his FB friend request for nearly 2 weeks.
When I did he inboxed me and we chatted for about a month on private messages till I finally gave him my number after he literally begged for it every day. He never gave up because he said I was his dream girl. He told me a month after we met he was going to marry me. 3 months later I had a job offer and we moved to Melbourne together. From then on, we became inseparable and the bestest of friends.
Pre-Wedding Photos
Describe the moment he proposed:
We were living in Annandale at the time and Bicentennial park was only a short walk away. It is our special spot. We always went for walks there and it was where we talked about our future plans and had a chance to spend time together after a long day at work. Our anniversary for when Jordan asked me to be his girlfriend is the 16th November but my sister in law’s birthday is the previous day so we didn’t get a chance to do anything and I canceled our restaurant booking.
So on the 29th November he kept asking me where I wanted to go for dinner because he felt bad he hadn’t given me my present or taken me out (I didn’t feel like going out at all so I didn’t book anything and I didn’t mind I hadn’t received my gift yet). I finally agreed we would go out for dinner so he then booked the restaurant we were supposed to go too for our anniversary. Our table was still occupied when we got there so by the time we finished dinner it was about 11:30pm.
Jordan then said he wanted to go for a walk after dinner (it was a really gorgeous, perfect, balmy night) so we went to Bicentennial Park and strolled around discussing our future plans. The whole time he was hugging me and kissing me and telling me how much he loves me and how he can’t wait for us to start our family. That wasn’t an unusual topic for us to discuss but it was literally the only thing we spoke about during our walk. It was about 12:30 pm and I suggested we walk home because it was getting late.
Our last conversation was then about how he was going to propose and I was telling him my perfect proposal would be something intimate, just us together doing something we love and I wanted a surprise. He then stopped walking, dropped on one knee, pulled out the ring box and opened it and said ” is this enough of a surprise for you… Gabriella I love you, will you please be my wife”. This was the most AMAZING feeling!! Of course, I said ‘yes’ in between crying and smiling.
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Must Have Family Photos
What’s your most important piece of advice for creating and maintaining a strong relationship?
Trust each other, be each other’s best friends. always be honest and treat your partner with as much attention as when you first met.
Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it: i loved my dress, i wanted something modern and a bit sexy. I wanted a designer from inter-state who was upcoming and not as well-known as the typical sydney boutiques. My dress was made from very soft tulle and hand beaded with over 3,000 pearls. It was floor length, long sleeve and sheer. My trail and veil were 5 metres and i wish i could wear my dress again.
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Wedding Ceremony
What sort of style did you envision for your wedding day (in terms of venue & décor + styling)?
Our wedding was intimate and timeless. We really wanted our wedding to represent our style as a couple and for our guests to be taken on a journey with our theme of predominantly white with a hint of gold and marble.
Our beautiful church had a marble altar and our invites were a marble design. The church pews were decorated with soft white tulle and white flowers hanging from them. I wanted to use a wide range of flowers with big white petals or petals that were an unusual shape. Orchids, Hydragenas, Sweet Williams, stock, White Carnations & sweet pea just to name a few.I was very particular on the types of flowers used and literally picked every one of them with the assistance and guidance of Jane the florist.
During canape hour we had a pianist entertaining the guests with slow rnb songs, he then moved into the reception venue and continued playing the piano whilst the guests were being seated. Inside the reception room we chose white large, tulip vases filled with only white flowers and white candelabras with the long dinner candles lit. The stunning gold chandeliers and the marble and the gold trimmings in the hotel tied in perfectly with it all. I wanted the lighting to be dim to set the mood so we decided on having only the chandeliers on and the candles alight.
The food was absolutely amazing and we played Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin whilst everyone was eating. This set the mood perfectly. Just before the main course we had bollywood dancers perform 3 routines in gorgeous, bright, traditional outfits. Our photo booth with the flower wall backdrop was a massive hit and everyone loved it especially our nieces and nephews! Our first dance song was The Weekend and directly after we surprised my parents with their first dance song as we got married on my parents wedding anniversary which is also my great grandmothers wedding anniversary. My husband then gave my parents 33 long stem red roses to represent the years they had been together. It was something very special and my parents were so honoured and grateful for their surprise. We decided on getting all the formalities done earlier so there was plenty of dancing and partying time! Our playlist had something for everyone with traditional Italian songs played, Bollywood hits, RnB, Hip Hop etc!
All our guests loved our bollywood dancers. I loved being able to incorporate some of my culture into the night and it was even more special as the dancers have known me since I was 5. I think the fact we decided to keep the tradition of getting married on the 31st of October was also really special. There’s no pressure on our children to do that (once we have them)- we hope it just comes from them they want to do that.Being half Italian- Half Indian and my husband is Half Maltese-Half English, we wanted to embrace all cultures during our day and we did so through food, entertainment, styling and our theme.
To me our wedding was magical.
It was more amazing then we had envisioned it. There are no words to describe seeing something you have worked on for a year become a perfect reality. On the day nothing mattered except us and our love for each other. We truly believe we are soulmates. In every life time, we will always find each other and be together. The moment we became husband and wife was without a doubt the best moment of our lives.
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Wedding Walk
What was your favorite moment from the day?
The moment we became husband and wife officially was magical!
i had my sister as my maid of honor and she was SO emotional during the lead-up and on the day. She could barely say her speech but the words she did get out in between sobs meant so much to me. My husband’s speech was perfect. It was funny and sweet and full of so much love and passion. Our relationship is one of a kind and on our wedding night, people were just amazed at how in love we are. The whole room was just radiating with love and this positive energy it was amazing!!
Any DIY décor elements?
I was very particular about what flowers I wanted so I went to the markets with the florist and individually chose every flower
If you could do it all over again, what would you change?
I LOVED our wedding so much and if I had the chance to renew our vowels I would go overseas and have a destination wedding
Any tips that you can give to future brides? Start the day early so you can make the most of it- it goes way too fast. Really savor every second of the best day of your life. Also, pack a sewing kit and non-alcoholic wipes just in case!
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Wedding Party & Reception Details
Vendors:
Wedding Feature: Bwedding Invitations
Vendors Dress: Custom Elly Sofcoli
Makeup: Amelia Axton
Hair: Stylish Knots And A salon
Shoes: Prada
Accessories: Grandmothers earrings
Printing: www.inktankprinting.com
Bridesmaids Dresses: custom White butterfly bridal couture
Grooms Suit: Custom Institchu
Photographer: Image Haus
Stationery: Mazii Collection
Food: Intercon Double Bay
Flowers: Jane’s florist
Ceremony: St Francis of Assis Paddington
Reception Venue: Intercon Double Bay
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