Rob and Hannah wanted to throw a fun party for their friends and family for their wedding day, and were inspired by the juxtaposition in their personalities; Rob is a born and bred New Yorker who loves 90s grunge cultures, and Hannah is an acrobatic performer that is always covered in glitter.
Hosted at House of Yes in Brooklyn, NY, where Hannah works regularly, they took away a lot of the formalities of a traditional wedding. They didn’t have flowers or a bridal/groom party. Instead they each had a wrangler to make sure they were both hydrated and feeling good. They had cocktail hour before the ceremony, not after, and they served Mexican food instead of a sit-down dinner as a wedding breakfast.
As an aerial performer, there was no question that Hannah was going to make an entrance on her big day – she came in from the ceiling on her aerial cube for the ceremony. They were married by a friend. “I have a non-traditional family,” said Hannah. “Two gay dads and my mum. We found a way to incorporate all three of them into bringing me to Rob. Rob’s father and older brother passed away a few years ago; so it was very important to have his mum and nephew on stage for the ceremony as well.”
Instead of speeches, they showed recordings of Rob’s sister, best friend, Hannah’s stepdad and Rob and Hannah, too. Their acrobatic friends performed in the air and on the ground to the recordings of their words. “It was beautiful and so memorable,” said Hannah. “Our whole ceremony was very special and I’ll never forget it – it was so great to see our friends and family having a riot in a place that I hold so dear.”
Their favourite thing about planning their wedding was paying for it themselves, so they really got to choose where they wanted to spend the money. “That being said, planning a wedding and being the bride is basically producing your own show,” lamented Hannah. “It’s a lot of work – it’s easy to get lost in the small details and sometimes it’s hard to communicate your vision.”
“Don’t spend money on things you don’t want, and make your own rules,” she advises future brides and grooms. “Also one of the best things I did was spread out all the expenses over the planning period; my dress was paid for 18 months in advance, but it was worth it to stop the overwhelm of all the price tags adding up!”
