Julia and James

Julia and James tied the knot on the 23rd of September 2024 at Our Lady of Lebanon Church, Thornbury, and held the reception at the popular Bramleigh Estate. Nestled on 10 acres of natural Warrandyte bushland, Bramleigh Estate is a luxury Yarra Valley wedding venue for a private, intimate wedding with family and friends.

James had a romantic destination proposal in store for Julia, she tells us, “We were in Thailand and staying in Koh Samui, we were just recovering from food poisoning and arrived at our new hotel. We were told that we had a complimentary dinner on the beach at 7pm and I was so blown away by that and excited! When we got to our room, the bed was set up to say ‘happy honeymoon’ and I kept saying to him, maybe they have the wrong couple? And he just went along with it. That night on our way to dinner there was a beautiful teepee set up on the beach, they walked us over to there and I said wow they really do have the wrong people, we should tell them. My partner said, yeah we will tell them after the first drink. He ended up saying, well I know you think they have the wrong people, but I know they don’t, this is set-up for us. He got down on one knee and proposed! It was such a beautiful moment.”

Belle et Blanc bride ‘Julia’ picked the ‘‘Sadie” ballgown wedding gown, with 3-d lace and beading. Julia tells us how she came to choose her beautiful gown, “I spent a day with my entourage visiting different dress shops, at each place they would rate my dress out of 10! When I tried the Sadie gown on, it not only got the highest score, but I also felt amazing in it, every detail was just exquisite. It was still super far out from my wedding, so I didn’t want to make a choice right away. I decided to leave it a few weeks. After going to a few more bridal shops and trying on different dresses, I noticed I kept comparing every dress I tried on to the Sadie gown, nothing could compare. I remember Rose, my bridal consultant, said to me that I would never get the chance to wear a ballgown dress again, and despite being a little bit worried that the dress was ‘too much’ I knew it was the one. I made an appointment again and put the deposit down. I thought that people just spoke about knowing they have ‘the dress’. But at my second appointment when I tried it on again, I had tears in my eyes and knew I would regret it if I let such a beautiful dress go. Every appointment and every fitting made me so much more excited. I felt so special every time I came in. Rose has such fantastic customer service and reassured me despite how stressed I was, that everything would be okay, and it was!”

The wedding day was such a wonderful day, accompanied by their nearest and dearest friends and family. Julia tells us, “We had such a magical day, people tell you that the day goes quick, but quick is such an understatement. We soaked up every moment. I was late to the church by about 30 minutes! During that time, the priest asked if anyone else wanted to marry my husband!!Throughout the day, we felt so much love; for each other; from our family and friends that attended. We had such a wonderful day.