Pia + Gonzalo

“We can't thank Jam enough for the beautiful ceremony and words that she had given to us and our loved ones at our wedding day in 2020.
We met her through destiny and we could not be more thankful for that.
Jam is very organised and professional celebrant, but at the same time she down to earth and so lovely. She definitely has a sense for all the beautiful details which made our ceremony so unique. She created a most beautiful flow and vibe. It was more than we ever expected for our little, but very close and beautiful wedding in the unexpected and different year 2020.”

Pia and Gonzo are from opposite ends of the earth. It was at a lime farm in the far north tip of Australia that this beautiful German girl met her handsome Chilean future husband. They hit it off straight away and spent a wonderful couple of weeks working and enjoying the summer festivities on the lime farm. Gonzalo eventually had to return to Melbourne to resume his studies and they had made plans for Pia to join him in a couple of week’s time. During their 2 weeks apart their hearts grew feverishly fonder and when they were finally reunited in Melbourne their relationship went into hyperdrive.

Gonzo and Pia fell in love in and with Melbourne. It is here against the colourful Melbourne backdrop where they shared their hopes and dreams and moved in with each other to create their own home away from home with each other. They had both worked hard to save up and visit each other’s families and homes back in Germany and Chile. They loved sharing all of themselves with each other and felt that together they can do anything.

So the last time Pia’s folks came out to Melbourne for a visit, Gonzo formally asked Pia’s parents for their blessing for them to be married. And even though Pia’s folks are happily-not-married, her father Benno was so overcome by the incredibly moving moment that he cried tears of joy.

And then 2020 and a global pandemic happened.
All of their wedding dreams went out the window that is until…

Pia saw a sign… LITERALLY!

A chance encounter at the front of my house brought Pia face to face with my Celebrant Jam sign. That moment was pure fate and the rest is wedding history!

For Gonzo and Pia’s intimate ceremony they had gathered their closest family and friends in Melbourne at the picturesque Carlton Gardens to witness their nuptials. And living in the COVID age with thanks to modern technology both Pia and Gonzo’s parents were able to join in the ceremony via video link. Our lover’s beautiful heartfelt ceremony was followed by champagne and cake before the wedding party continued their celebrations throughout Melbourne.

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Photography: Sofia Machado

Jam + Mal

My husband Malachi and I are celebrating our 6 year wedding anniversary under Stage 4 COVID19 Lockdown in Melbourne this year and I am taking this opportunity to look back, reflect and give thanks to this life we have made together.

Malachi and I met almost 10 years ago through the miracle of online dating and a little website called Oasis Active. This was pre-Tinder days when it was still considered a little weird to go on a date with someone you have just been talking to on the internet. I have been dabbling in online dating for a couple of years and have had my share of horrible dates, but I still had hoped that I’d find someone who I’d click with.

It was one lazy Saturday arvo that I logged on and saw that this mysterious looking Treeman23 had viewed my profile. His black and white profile photo didn’t give too much away. He was pictured sitting on a boulder looking away in the distance, and when I clicked into his profile his photo gallery revealed that he was smoking hot and also that he knew how to have a good time. I sent him a ‘wink’ to connect and we got chatting that night. During our online banter we found that we were living only around the corner from each other (Johnston St/Smith St) until recently when he relocated down the coast to Mount Martha. I mentioned that I have never been down that way and it just happened to be that Mal’s birthday was coming up the following Thursday. So next thing we know I’m driving down to Mount Martha on the eve of his birthday to meet him for the first time.

We really went for it! And it was instant magic at first sight.

I remember locking eyes with Mal as he walked in the door. He was wearing a sleeveless black Harley Davidson t-shirt that showed off his tatts, and as I looked into his clear blue eyes there was this bashful gentleness that immediately put me at ease. I then presented him with some blue orchids and the game Twister to help us celebrate his birthday. The rest of the evening unfolded with him preparing our roast veg dinner (he thought I was vegetarian), driving down to the beach to watch the sunset and getting to know each other over dinner. By the end of the night we both knew that I would not be staying in the guest room.

