Teagen & Jess

We’re incredibly fond of elopements at Polka Dot Bride, and we know, that one of the hardest parts of running off with your beloved to tie the knot, is missing out on a celebration. For Teagen and Jess, their elopement in Vegas was the most perfect excuse to celebrate with their friends and family. They booked a beautiful historic venue, donned their wedding attire and invited Alex Winner Photography to capture it unfolding. A wedding was always going to be on the cards for these two and they both knew it! Jess explaining “We knew we were going to get married, it was never a question of if but when. We were planning a holiday to the States late in the year so I had an idea…” of their proposal story. “I was at home one day and called out to Jess to come into the room I was in. Naturally, she thought I wanted her to do something so came with some protest. To her surprise, I said, “hey, wanna get married in Vegas?”

It was really important to Teagen and Jess that their four-legged friend could be included, they explain “Our fur baby, if a venue told us she couldn’t be there, we would have changed venues. She stayed for the first hour then went home, but she was always going to be part of our special day.”

Teagen chose and off the shoulder gown from Jadore for the wedding, sharing “As our elopement plans were a secret, shopping locally was hard. When I imagined myself getting married I always thought I would go for a classic style, something plain white with no lace. Which proved very difficult to find! I tried on a number of different styles and tried to keep an open mind. I tended to know what I didn’t like but struggled to find something I did. As I am a curvy size 14-16 I found it difficult to try on the styles I liked as most the shop sizes were 8-10. Most of the bridal shops recommended styles for me which were more forgiving for my shape however they were not my style and just couldn’t imagine myself wearing. This was disheartening. But finally, I found a dress. It was plain white, no lace or embellishments! A shape I loved and it fitted, well mostly!! I am lucky enough that I was able to get it reasonably quickly as we only had a few months to prepare. The dress matched the one in my head of what I imaged myself wearing.”

Teagen carried a bouquet of native flowers, remarking “I really only wanted one bouquet for photos,  Along with the help of my sister and Mum, we were able to create the kind of bouquet that I wanted and it was really cost effective. We went to my local flower farmer and got most of the flowers along with a few extra’s from a florist. A YouTube video or two and a few hours later and we were done. I am still surprised by the result and really enjoyed the experience.”

Jess donned pieces from  Sussan and Sumissura to complete her look. Teagen explaining “Jess doesn’t like dresses, so that was never a question. She thought about a suit, suspenders and all the options. Did lots of googling and ended up finding a fabric she liked. The rest of the outfit was built around that.”

Teagen and Jess loved working with their photographer Alex. “He was great! He made us laugh and not feel awkward or strange about standing in the middle of a lane. It was enjoyable.”

Jess and Teagen chose the beautiful Mansfield House for their reception, noting “With only 8 months to plan we were a bit worried about our options. We were lucky enough to find a beautiful venue that catered for what we wanted. Our venue was an old bank that has been recently renovated. It fitted so well the classic style I had in mind and was close to home for our family and friends and were able to work with the venue to get the style we wanted.”

The couple gave a nod to their elopement location with potted cacti, telling “-As we were in a desert surrounded by Cacti when we eloped we decided to have potted cacti on the tables as a table decoration. Which involved planting a large number of cactus into pots. This worked our much more cost-effective for us and we really got the look we wanted.”

The brides each entered the reception on the arms of their fathers. “As our families were not there for our elopement day it was really important to us be able to celebrate our marriage with them as if we had just gotten married. This included things like getting ready together and our Dads walking us in.”

Teagen and Jess wanted to include traditional wedding moments in their reception, including a first dance! They chose Boyce Avenue’s version on Forever by Chris Brown. Teagen explains “We had spent about an hour at home attempting to practice dancing which mostly involved laughing. We decided we were going to wing it. Which actually worked out ok, however, we did have strict instructions to our parents and sisters to join us pretty quickly.”

Congratulations to you both Teagen and Jess! Thank you for sharing your gorgeous reception with us! Thank you also to Alex Winner Photography for today’s beautiful images.