Cristi knew something was different about Sean picked up her dropped script outside their local community theatre. They had both performed there for years, but it took a production of The Glass Menagerie for their paths to finally cross. As she turned around, he was already on one knee, holding out the script she had dropped on the way to her car.

“I immediately texted my friends that I just knew I had met my husband that night”, she told us. A couple of years later, Sean proposed in that exact spot.

Their original plan was to marry at the courthouse on their forth anniversary, which just happened to fall on a Friday 13th, before throwing a larger spooky celebration later that year. The courthouse didn’t have any availability left, but then they found Hotel Herringbone. “We were sold on the date as Sean and I are big into spooky stuff”, Cristi continued. “We have done shows such as Dracula and Rocky Horror Show together so it felt like another instance of fate.”

The celebration was designed around the things they love – seventies glamour met jewel tones, vintage influences and lots of rainbow and personal details. Cristi’s mum made almost every decorative element by hand, including velvet banners featuring the couple’s favourite song lyrics and the welcome sign. “Every single piece of our wedding told our guests who we are as partners”, Cristi said. “From my college professor officiating the ceremony to our favourite song lyrics on velvet banners, everything was specifically designed to pay tribute to the partnership we will be nurturing for the rest of our lives.”

They skipped the traditional wedding meal in favour of wood-fired pizzas and appetisers, creating a relaxed evening where guests could eat, mingle and celebrate at their own pace. Instead of cutting a cake, they served cronuts from the hotel’s sister business, including a custom banana cream pie flavour created especially for the wedding.

The planning process wasn’t without challenges. Dress shopping became one of the hardest parts of the experience for Cristi, who had almost given up after a disappointing appointment at her first boutique. She explained, “As a plus size person, the wedding dress shopping was something I dreaded. I had an awful experience at the first store I went to and almost decided to call the whole thing off because I was certain I would never find a dress I loved enough to be my wedding dress. But that all changed when I booked an appointment at House of Taylor. Suzy is an actual fairy godmother, I’m convinced of it. After talking to her very briefly, she texted me the day of my dress appointment and said ‘Girl I had a dream about you in a peach floral gown and I can’t stop thinking about it.’ As soon as I walked in, I saw the Flora gown by Tara LaTour hanging in the corner. Even on the hanger I just knew she was mine. I tried on several non-traditional options and even contemplated a couple of black dresses. But as soon as miss Flora was on my body, I knew I couldn’t look at anything else.”

Looking back, there is only one thing Cristi wishes they had done differently. “My only regret was not recording the ceremony and speeches. We decided not to have a videographer or content creator, but I wish we would have captured the super personal aspects of the day so that we could always remember how our loved ones sounded that day.”

Her final words are for the wedding industry, and dress shops specifically: “Please don’t market yourself as a plus size friendly boutique if you only have five dresses above a size 14! Plus size brides deserve to feel just as beautiful as any other bride. Feeling like I was being stuffed and tied into sample sizes almost made me want to elope and not wear a wedding dress at all. Suzy at House of Taylor is just an amazing human. She singlehandedly gave me hope for finding my dream dress.”