We embarked on a summer of love and had an amazing time together. The following year saw us test our relationship with me living in New York for 3 months. In that time Mal had moved in with some of my friends at their sharehouse in Carlton. We had planned a rendezvous at the end of my time in New York with both of us flying into Shanghai and then travelling through India for a month together. Our connection grew stronger through our wild India adventures, and on our way back Mal got to meet some of my family in Shanghai as well as seeing where I had grown up. Upon our returned to Melbourne, I conveniently moved in with Mal and our friends at the Carlton sharehouse.

During our time in Carlton I completed a Masters’ degree in Teaching, whilst Mal worked as a contract arborist across Melbourne. We were able to live our lives to the full with the best of inner city social offerings and playing host to some great times. We also welcomed our furbebe, French Bulldog Oscar Wild and thanks to our awesome housemates we continued to embark on many travel adventures away to Tasmania, Thailand and also visiting Mal’s family throughout WA.

It was when we were planning our next big trip to the US to rendezvous with our good friend Raae and attend Burning Man that we thought about visiting Las Vegas. Mal had off handedly mentioned that he had ‘always wanted to get married by Elvis’. After hearing this I basically ran with it! Getting married wasn’t really on our radar and come to think of it, the logistics of having a wedding was just too much, especially with half my family living in Shanghai and Mal’s family in WA. So going to Burning Man then driving to Las Vegas to get married just made perfect sense for us. Also I wasn’t going to get married in Vegas with Elvis just for the LOLZ, so if we were going to do it then it will be legit.

We shared the good news of our unexpected wedding plans with all our loved ones and it was met with much excitement. We then enlisted the help of our friend Mitch from Evita Jewellery to design and make our rings for our trip. Next we booked our Elvis wedding ceremony package at Graceland Wedding Chapel - World’s First Elvis Wedding Chapel and our Viva Las Vegas accommodation at the Hard Rock Hotel. In order to make our marriage legal we completed an online application for a Clark County Marriage Licence, which we had to pick up in person from the Las Vegas Marriage Licence Bureau once we rolled into town. All that was left to do is to find our wedding outfits and of course to survive Burning Man!

Or so we thought.

With less than a month to go until we fly out on our US trip we received a letter informing us that we had 60 days to find a new home as our rambling Carlton sharehouse was going to be auctioned off. Our hearts sank and we went into instant action searching frantically for a new house to call home. We had many a sleepless nights thinking that we might end up married and homeless. It was a small miracle that I stumbled across this beautifully renovated self contained one bedroom cabin in North Melbourne, we were able to arrange a private viewing with the owner and secured the rental on the spot. Our wonderful friends helped us move into our new home with a week or so to spare, in which time we held a smashing housewarming/send off party! Life sometimes throws us some crazy stuff, but time and time again we somehow find ourselves coming through the other end shining brighter.

Our road trip across the US was everything we had dreamt of and more. Needless to say Burning Man was EPIC. We drove outta there as soon as the Man burned in order to make it to Vegas in time for our wedding ceremony. We checked into the Hard Rock Hotel a day out from the big day and we are joined by my cousin KC who flew down from Vancouver for the occasion, as well as our motley crew from Burning Man, which include our good friend Raae, her housemates CJ, Sam and their English mate Harry.

Mal and I woke up together on the day of our ceremony, quickly said goodbye to each other and then rushed off to get ready in seperate hotel rooms. Mal arrived at the chapel first and waited anxiously as my ride was slightly delayed. By the time I rocked up with my entourage Mal was all set to go and waiting nervously inside the chapel. What happened next is but a surreal blur, all I could remember was thinking to myself that ‘this is really happening!’, thank goodness we took out the ceremony package including a video recording of the whole event.

