When it came to organising their wedding, Jess and Tony had one thing in mind – family. This was their second time around (yes, they married each other twice!!) and this time they wanted to do things completely on their own terms. “Our wedding was shabby, ethereal, vintage, pin-up, country and quirky”, explained the bride. “Basically, it was anything but normal!”
“What made it even less normal was that this was actually our second wedding…. to each other! It wasn’t just a vow renewal, it was a wedding. We were really young when we got married in 2000 and had a very traditional wedding that neither of us really felt a part of. Life took over and our marriage fell apart after 13 years. We separated and worked really hard through some excruciating stuff and this was a celebration of new life, new family, and is as our authentic selves. We have 3 kids and they were part of our wedding. This was us doing the wedding the way we wished it had always been.”
“Everything was DIY! Well, except my dress, that was bought about 8 sizes too big and tailored to fit me so there would be extra fabric for the pick-ups and train. We were on a really tight budget and overall we I spent the most on the china, glass, and silver. However we got it all from flea markets and yard sales so we could keep it afterwards.”
“My words of wisdom for other couples would be don’t be afraid to let your freak flag fly! Be creative and make it about you and your life together. If there is too much influence from family, pay for it yourself so you can make your own choices. And don’t stress about everything being perfect (like I did – lots of tears over my sewing machine). Control what you can, let your bridesmaids pick their own dresses, serve your favourite food (we had Mexican street tacos) because if you love it and it says ‘you’, then your guests will love it too.”
“Most of all write your own vows!” she concluded. “Choose music that makes you cry and don’t be ashamed if your wedding is different from ‘normal’. If you have kids already, celebrate them. If you’ve been married before, who cares! If you are pregnant, don’t hide it, embrace it! If like us, you went through a very public, traumatic collapse of your marriage and family, don’t hang your head and quietly ‘work it out’, reinvent your marriage, your family, yourselves, and do it your way!!”
