Haydn + Niama
“We can’t recommend Jam highly enough. Choosing Jam as our celebrant was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding because not only was she an absolutely incredible celebrant, she met with us numerous times in the months leading up to the wedding and offered all sorts of great advice and insights that ended up being extremely useful. Her dedication to our wedding day vision paired with her patient, uber chilled out vibes made her an absolute pleasure to work with. We felt so confident in her and had such a magical experience with her on the day. We’ve been to a lot of weddings and often the celebrant can be a little stale or formal, so it was so refreshing working with Jam who is fun, energetic and vibrant, while still maintaining a professional demeanour. All-in-all, she’s the ultimate celebrant. Knowledgeable, gentle-hearted, confident, organised, adaptable and really, really friendly. Again, we just can’t recommend her highly enough.”
Haydn and Niama are two fiercely passionate individuals who came together to form one of those
“SUPER-couples” that everyone adores and gravitates to. They also know a thing or two about how to have a good time so their wedding day celebrations were sure to be spectacular!
And for me, being a part of these two lovers’ big day was a real full circle moment. For I had the absolute honour in starting my life as a celebrant through helping Haydn’s big bother Ryan marry my best friend Fatuma 3 years prior. It’s pretty special to keep it in the family and to see some familiar friendly faces coming together again in celebration of life and love.
The temperamental November Melbourne weather added an extra element of drama to Niama and Haydn’s outdoor ceremony held by the weeping ‘Kissing Trees’ down at Coburg Lake. Our lush green ceremony spot was beautifully framed by wildly romantic floral towers, arranged by florist Katie Burgham. “I Only Have Eyes for You” by The Flamingos, marked the beginning of the ceremony with our ‘Love Squad’ of 20, each holding a single red rose and dressed impeccably in black, making their way down to us and forming a semi circle behind me. We were then greeted by our stunningly radiant wedding couple dressed in their signature bold red ensembles, walking together hand-in-hand to stand proudly in front of all gathered.
At one point in our ceremony we performed an incredibly moving handfasting ritual. Niama had witnessed her sister Jas perform a version of this when she married her wife Kate many years ago and had recalled just how special it was to see them declare and set their intentions for their married life ahead. And so for Niama and Haydn we had adapted 6 declarations for them to perform along with the blessing from 6 dear friends who came forth to present individual cords to be bound together over their intertwined hands. The knot made with the 6 cords is symbolic of the coming together of Haydn and Niama’s lives and the promises they have made to each other on the day.
Right after Haydn and Niama sealed their wedding vows with a kiss the skies above opened up and we were greeted by the rain. We quickly sign the official wedding paperwork under the cover of umbrellas, with their mums as their witnesses, and then I was able to proudly present our newlyweds to the happy crowd.
The wedding party then made their way to the second destination, the Vizzini Social Club just up Sydney Road, where our newlyweds was able to light up the dance floor with their sweet moves. It was there that the celebrations continued well into the night and I was told that they had planned a special Hungarian Candle Dance called 'Gyertyafény keringő' to be performed at midnight. It is a Hungarian wedding tradition for the newlywed’s closest family and friends to gather and welcome the newlyweds into their first official day of their married life as New Woman and New Man.
Marriage Celebrant: Celebrant Jam
Photography: Simon Aubor
Florist: Katie Burgham
Reception: Vizzini Social Club
