It may have been a Vegas wedding, but every detail Lindsay and Paul’s wedding was steeped in New Orleans flair. On the surface, it was a maximalist, coquette-inflected fever dream of bows, blooms, and cherubs. Underneath, it was a deeply personal and intentionally built story of love and transformation – starting with the groom himself, a former Catholic priest.

“We met during Mardi Gras 2020 in New Orleans,” the bride told us. “The most unpredictable, joy-soaked setting for a love story. It wasn’t until after that magical Mardi Gras day that we realised-we were actually classmates in law school. We’d been in the same building, maybe even the same classes and ever crossed paths. Somehow, it took a parade and a wiener dog to bring us together. And if that weren’t enough of a twist, he was a Catholic priest before law school. I wasn’t the woman he left the priesthood for – but I was the second. And somehow, despite the wildness of our individual paths, despite how improbable it all sounds, we build a relationship rooted in deep love, mutual admiration, and a very grounded kind of joy. Since that day, we’ve graduated law school side by side, started building our life (and careers), and added not one but two more dachshunds to our little family.”

They chose Sure Thing Chapel for their ceremony and the plan was never to simply follow a script. “We wanted the day to feel like a dreamy fever dream, part love story, part performance, part inside jokes,” she continued. “The result was a saturated mix of vintage kitsch, Southern decadence, Old Vegas drama, and sentimental detail. “We didn’t want it to look like anyone else’s wedding. We wanted it to feel like walking into the inside of a love letter.”

They shared their vows privately before the ceremony. They toasted with champagne in the back of a wine hearse. “We had a wine hearse for our first look (yes, a literal hearse stocked with champagne), and toasted each other in a Las Vegas parking lot under golden sunlight before walking up to the chapel, hand in hand.”

Lindsay walked down the aisle to the Wedding March played on the chapel’s vintage organ. At one point, Paul spontaneously broke into song. After exchanging rings hidden inside tiny fake cake boxes, they shared a first dance to At Last by Etta James and snapped their first married photos in the chapel’s vintage photo booth.

The reception was then held in candlelight at Buca di Beppo. Every surface carried something personal: rose-shaped candles, matchboxes, embroidered handkerchiefs, handwritten menus, DIY napkin rings, and Valentine-themed florals in pinks and reds. The cake read ’til death’.”

Most of the details were made or designed by Lindsay. Every coaster, every cocktail napkin, every favour had a purpose. “More than skipping traditions, we reimagined them”. she explained. “We turned every detail into a reflection of who we are, where we’ve been, and what we’re building together.”

The hardest part wasn’t logistics. It was the explaining. “We originally had a completely different wedding vision… Changing direction means re-explaining everything to people who were already on board with Version One.” But they stayed firm. “We stuck to our instincts and centered ourselves on what felt right for us.”

Looking back, they don’t wish they did anything differently. “It was wild, weird, sacred, and fun – exactly what we wanted.” If anything, they wanted more time to slow down and absorb it. “The day moved like a whirlwind…” she said. “But that’s also kind of the beauty in it.”