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Ruth & Jordan

I have to admit I am completely smitten with our bride Ruth’s dress in today’s chic town hall wedding. That cape that trails behind her gives an almost ethereal feel to her look. But I also love how Ruth and Jordan chose to celebrate their day. They followed up their traditional church service with an afternoon tea before literally letting their hair down for an intimate family dinner. They chose Light & Shade Photography to capture it all.

Ruth and Jordan let us in on the story of how they came to be. “We met a few years before we started dating at a Sufjan Stevens concert through a mutual friend. Jordan thought I (Ruth) was beautiful but didn’t think I was very intelligent. Ruth thought he (Jordan) was a dreamboat. Years passed, I didn’t forget about Jordan, but Jordan moved to Mexico. While he was away, I became friends with his little sister, not realising they were brother and sister. Jordan’s sister decided that upon his return he needed to meet, date and marry me. Jordan returned to Australia, friends conspired to get us to meet. An elaborate plan was set into place for us to be at the same place at the same time for dinner. The plan worked, Jordan (having finally realised I was actually quite intelligent) sat down next to me and the rest was history. Eleven months later we were very happily engaged.”

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Ruth worked with her friend Jessica Reece to create two ensembles for the wedding day. She tells, “As soon as we got engaged I asked Jess if she would be willing to work with me on the wedding dress. I very much wanted a dress fitted precisely to my body. Thankfully, she agreed and I presented my design which we then work shopped. We met nearly every week in the last couple of months leading up to the wedding. A lot of the details like the detachable cape and drape at the back were all details that we just added along the way.”

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The groom and groomsman wore suits from MJ Bale.

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Ruth and Jordan chose St Augustine’s, Hamilton for their wedding ceremony, remembering, “We first seriously discussed marriage whilst eating gelato sitting on the lawn in front of St Augustines. Getting married there was a natural (albeit tragically sentimental) decision.”

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The bride was (accidentally) a little late to the proceedings, remembering, “Jordan’s best mate who was driving me went to the wrong hotel. It’s not his fault because there are two hotels with the same name and it’s very confusing!!”

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Ruth chose Wagner’s Bridal Chorus for her walk down the aisle.

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Ruth and Jordan’s favourite part of the day? “Our vows – we agree the highlight of the day.”

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The newlyweds hosted an afternoon tea to celebrate their nuptials, explaining the use of  Hamilton Town Hall. “We later discovered that we could hire the hall just around the corner from the church and that was also a natural choice. We loved the idea of our guests being able to walk with us around the corner to the afternoon tea. Ruth also loved the ceiling and the fact that the hall was a ballet studio too (more sentimentality, as Ruth used to be a ballet dancer).”

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Gramercy catered the afternoon tea, Ruth and Jordan noting, “Seriously these guys. Mitch and Dane were meant to just drop off the cakes, but they end up bringing two of their team members and serving cake to our guests! Not to mention they delivered some truly delicious afternoon tea treats.”

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The floral arrangements, gilded flowers and gilded candle holders were done by the bride and Madison of Zion Collective who also managed the proceedings. Ruth notes, “Madison project managed the entire day without a single hiccup. She’s one of my best friends, but bias aside, if you are planning an wedding or another event, hire her. You will not regret it.”

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Of their photographer, Ruth and Jordan remark, “Ben from Light & Shade Photography was our photographer. Ben was brilliant. He was so lovely and professional. He completely executed the shared vision we had for our wedding photos. We cannot say enough about how amazing we think Ben is, and we consider ourselves extremely lucky to have had him as our wedding photographer.  He made us run on time, made Jordan feel comfortable in front of the camera and was one the calmest people around on the wedding day.”

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“While we were having our photos taken outside a inner city school, some kind of school sporting event wrapped up and all of a sudden we had an audience of a couple of hundred school girls and their parents.”

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For the family only reception dinner, Jordan changed into an outfit by RM Williams and Ruth paired a baby blue bodice, handmade by her friend Jessica Reece with a skirt by Club Monaco from Shopbop. Ruth tells, “We made most of the baby blue bodice that I wore to the family dinner at my hen’s weekend while all the other girls were watching old movies. I wanted to reveal the dinner outfit to them as they weren’t going to see it in person.”

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The couple chose Merriweather for their dinner, remarking, “This is one of our favourite cafes and the chef at Merriweather, Jarrod Huey, is a friend. It was natural that we would want one of the best chefs we knew to cook for us and our family for our first family dinner as a married couple. The food was the best we have ever eaten.”

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Ruth and Jordan note, “Our reception dinner is still the best meal we have ever eaten. Oliver paired the most delicious wines with Jarred’s incredible menu.” Ruth added a personal touch with handwritten menus.chic town hall wedding0059

The crowning jewel of the day? Lite Box Films created this beautiful film of Ruth and Jordan’s wedding. It beautifully captures the chic feel of the day.

Thank you Ruth and Jordan for sharing all the details of your day with us! Thank you also to Ben Cotterell from Light & Shade Photography  for sharing today’s wedding!