Emma & Jake
Deux Belettes Wedding, Byron Bay
There's something rare about the way Emma and Jake love each other - steady, easy, the kind of love that took its time and never doubted where it was headed.
They first found each other at a mutual friend's 18th birthday, two teenagers from different worlds - Emma from the country, Jake from the city — who weren't quite ready for what they'd found. They stayed in touch for two years before finally coming back together in 2017, and six years on, they married beneath the sun-drenched stone archways of Deux Belettes in Byron Bay, surrounded by everyone who has watched their story unfold.
Wedding Planner & Stylist: The Events Lounge
Venue: Deux Belttes
Photography:Megan Kelly
Videography:Dylan Dirks
Catering:Terra Catering
Celebrant:Modern Love Ceremonies
Décor Hire:Social Event Hire
Entertainment:Janda Events / Him & Her Music
Florist:Florals & Co
Hair Stylist: Claire Moriarty
Make Up Artist: Alice Buss & Kylan Muster
Stationery:Laura Elizabeth Designs
Tent, Flooring & Lighting:Sperry Tents Australia
Wedding Cake:Marina Machado
Their engagement was its own kind of love letter. In July 2023, on what was meant to be a stop before a family trip through Italy and Greece, the couple detoured to Croatia - Emma's father's homeland, and a place she had always dreamed of visiting once she found her person, having lost her dad to cancer in 2012. Standing above the rooftops of Dubrovnik, Jake asked her to marry him, a photographer quietly capturing the moment he'd been nervously building toward all day. They spent what remained of it in a private island cabana, the beginning of a new chapter already taking shape.
That same instinct - to bring the people they love into their story - carried straight through to their wedding day. Deux Belettes' sun-filled courtyard, with its weathered stone and climbing greenery, gave Emma and Jake the European elegance they'd fallen for on their travels, a way of bringing a little piece of Dubrovnik home to the people who mattered most. Guests gathered beneath parasols as an intimate ceremony unfolded, before the day opened into golden hour and, later, a sailcloth marquee reception softened with loose, wildflower-toned blooms in lilac, peach and cream, blonde bistro chairs, and warm lamplight. One of the most touching details of the day was a small custom detail woven into a single empty seat at the ceremony - a quiet tribute to Emma's father, present in spirit even where he couldn't be.
What struck us most, working alongside Emma and Jake, wasn't just how considered every detail was - it was how genuinely happy they were. Kind, warm, and utterly loved up from the very first meeting, they brought exactly the joy to the planning process that they hoped their guests would feel on the day. True to their vision, speeches wrapped as the sun dropped and the party began — laughter, dancing, and a courtyard full of the people who've been part of their journey from the very start.
