Dressed head to toe in black, Makylah and Anthony exchanged vows inside the Little Ivy Chapel at Denver’s Fairmount Cemetery before heading into the cemetery itself for their portraits. The music video for My Chemical Romance’s Helena was their main reference.

Their ceremony rewrote a few traditions along the way. Makylah’s parents walked her in together, and the couple included a handfasting ritual alongside self-written vows. They chose not to have a maid of honour or best man, avoiding a hierarchy among the friends standing beside them. The officiant also closed the ceremony with the line, “You may kiss the groom” to flip that tradition on its head.

The couple also commissioned several piece of music for the day, beginning the processional with a version of The Legend of Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke. It then moved into Cornfield Chase from Interstellar for the bride’s entrance. Electronic music from Odesza and similar artists was played during cocktail hour.

Much of the styling came together with the help of family and friends. Makylah’s mother created the decorations and wedding-party accessories, while family friends handled the day-of coordination, alterations, setup and teardown. Those contributions helped the couple save on décor and tailoring costs, and placed the people closest to them throughout the making of the day.

One of the highlights of the day was taking the photos. “Our photographer McKenzie was honestly the best”, Makylah said. “She kept us on time and made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. When I reached out to her initially I had some inspiration photos and I gave them to her thinking we might be able to get close to the weddings in the photos. McKenzie completely surpassed my inspo pictures, she helped make me into my own inspiration.”

They also worked with videographer Austin Day, who gave them another way to relive the day. “He sent us a wedding video trailer that blew us away. When we got the full 20+ minute long video we were speechless. He really captured the love and the magic of that day.”

But behind the finished images there were hundreds of tiny choices being made. This is the part nobody warned them about – at times, the mental load was a lot! “The decision fatigue is REAL. Someone is literally going to ask you what you want to eat six months from now and you somehow need to know what you’ll want. You’ll be asked a million questions and you will want to rip out your hair because every little detail needs to be thought about and you get to decide on each and every one.”

If they could redirect the budget with the benefit of hindsight, their answer was an immediate “Get. A. Wedding,. Planner.” Managing everything themselves was the hardest part of the experience. Regardless, they wouldn’t change what they did for their wedding. It felt right for them and that’s exactly what they always wanted.