Jacob and Sarah-Jane had a St Mary’s Cathedral Crypt wedding ceremony and held their reception at Botanic House, the Luke Nyugen-led restaurant within Sydney Botanic Gardens.

Jacob and Sarah-Jane overcame both the time and distance obstacles of a Covid relationship, as Jacob studied on the east coast of the US, to find they had conquered it so successfully that it called for a wedding. Their celebrations brought together a large group from Australia and overseas on a day that was as good as Sydney gets.

Jacob’s preparations began at Millers Point, with his family and best man, all unhelpfully awakened by the blast from a White City cruise liner. Of course, it’s going to happen without fail!

Breakfasting, coffees, and conversations started their day, before I headed to Sarah-Jane with her family, bridesmaid and flower girls, getting themselves ready at her parent’s house on the leafy outskirts of Barden Ridge. Amongst the dresses, jewellery, perfume, handbags and shoes, there was a handmade wooden heart, that contained the wedding bands. That had been made by one of Jacob’s sisters.

Both scenarios played out similarly, calm, quiet and organised, which seems to summarise both of them. Everything was so well organised, that even the one thing that went “wrong” didn’t. A planned Maserati, meant to take Sarah-Jane to her wedding ceremony St Mary’s Cathedral Crypt, turned into a Rolls Royce instead. If only all misadventures ended up so well.

The St Mary’s Cathedral wedding ceremony took place in the crypt. Sarah-Jane, really knowing her architectural features throughout Sydney, had informed me that for the walk up the aisle, there is the depiction of the Genesis story. And rather surprisingly there are three different pipe organs underneath. Apparently, the organists have their favourites and will pick the one that they’ve grown to enjoy.

The St Mary’s Cathedral staff helped make things run really smoothly. They let us know, during a visit to the church earlier in the week, that as soon as it was possible they’d let us know when photographs on the church steps would be possible, and did a great job of keeping it fairly clear of visitors.

Jacob and Sarah-Jane caught the nearest available Rolls Royce and headed, after family photographs, straight down to Mrs Macquarie’s Point. We had a spectacular afternoon walk from there, back around to the Botanic Garden lawn, in front of Botanic House, where they were able to join in with canapés and drinks with the guests.

As a very lovely point of difference, one of their friends had created a lovely painting that the guests were invited to help complete with the addition of their fingerprints. The unique painting will obviously be a great reminder of their Sydney wedding day, and the people who fill their lives. A band played on the lawn, and then continued the party atmosphere inside Botanic House.

There was no formal entry or introductions, everyone entered, drinks in hand, and took their seats, with the bride and groom mingling the whole time.

The speeches were great. I’d remembered to mention to Sarah-Jane’s father to make sure he had his, and he went and grabbed it. I’d forgotten to do that with Jacob’s Dad, so he simply did a lovely off-the-cuff speech. Sarah’s bridesmaid spoke, as did Jacob’s best man. They added the extra colour that makes weddings special, and the best man found some universal laughs through self-deprecation, and by actually talking the groom up.

The evening continued with dancing, lots of conversation, and the cutting of that unique cake. Their wedding cake was a depiction of the various books that they love, are entertained by and from which they have found inspiration. It remained a really effective talking point during the reception.