I vaguely recall Elvis coming over to ask me if I was ready to Rock’n Roll and then taking me by the hand to enter the chapel. I remember walking down as he was serenading us to the tune of ‘Love Me Tender’ and watching Mal finally turning around to see me for the first time in my wedding dress. Our eyes met across the chapel and we gave each other the ultimate once over, nodding in appreciation of the moment. Our celebrant then proceeded to say lots of hilarious things in a very thick French accent. At one point Mal accidentally vowed to be my ‘Facebook husband’ instead of being my ‘faithful husband’. Our Elvis really knew how to work the room throughout the ceremony and after our kiss we all broke into a dance to ‘Viva Las Vegas’ finishing with a victory lap up and down the aisle with the King of Rock’n Roll.

We were married by lunch time and celebrated afterwards by hitting up some All You Can Eat Sushi with our wedding party. The rest of the day was spent lounging poolside back at the hotel and then when night came we toured the casinos and finished up the day at a karaoke bar.

We did it our way and it was the most fun!

It’s 6 years, 2 kids and a house later during a global pandemic and I’m still having fun with you.

Thank you to my handsome husband Malachi for being my ultimate partner in adventure and I am excited to keep on making magic with you in this life!

Gemma + Justine

What a time to be alive, and choosing to get hitched in the middle of a Pandemic is exactly what these two crazy cats have decided to do!

Gem and Justine met through the magic of the interwebs and little did they know that the wonderful ‘World Wide Web’ will also be there to connect them to their loved ones on their wedding day. Our lovers had always wanted to get married (YASSS marriage equality!), and with friends and family scattered all over the world they thought that this would be as good of a time as any to do it with the help of the internet and a little thing called ZOOM. Let’s get with the times! Livestream ZOOM weddings are a real ‘THING’ in this age of COVID19 and Lockdown restrictions. In order to accommodate all the various International time zones, we were set to rendezvous for Gem and Justine’s ceremony at sunrise on a Sunday, 7am Melbourne Eastern Standard Time. We were very fortunate to also have the help of our lovely photographer/videographer couple, Jay and Mash from WedTilDeath as technical support, ensuring that the ceremony is perfectly captured.

Our bride Gemma is a meteorologist who had always wanted to get married outdoors and ironically the weather forecast was not looking favourable. But as luck would have it by the time I had arrived to set up at the amphitheatre at Footscray Community Arts Centre the early morning drizzle had ceased with clearer skies emerging with the day break.

And so it was against all odds that we see these two lovers unite in marriage with their 4 witnesses present and over 100 guests tuning in from all over the world. Three days later metro Melbourne went back under Stage 3 Lockdown, so we had made it just in time!

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Photographer: Wed Til Death
Ceremony: Footscray Community Arts Centre

Adelle + Brenden

These hopeless romantics had a long running joke that they’d get married on 04.04.2020 as it’s the day of their 8th anniversary, which also happens to fall on a Saturday. And so when the world went into Corona virus Pandemic lockdown Adelle and Brenden’s grand plans of being married at the beautiful grounds of the Heidi museum had to be postponed. However we kept our eyes and ears peeled for the latest news regarding the rights to marry in these uncertain times in order to honour their intent to marry on their dream day.

As it stands weddings have the green light to go ahead as long as it only had the bare minimum of participants of 5 people, which include the couple, celebrant and 2 witnesses. It took us some time to process the new restrictions and then we just ran with it. So instead of having their wedding celebrations with all their loved ones as originally intended. We devised a super intimate elopement getaway to Mount Donna Buang, the site of their misty romantic wedding proposal. As for their 2 witnesses we enlisted the help of their photographer and videographer duo Isla and Brendan from Emotions and Maths along for the ride.

All week leading up to Adelle and Brenden’s big day we had our eyes on the news and weather hoping for a clear ‘go ahead’ for our elopement ceremony. The weather was turning, with some rains forecasted through the day and as Adelle and Brenden had also learned from their engagement trip, the temperature dropped dramatically as you made the ascend to the mountain’s summit. But nothing prepared me for the scenic drive up the majestic mountain through mountain clouds, rain and hail all the way to the chilly 5C summit, it was breath taking!

