Chloe and Zeek spent their tenth anniversary getting married in black beside a waterfall, with a tequila ritual as part of the ceremony. The date was Friday 13th, so for two self-described “goth babies” who had loved each other since they were teenagers, the day also deserved a little horror influence.

They chose Mermaids Cave in Blackheath, in Australia’s Blue Mountains, on Chloe’s ancestral land. Surrounded by mountains and trees, they exchanged vows beside a waterfall. Chloe took off her shoes to feel ground beneath her feet.

Their relationship began at 16. Zeek started transitioning at 17, and the years that followed involved finding himself with Chloe beside him. With little family in the picture, they became each other’s support through growing up, personal change and a world that hasn’t always accepted their love. Ten years later, they wanted space to celebrate everything they had become together.

“We have loved each other since we were teenagers and our wedding day perfectly captured our 16 year old dreams”, Zeek said, “Being a young trans man navigating the world was hard, but I had a loving and supportive partner who stood by me while I found myself and was willing to wait to marry me until I was the man worthy of marrying her. Eloping, just the two of us, was the perfect way to celebrate 10 years together and welcome in a future of love and abundance.”

The couple spent the night before the wedding in the same hotel room, then separated in the morning to get ready and travel to the ceremony. When Chloe arrived, All That Really Matters by Illenium played for their emotional first look

Their self-written vows traced the relationship from teenage love to the adult life they now share. Hearing those words brought them both to tears. They then did a handfasting. “It felt like the ancestors were there with us blessing the vows and union”, Chloe explained. “Our handfasting ritual was particularly me memorable – to ‘tie the knot’ in the birth place of my bloodline held significance to us. We also did a the tequila shot ritual from a bottle shaped like an anatomical heart! We’re partiers and a shot of high purity liquor felt extremely ‘us'”.

Once declared husband and wife, they marked the occasion with a big “woohoo” into the void. Having the day to themselves gave them the freedom to cry, shout, take photographs and enjoy each other’s company without keeping an eye on a schedule or worrying about guests. That privacy was one of their favourite parts.

“We were able to be our full selves, with the love of our life for a full perfect day”, they said, “Our day wasn’t about other people it was about us. The hardest part was telling the people we loved they weren’t coming, but we didn’t want the stress or drama of allowing some people to attend and others not to, so we decided no-one was coming. Was it right for us? Yes. Would we change anything? No. But it was still hard! Most of our loved ones totally understood and were happy for us, a few others were annoyed but said little about it. In the end, this one hard thing turned into the best day of both our lives.”

After the ceremony, they went out for dinner, then returned to their hotel to share wine and look forward to their honeymoon. Around three months later, they put their wedding outfits on again for a party with loved ones, read their vows again shared a slideshow of photographs.

“If you have a non-traditional wedding you’re probably gonna piss people off”, they concluded, “but that’s okay. Its not for them, it is for you. Going through with what you actually want will mean that you will look back with no regrets and that people will see you shine.”