Jessica & John met online in 2013 after being given a 98% match! One year on Valentine’s Day, they both agreed to not get each other gifts as they had just brought home a sweet sausage dog puppy! Jessica woke from a nap to follow a trail of roses, leading her to Longfellow’s playpen where the ring was tied to his collar. She later found out that John didn’t want to wake her so instead of leaving through the noisy front door, he left from the back and climbed back over the fence just to buy the roses! Picturing a quirky science themed wedding, they took to Scienceworks in Melbourne, Australia to celebrate becoming husband and wife. Read their story and get inspired by these amazing real wedding photos by Darin Collinson
Bride’s Full Name: Jessica Sutherland
Groom’s Full Name: John Sutherland
Wedding Date: 12/3/16
How many guests? 100
How did you and your partner meet?
We met online in 2013, after being given a 98% match, and had our first date at Gogo Bar in Melbourne.
How did he propose?
We had just brought home a sausage dog puppy in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, and had both agreed not to get each other any gifts. Looking after Longfellow (the puppy) was challenging work, and when John offered to entertain him for the afternoon so that I could have a nap, I was thrilled! A few hours later I opened the bedroom door to see roses leading downstairs. Thinking John had broken our no-valentines gift agreement, I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten him anything! I followed the trail of roses all the way downstairs to Longfellow’s playpen, and when he looked up at me I saw the ring around his collar. John snuck up behind me and got down on one knee to pop the question. I found out later that to make sure I wasn’t awoken by the noisy front door closing, John instead exited out the back and had to clamber over the fence to buy all of the roses left at our local florist!
What’s your most important piece of advice for creating and maintaining a strong relationship?
Communicate frequently, take time for your own interests. I work shift work, which gives us a chance to miss each other, and we find we make the most of the evenings that we do have off together.
Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it: Growing up, I never fantasised about what my perfect wedding might look like. I went in with no expectations, other than wanting a flattering gown that was comfortable. I found my dress in the first shop I looked, but didn’t buy on the day, instead deciding to sleep on it to make sure. That night I had dreams about our wedding in the dress, and knew it must be the one!
What sort of style did you envision for your wedding day?
Quirky, unique, and science themed. We wanted to have some fun with the theme, but we didn’t want too much stress so we kept it quite simple.
What was your favorite moment from the day?
My favourite moment was when John stole me away into another section of the reception to have a moment together away from everyone else. It was so nice to have some time to reflect on the day. Another memorable moment that still gets spoken about was when a friend faceplanted in her high heels while racing against the Cathy Freeman exhibition in the Scienceworks sports activity area.
Any DIY décor elements?
John has a talent for design, he turned a giant periodic table into a seating chart for the reception. While we spent money on the bouquets and button holes, we did our own table designs. I sourced all sorts of conical flasks, beakers and test tubes to use instead of vases, and bought flowers matching our pink and white theme from the market a few days before the wedding. It was so much fun to put them together with my bridesmaids the morning before the big day! I also put together the bonbonnieres using test tubes filled with jelly beans, and these doubled as the seating place cards.
If you could do it all over again, what would you change?
As naturally clumsy people, we spent weeks perfecting our first dance. Unfortunately, we didn’t think to double check with our DJ that they had the correct song queued up. A cover version of the song was played, that had a lot less introduction time and a different beat. While we can look back now on it and laugh, we were embarrassed at the time!
Any tips that you can give to future brides?
Don’t feel obliged to take on everyone’s opinion – there will be a lot of advice about what you ‘should’ do, but it’s you and your partner’s day!
Photographer: Darin Collinson
Dress: Luv Bridal – Mia Solano
Makeup: A & R hair and makeup
Hair: KOH Haircutters
Shoes: eBay
Accessories: Love On Jewellery
Bridesmaids Dresses: Sugar Bits
Grooms Suit: Essendon Bridal Formal Hire
Wedding Invitations: Adorn Invitations
Menus & Place Cards: B Wedding Invitations
Cake: Dolcini Catering
Food: White Card Catering
Flowers: Flowers by M.E.L
Ceremony Venue: Scienceworks Melbourne – Pumping Station
Reception Venue: Scienceworks Melbourne – Boiler Room
