When Chris and Jason tied the knot, it wasn’t really just a wedding. It was a major next step in their life together with daughter Ella, it was a symbol of where they have come from, and where they’ve yet to lead, and it was a weekend adventure with their very favourite people. It was, as you’d expect incredibly special.  Says Chris “We wanted very relaxed and casual, we wanted guests and ourselves to have fun and enjoy themselves. We didn’t want it all regimented, just a fun day celebrating with friends.”

The pair, who booked out a private home for the weekend, and centred their day around the special significance of triangles (more on that in a minute) invited Heidi Lea Photography to document the day. A day that was less about the details and so very much about all that is important to these two. “Our favourite thing was just the incredible emotion we felt, the shy smiles, the little glances, we were finally married (after two years of lockdowns, postponements and a pandemic). We tried to take in as much of the day as we could.”

It was an unexpected match when Chris and Jason’s paths first crossed. “We were on an app not looking for anything other than someone to talk to after both being in a very poor headspace” remembers Chris. “We met and talked for hours on end about our lives and developed a beautiful friendship. We were both in such a dark place in ourselves but step by step we helped each other get out of the hole we had made for ourselves.

We fell in love after such a short time neither of us saw it coming but we couldn’t deny the overwhelming feelings we had. We had years of hurdles, and poor communication and saw each other at our worst. We knew we were in love, after everything we had been through, and were still there for each other because we truly love each other. A love that’s always there – sometimes an ember lights a roaring fire but always warm and alight.”

Chris was the one who proposed, choosing a very significant step in their lives to ask Jason to marry him. “I remember waking up around 3 am one morning after researching “how to check ring size”. I proceeded to grab a strip of paper and wrap it around Jason’s sleeping finger to test the size. I’ve never been so scared in my life that he would wake up.
Months later we had just built our first house, both tired after moving in all day. Jason was sitting in the lounge, me on one knee in the kitchen I yelled out for him to come help with something, he yelled back he was tired and over-moving he came stomping around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks after seeing me on my knee. I asked in a shaky quiet voice will you marry me; he was shocked he didn’t answer. I asked again giving him a moment to believe it was happening he said “yes of course! “

Chris and Jason booked out Longmeadow Estate for their wedding weekend, with all of their guests able to stay onsite. Says Chris  “It was “us” the white weatherboard; the Provincial farm style house was just perfect as well, as it accommodated our travelling guests.”

Chris was gifted very special support on the day. “A long-time girlfriend of mine gave me the traditional something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new and a penny for my shoe. It made me cry she was so thoughtful and went to the effort. She’s an incredible support and friend.” Chris and Jason wore coordinating pieces. “I (Chris) wore navy chinos with a white shirt a burgundy vest and tie with a stunning grey speckled blazer. Jason adorning cream chinos, white shirt a burgundy bow tie and a navy blazer.”

This twirler? Meet Ella! Says Chris “Our gorgeous daughter Ella was our flower girl, wearing a white chiffon dress for maximum twirling.”

The couple enlisted The Flower Trail to make the beautiful floral details of the day. Chris noted “I love dahlias and proteas! Our florist Rachel from The Flower Trail was exceptional. She knew exactly what we envisioned and made it a reality.”

The grooms walked into the wedding hand in hand. “The nerves got the better of us; we had never even held hands together in front of anyone before so it was a big deal for us” explains Chris. “We walked down the aisle to Ben Platt “Grow as we go “. Jason and I have grown together so much over the last ten years we have been together and we still have so much more to do and see, we hope to “grow as we go” together on this journey as husband and husband.”

The couple chose Joanne Moon to officiate their ceremony, and they highly recommend her! Chris raved “Our outstanding celebrant, Jo made sure we were comfortable; being an unorthodox wedding she was on board with anything we did or didn’t want to do. She let us make our own rules and helped immensely in everything from talking us down from the anxiety, helping Ella, and organising guests. Jo truly was our rock solid support of the day.”

Triangles play a special significance in Jason and Chris’s life together with their daughter. “We included triangles where we could. It’s our symbolism of ourselves as Jason, Ella and I are a point, we make up a triangle (the strongest shape). Jason favourite photo us at the ceremony when Ella our daughter comes up and gets us to make a triangle with our feet symbolic of us three. A very special moment.”

The vows were one of Jason’s favourite parts of the day.  “The anxiety (he laughs) until we got to the vows and we made eye contact and at that moment the world was quiet and blank it was just us standing up there together. We were both so nervous and anxious but pure raw emotion giving our vows, nearly every guest teared up.”

Shares Chris “We both agree that the vows and the kiss were the favourite moments of the day. It was such a massive thing both physically for us as a gay couple and emotionally as individuals.  (We had never kissed in front of anyone ever besides our daughter).”

Of their photographer, Chris tells “Heidi was incredible; she made us feel so comfortable and natural we really didn’t want posed pictures as we were nervous enough. She managed to capture so many beautiful moments we still and will always cherish.”

Advice from the newlyweds? Here are the wise words from Chris. “Carve out some time in the day to share with your partner to soak it all up. The day goes so fast in the blink of an eye it was over. Share little moments together and enjoy the now. Things will go wrong “it is what it is.” And Jason adds “Don’t put so much pressure on yourselves or the day, relax, have fun and remember the reason you are there.”

The celebration was inside, over amazing food and drink, much of it catered by Chris himself. “I did all the catering myself being a pastry chef, I did a smorgasbord grazing table with all our favourites and little doughnuts with various pour over toppings – it was incredible. I don’t know how I did it but it certainly kept the nerves at bay being so busy.”

Don’t worry! There was a first dance! Chris and Jason making their moves to “Lover” by Taylor Swift. “It’s a beautiful song and handy when you don’t know how to dance” laughs Chris.

Congratulations to you both Chris and Jason. Thank you for sharing such a special story with us. Thank you to Heidi Lea Photography for sharing this one with us.