Our story...
We discovered that first impressions aren’t always final when Jessica Verrier told us about her combative teen relationship with the man who was to become her husband.
The setting was the gorgeous grounds of Queens Gardens, East Perth, the bride and groom had known each other 10 years, but Jessica Verrier knew that she was finally marrying Mr Wright.
Jason and I met when I was 16 and doing work experience at the Vines. I was sitting on the wall waiting for my lift home and he and his mate kept driving past in a golf buggy, teasing me. I couldn't wait for my sister to come and get me away from them!
If I had been told then, that one day in 10 years time I would be marrying this boy, I would have laughed so hard!
Despite this first encounter and thanks to our mate Denver who gave him my number, we quickly became good friends and over the next few years we both grew up together, each doing our own thing until we lost contact. One day, when I was working in a pub in Midland, we literally bumped into each other - I almost spilt an entire tray of drinks on him! Our friendship picked up where it left off straight away and when he would come round to visit, Mum and Dad used to joke "Here comes your Mr Right" - even then I still laughed at them.
One day we finally admitted to each other how we felt and we haven't looked back - we often joke that we caught up in one year and how different life might have been, had we got together all those years ago. As it happened we bought our house, got engaged, had our gorgeous son Calvin and now, two and a half years later, I finally got to marry my Mr Wright!
The lead up...
The night before our wedding we stayed at Hillarys Resort Apartments. It was my Nan's 90th birthday so all of our aunties, uncles, cousins and kids met for a picnic down at Hillarys so that we could celebrate with her. After everything being so hectic in the weeks leading up to the wedding, I really enjoyed having that day with everyone just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and sharing the excitement of Nan's special birthday, knowing that the big day was coming tomorrow.
“If I had been told that one day in ten years time I would be marrying this boy, I would have laughed so hard."
Finally the morning of our wedding had arrived and we were all up at the crack of dawn to start getting ready. In fact, we beat the sun up! We all took turns getting hair and make-up done and everyone pitched in to help speed the process up - Mum and Dad supplying us with food and drink whilst somehow managing to play with the kids as well as get themselves ready too. The morning flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head off to East Perth.
The Ride there...
As for our wedding cars, there was a story in itself there... I have always wanted a Hummer as my wedding car, I just love them! Jason on the other hand had always dreamt of a stretch GT Falcon Limo. We both wanted the other to be happy but we both wanted the cars we wanted - so we decided to have both! Back when I was travelling around LA in 2004, I saw a stretch Hummer and so the first thing I did when we'd set a date for our wedding was try to find one in Perth, but unfortunately there were none available at the time. In the end I booked with Rob, a guy who was hiring out his own Hummer on the weekends and I was more than happy to have a normal H2 - I'd never actually been in one so it was going to be a huge thrill anyway.
Then one day a couple of months before the wedding, I got a phone call from Rob to tell me that somehow there had been a mix-up with bookings and rather than run the risk of making me fifteen minutes late, he couldn't provide me with his H2 Hummer anymore - and that he hoped it was OK though as instead he had booked me a stretch Hummer for no extra cost. I was so overwhelmed by his generosity and so excited; he could have just cancelled or even not cared about making us late and said nothing, but instead at his own expense he made my ultimate dream come true. It also meant that on the way to our ceremony my family could all fit in the one car and we could enjoy the drive there together. It was so special to have that memory and I will be forever grateful.
"I couldn’t believe how quickly it had passed, I felt like we’d only just got there and I wanted to keep on partying. I just didn’t want this awesome day and feeing to end."
The ride to the ceremony was awesome, Mum and Dad had bought us some Moet champagne which was so cool and I felt like a celebrity for the day whilst my little Calvin was just excited about a whole ice bucket just for himself! It wasn't until we arrived at the ceremony and I saw the number plate was 1082 - the month and year that I was born. Unbelievable! It felt like it was all just meant to be.
The Ceremony...
We chose to have our ceremony in Queens Gardens in East Perth. When I was little, my Nan's sister Al was like my second grandma and she often used to look after me. We'd catch the bus from her house into the city to feed the ducks and when I grew up my sister Lea, my cousin and I took her and Nan there for a picnic and sat under a beautiful weeping willow tree, reminiscing and enjoying the sunshine. Unfortunately my Auntie Al is no longer with us so the closest we could get to having her there with us on the day was to have the ceremony in a place with so many wonderful loving memories. We married under a weeping willow by the lake, with the picnic spot we had visited years before in the background. It was beautiful.
My Mum and Dad both walked me down the aisle, with Calvin in tow and it was one of the proudest and most emotional moments in my life, having my son and both of my parents by my side, supporting me, as I walked towards the beginning of the rest of my life with Jase, the man I loved and adored. I was experiencing so many emotions all at once but it was just the best feeling ever. I am usually a pretty happy and smiley person but you couldn't wipe the grin off my face - this was a moment I had dreamed of for a long time and I was just about jumping out of my dress with excitement!
Jason's best men were his friends Pete and Denver. They looked fantastic and they did an awesome job helping him get ready and get there on time. Our bridesmaids, my sisters Mandy and Lea, were absolutely stunning and were such a huge support for us, both on the day and in the lead up to it.
As I walked towards Jason, seeing him standing there with a big smile on his face and tears in his eyes too, I knew he felt exactly the same as I did and it was such a great feeling. Saying our vows to each other felt unreal, we had chosen words that meant something to us both and our relationship, and saying them aloud to Jason while looking into his eyes with all our family and friends there to share this moment with us meant so much.
Because we wanted our families to be involved as much as possible, we had both our fathers sign the marriage certificate and my sister Lea and Jason's brother Darren gave a reading together. My Nan also read out a beautiful piece for us, with my Mum by her side supporting her. It was really nice to have everyone we loved involved in our ceremony in some way. Afterwards we had some photos in the park and the beautiful gardens made a perfect background. We also stopped in East Perth for some shots before heading off to Marmion for some more photos on the beach and then the reception.
The Party afterwards....
Jason and I are both Grinspoon fans from way back, we each used to play their CDs while we talked on the phone so we chose one of our favourite songs, 'Just Ace', to play when we arrived at the reception. It's a really upbeat and energetic song and it helped set the mood for the night; we just wanted everyone to get their party boots on and enjoy celebrating our special day with us.
The reception was fantastic, we had so much fun and the night just flew by. The food was delicious, the music Rod and Darren chose to play was awesome and having everyone we loved around us just made it even better. When it came to formalities, the boys' speeches were absolutely hilarious; despite being seriously incriminating and making me cringe more than once! We had also organised a birthday cake for my Nan and everyone sang to her. She is quite an amazing little lady and we felt really lucky to have her there to share her big milestone and our big day together.
Our first dance together was actually quite funny. Jason isn't really big on dancing and in the weeks before I had wanted to learn a special dance but time got the better of us and we never did. However when we walked on to the dance floor I started off with a little spin around Jase and then under his arm and the look on his face was one of complete bewilderment! "Jess - what are you doing!?!" Then we slowed down and danced to our favourite Nickelback song - it came out a couple of weeks after we started going out and Jason told me it reminded him of me (and just for the record - the song is 'Far Away', not 'Animals'!)
Before we knew it, the end of the night had come and it was time to go. I couldn't believe how quickly it had passed, I felt like we'd only just got there and I wanted to keep on partying. I just didn't want this awesome day and feeling to end. To be honest, it hasn't ended yet. Getting married has been without a doubt the best thing for our relationship and even now, the happy, excited feeling continues and so does our lifelong journey together!
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