Soman + Ingrid

December 22, 2018 by Jamima Wu

‘Twas a few days before Christmas that I had the honour to marry these two international expat aid workers back on home soil.

I first received the call whilst in the Coles deli section on a lazy Sunday arvo in April.
‘Hi is this Celebrant Jam? This may be a little out of the blue, I’m Soman calling from Jordan and I got your contact from an acquaintance we met in Beirut. We are looking to get married in Melbourne at the end of the year.’
I knew immediately that this one is going to be pretty special.

Through the magic of Skype I had gotten to know Soman and Ingrid and their plans to have an intimate wedding ceremony with their close family and friends in Melbourne at the end of the year before embarking on an epic Italian dolce vita wedding gathering the following year. So for their Melbourne do they had put together a delicious lunch at the gorgeous French Saloon.

At our first video meeting we spoke about what Soman and Ingrid had in mind for their ceremony. They wanted something to possibly involve their loved ones and was really into the idea of a little hands-on ring warming ritual. On the day Soman’s nice Arya did an amazing job taking care of the rings and escorting them around the room for our guests to hold them in their hands and pass on their love and blessings. A truely beautiful moment shared amongst all the people in the room.

Some sweet words from Soman and Ingrid

Celebrant Jam brought a unique and positive energy to our special day. She made things fun and enjoyable and made us feel at ease. We really felt like Jam cared about helping us craft the day just as we wanted it to be. Jam also provided us with different ways of doing things so we could make all our friends and family feel a part of our ceremony - and it was this creativity that made the difference.

Photography Elsa Campbell

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Venue: French Saloon
Photographer: Elsa Campbell
Florist: The Road Stall

Tom + Cip

November 17, 2018 by Jamima Wu

A pair of high school sweethearts joining their hearts and hands in marriage in spectacular fashion!

These two love birds met and fell in love as sweet 16 year olds riding the daily train to neighbouring high schools. They grew up together and survived the transition from adolescence to adulthood as well as living at opposite ends of the country when Cip moved away for her studies. They stayed true to each other through it all and once reunited they built a wonderful life together surrounded by their loved ones.

Tom and Cip’s wedding day was the perfect occasion for them to bring together all of the things that they love and share it with all of the people that they love in an ultimate celebration of their life and love. Tom and Cip are all about sustainable living and supporting their local community. So they gathered everybody for their wedding ceremony at the rooftop gardens of their local North Fitzroy library, with the after party held at their favourite bar Atticus Finch. They had thoughtfully organised catering to be provided by Melbourne Farmers Markets and put together a set of metallic reusable straws in little canvas pouches as wedding party favours for their guests. You can see their unique little touches throughout the day from the hand drawn signs to the little love hearts carefully carved out from potatoes and stamped on the bonbonniere pouches.

On the day Tom and Cip had assembled a kick ass wedding squad of 7 charming individuals who have been there for them through their daily life. And on their big day their wedding posse was TURNT, with our lady bride’s mates rocking bold red jumpsuits by Melbourne’s Oats the label that perfectly matched the vibrant blooms styled by Honesty Flora.

Our beautiful bride and groom stole the show when they joined their hands at the ceremony, they looked into each other’s eyes and read out their vows declaring their feelings and reasons for loving one another.

Some lovely words from Tom and Cip

“Thank you Jam for your passion and energy! You were warm, relaxed yet proffessional and made the lead-up to our wedding such a breeze. We knew exactly what to expect on the day and you absolutely nailed the ceremony. Thank you for encapsulating our story and putting so much love into the entire process. We couldn't reccomend you highly enough!'“

Photography Caroline Sada

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Ceremony Venue: Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library
Photographer: Caroline Sada
Flowers: Honesty Flora
Food: Melbourne Farmers Markets
Music: Songbirds
Make up: Viv Roche Makeup
Hair: Steve Mazza & by.RELLA
Cake: Tuileries Cakery
Afterparty: Atticus Finch
DJ at afterparty: My Best Friend's Wedding DJs
Bride wears: Top from Japan and Skirt by Arnsdorf
Groom wears: Hugo Boss
Bride’s Mates wears: OATS the label
Groom’s Entourage wears: Jack London

Photography Caroline Sada

Nik + Nath

July 20, 2018 by Jamima Wu

Nik and Nath are equal parts adorable and cool AF!