I had found a cute little nook in the Mount Donna Buang info hut for our legal signing set up. I made my way around the hut trying to keep warm I was greeted with waves of heavy rains pounding down the roof above. And just as the huge wave of rain subsided Adelle and Brenden arrived on site with Isla and Bredan in tow. Our soon to be newlyweds had spent a night at an accommodation nearby and then gotten ready in anticipation for a mini first look reveal with their photographers before making their drive up to the ceremony site.

We began with completing some legal paperwork by filling out their Declaration of No Impediment to Marriage form before heading out to be amongst the misty gumtrees for our ceremony. This was the exact spot where Brenden had previously proposed to a shivering cold Adelle. This time around they were a little more prepared for the elements and fully embraced the wild chills. The ceremony was simply beautiful and full of heart, it was a truly special moment shared between Adelle and Brenden. They had honoured their intent to marry and captured the wonderfully romantic moment amongst the moving fog and gumtrees.

We then headed back into the hut to compete the rest of the signing of their marriage certificates to finalise their legal marriage. We parted ways vowing to reunite in the near future to celebrate their commitment with a celebration ceremony where I’d finally be able to give them both a massive hug.

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Photographer: Emotions and Maths
Florist: State of Nature Floral Stylist

Shaunagh + Errol

“We knew that we had found the right celebrant straight after our first meeting with Jam.  She is super cool, easy-going and professional. Jam got to know us and our story as a couple and created a beautiful ceremony that we were so happy with. The ceremony was very meaningful but also entertaining for our family and friends. Jam encouraged us to write our own vows, which I’m now so thankful for. We kept them short, sweet and personal. We loved her incense and the polaroids she took throughout the process. 

Our plans were turned upside down in the week prior to our wedding. We were thankful to have Jam as our celebrant as she was very professional and helped us remain calm. She adapted to the last-minute changes with no fuss or worry! Jam is amazing and we would recommend her to all future couples.”

Shaunagh and Errol are just two of the most beautiful gentle souls you’d ever meet.

Shaunagh first laid eyes on Errol as he was rocking out on stage back in Brisbane. She was immediately crushing on this super handsome guy behind the guitar with them bright blue eyes and thought he was very talented. So when she was introduced to him after the gig by some mutual friends, she found that he is even more lovelier in person. She remembers listening to Errol speak in this very kind voice and being charmed by his very distinctive laugh. Errol was equally taken by his first meeting with Shaunagh, they bonded over their shared love for music and the band ‘A Tribe Called Quest’. So when Errol Facebook friended Shaunagh the next day, our two lovers embarked on a classic online romance where they had slowly gotten to know each other over the course of the following few weeks.

And when they did finally go on their first official date in person, our nervous Shaunagh had her sister Lauren on hand to ply her with beer, Korean friend chicken and a good old pep talk before heading off to meet Errol. Errol brought Shaunagh along to a movie date to watch ‘Trolls 2’, a cult classic comedy-horror flick that’s been dubbed the Best Worst Movie, (yep I had to google it!) not your average date night rom-com. And when the movie came to an end, neither of them wanted to say goodbye. So that night they walked home from the city to the burbs, chatting the whole way back.

Their journey to married life came upon some unique challenges, in the form of an emerging world pandemic. 2020 was shaping up to be one hell of a ride! In spite of the ever changing state of affairs we kept our spirits up and soldiered on. Armed with our elbow taps and hand sanitisers, we came together to triumphantly see these two lovers officially join their hearts and hands in marriage.

Errol and Shaunagh’s wedding ceremony was simply magnificent. Their wedding day took place down in picturesque Portsea, with their ceremony set within Shaunagh’s legend of a sister Lauren’s gorgeous home. Our lovers also hired out the architecturally impressive residence across the road to get ready in and for our nervous soon to be newlyweds to have their ‘First Look’ shoot with our photographer extraordinaire Elsa Campbell.

We all gathered, were witnesses to Shaunagh and Errol’s beautiful ceremony of love and we were all just so happy to be able to be there in support of these two lovely individuals. I look forward to one day seeing them again and to be able to give them both a great big hug!

Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Photography: Elsa Campbell