Even an unsuspecting bridesmaid nearly falling into a lake mid-vows couldn’t dampen the joy of fan favourites Andrew Guthrie and Jess Nathan, who wed on March 16 after meeting on Aussie dating show Farmer Wants A Wife in 2021.
“We were just really excited, and so we told ourselves if anything went pear-shaped, we’d just keep our sense of humour about it all,” says Jess, 30, of the couple’s big day at Mimosa Wines near Bermagui on the NSW South Coast.
BEAUTIFUL BUT CHAOTIC
“I wore a six-metre-long veil,” the bubbly bride tells Woman’s Day. “It wasn’t coping when a breeze picked up during my vows and was basically wrapping around Andrew and my bridesmaids. One of
them, Emma, grabbed it and tried to pull it back. We got married on a pier over a small lake, so she almost fell in, then I almost fell back into the water as well, so, in the end, I just stepped to the side
and took my veil off.
“One of our family members described the ceremony as “emotional, beautiful and chaotic,” Jess adds with a laugh.
“It was very us – it was perfect! We’re still on cloud nine!”
The brief for the day was a formal country garden party, and in a sweet touch, the bridesmaids’ dresses were Jess’ something blue! The reality star wore a gown from Jane Hill Bridal in Melbourne, with an A-line skirt and delicate beading, a low-back and thigh-high slit, and long sheer sleeves with pearl closures at the wrist and down the back.
“It was the dress of my dreams,” says Jess, whose favourite moment of the day was walking down the aisle, which was studded with long-stemmed white roses, with her father Geoff.
“My dad is one of my favourite people in the world – he’s just an absolute legend – so that was really beautiful,” she says.
“And obviously seeing Andrew at the end of the aisle!”
Her groom’s highlight was saying his vows in front of their 145 guests.
“It was when I got the most emotional,” he reveals. “Neither of us had heard them. I got a little bit teary.”
“We were incredibly lucky with the weather too,” Andrew, 34, adds.
“The two days before, it just rained so much. It was a beautiful day on our wedding and then the day after, it rained again. We didn’t really have an option for wet weather, so we were a bit nervous!”
The couple opted to skip a traditional wedding cake – serving a three-course menu and canapes instead.
“We wanted to have a really bougie canape hour, so we had really beautiful nibbles – like Peking duck and lamb koftas – and had our favourite drinks, which were spicy margaritas and limoncello spritz,” shares Jess. “Everyone got stuck in!”
When the couple chatted with Woman’s Day last year to celebrate their engagement, they shared that they would start trying for a family on their honeymoon. So, is that still the plan?
“We’ve been practising,” laughs Jess.
“We’re not trying for a baby just yet. We’re really enjoying the time of ‘just us’ and I do think babies won’t be too far off, but we’re not quite there just yet. We’ll wait another couple of months and then see where we are.”
They already have a list of baby names, and a lot of their friends have just started families. “It’s all happening,” laughs Andrew.
The couple, who share a home in Delegate, NSW, plan to watch this season of Farmer Wants A Wife, especially as one of Andrew’s groomsmen, Joey Bobbin, is looking for love on the show.
“We’ll be rooting for Joey,” says Jess.
MARRIAGE MADE IN TV
“He’s a bit of a character,” says Andrew.
“It will be interesting to see how it all plays out for him.”
“He saw that it can work from watching Jess and I,” adds Andrew, who thinks the show’s high success rate at matching couples is because “it gives people in rural areas a chance to meet people they wouldn’t have. There’s no way Jess and I would have ever crossed paths had we not gone on the show.
“I know Jess took a lot of convincing to do the show and a friend of mine signed me up as a joke… it’s not really the way any of us ever imagined we’d be meeting each other, but it worked out in the end.”
See more of Jess and Andrew’s wedding this season on Farmer Wants A Wife, Sun, 7pm, & Mon-Tues, 7.30pm, Seven & 7plus.