Their wonderful love story began many moons ago within the wonderful World of Warcraft, a young Nikki from Melbourne met a young Nathan from Christchurch, they joined the guild ‘Shadow of Chaos’ and became forever linked. It took 3 years for them to meet in person and a further 4 years for their friendship to blossom into something more. Once they were sure of their love for each other they moved countries and cities to be together.

As partners in real life they have been there for each other through the ups and downs, all the while having a good old laugh about it. Nik and Nath’s wedding day gathered all their loved ones for a wonderful celebration in honour of their fun filled world.

Some sweet words from Nikki

Having Jam as the celebrant on our wedding day made it feel like it was being officiated by a long time friend. She was professional, detail oriented funny and warm. The narrative Jam created for our ceremony had our guests laughing and 'awwwww'ing throughout, she touched all the important bases from our story and sprinkled it with nerdy nuances that really reflected the people we are. She held our hand through the paperwork process and was totally accommodating at every step. We cannot recommend her enough for a professional but down to earth experience. She gave so much heart and understanding to our wedding day. Thanks girlfriend! <3

Photography NabeelsCamera

Photography NabeelCamera

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Venue: Glasshaus Inside
Photographer: Nabeels Camera
Videographer: Icarus Studios

Doug + Ally

February 03, 2018 by Jamima Wu

A pair of interstate lovebirds based in Perth that decided to gather up all their loved ones to come down to scenic Apollo Bay and see them join their hands in marriage. I first got to know Doug and Ally through a Sunday evening Skype meeting and instantly fell for their love story.

These two locked eyes across a busy festival crowd at a Groove in the Moo in Bendigo and kept bumping into each other until Ally finally agreed to a kiss and a date with Doug. Needless to say the date went very well, however the very next day Doug had to fly back to work in Darwin. Distance couldn't keep the lovers apart for long, Ally decided to take the plunge to visit Doug in Darwin and it was there that they fell in love.

Doug and Ally's wedding ceremony was held high up on a hill at the picturesque Cloud Farm property. They were lucky to have enlisted their good friend and photographer Ania from Enriched By Light Photography to capture all the beautiful moments from the day.

A testimonial from the lovebirds,

"My husband and I both wanted a unique celebrant to marry us and we are so glad we were recommended Jam. Coming from Perth, we thought it would be hard to get across who we were and find the right fit. But after one skype date, Jam put us at ease. We had a further two meetings with Jam before the big day, and her individualised style and blog of our meetings felt unique. I dont think any two of her ceremonies would be the same. Jam has a great way with words, and so many people at our wedding commented how wonderful the ceremony was. Thanks for being uber cool Jam. We wont hesitate in recommending you to EVERYONE!! xx"

Photography by Ania
http://www.enrichedbylight.com.au

Bek + Will

December 16, 2017 by Jamima Wu

It was my absolute pleasure to perform the wedding ceremony for the lovely Bek and Will. An awesome couple who stylishly rocked the ceremony to their own tune. I mean who else would walk out of their ceremony to a beautifully reworked acoustic rendition of 'Trap Queen' performed by the talented Little Buster Brown Wedding Band.

Not only did I enjoy getting to know Bek and Will, I also loved meeting their adorable little Frenchie Soda on each occasion. And of course Soda was present on the big day, looking sharp and on his best behaviour!

Bek and Will's ceremony took place at the picturesque Tanglewood Estate down in Mornington Peninsular. The owners of the venue Donna and John, had gone to extensive lengths to make the grounds come to life. We had our ceremony in front of the heart-shaped dam with magnificent views looking out into the bay.

This wedding was extra special to me because I got to work alongside friends, photographer Ryan Wheatley and make up artist Karen Burton. They were both on board to help shoot profile photos for my website, and here we are a year later working on a wedding together.

Photography Ryan Wheatley

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Venue: Tanglewood Estate
Photography: Ryan Wheatley
Make up artist: Karen Burton
Wedding band: Little Buster Brown