Joanne & Thomas
As seen in Geelong Wedding Guide Magazine
Love Story
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Joanne and Tom’s love story began in South-East London, England. Joanne who was working as a nanny, was finding her feet in her new surrounds and heading out on the town with a friend to a bar. Local Englishman Tom was celebrating a friend’s birthday and caught Joanne’s eye the moment she entered the bar. Plucking up the courage to talk to him, Joanne sat down right next to Tom and his friends, and that was that!
Living by the words of ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’, Joanne and Tom have had their fair share of hurdles in building their life together. Battling visa processes, months apart on the other side of the world, communicating via Facetime, moving from country to country to find their place together; this battle to be together soon cemented how they feel about each other.
After months of convincing the Immigration Department that they were a real couple and settling in Australia, Joanne and Tom feel so lucky to finally be together. Choosing Geelong as their home and finding the perfect mix of country and city, they’ve built a life with their three beautiful boys (one fur-baby cat and two dogs) where they can continue to create a magic together.
The Day
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Choosing to elope for their special day once the pandemic hit, Joanne and Tom enlisted the help of Big Love Elopements – a dynamic team of photographers and celebrants who mix celebration and fun to bring the perfect elopement wedding to life. Working with photographer Jake and celebrant Jessie, Joanne and Tom cannot speak more highly of this power-team – “Jake is literally the best person/photographer you’ll EVER meet. Genuinely the greatest person alive. Jessie our celebrant was radiant, funny, personal and simply divine”.
A warm, sunny day in Geelong Botanic Gardens was the perfect backdrop for Joanne and Tom’s ceremony, taking their wedding vows under the beautiful old Ginkgo Biloba, a memory they will treasure in their own home forever thanks to Joanne’s brother and sister-in-law (gift goals!).
Karryn from The Wedding Sitter, made it possible for the couple’s little best friend Ned to be involved in their ceremony, while the day was captured by Bas from Love Soldier in truly beautiful videography that perfectly expresses the emotion and love radiating from the couple.
To surprise her new husband, Joanne worked with Vanessa from A Simple Wish Events to great a romantic picnic for just the two of them after the ceremony at their accommodation at The Warehouse Apartments in Geelong.
For Joanne and Tom, it’s the all the special touches that made their day perfect. Joanne’s unique dress combining the sleek styling of Made with Love and finished off with custom designed sleeves from Pearls and Roses is truly eye catching. The couple’s floral arrangements thanks to Brigitte from Blooms By B were exactly what they wanted, although Joanne’s bouquet may have taken a dive off the roof their Kombi van for the day!
Confronted with a global pandemic and the reality of not being able to celebrate their big day with their international family and friends, Joanne and Tom’s elopement was everything they could have dreamt of for their wedding day – a day, just the two of them, to celebrate the rest of their lives together hand in hand.
Big Love Elopements
Love Soldier - videographer
Made With Love Bridal - Dress
Pearls And Roses - dress alterations
Eddy Elias - suit
Blooms By B - florals
The Wedding Sitter - dog assistant
A Simple Wish - pop up picnic
The Warehouse Apartments
Maddi Nicholls Makeup - MUA
Blondie Salon - Hair
Hire A Kombi
Cake by the bride herself!
