Shannon and Vinny had the quickest ever courthouse ceremony, followed by a second, more personal one officiated by a friend on the roof of a car park! Doing things this way meant they had no drama to deal with and best of all, they only spent $500.

“We were going for colourful, joyful, and badass”, Shannon said. “The two of us both live life boldly, and we wanted to start off our marriage on a note that felt true to who we are. Nothing quite says bold like a red, sequined mini!”

She continued, “Our friend Ethan, acted as officiant. He shared a bit about each of us and our relationship. Vinny and I then took turns publicly, proudly, and profusely pronouncing our love for one another.” They’d written their vows together in advance, and read them aloud in short bursts before their memories scrambled under adrenaline. “Our advice is to keep your vows short ‘n sweet because adrenaline will do crazy things to your short-term memory!” she laughed.

Once the legal bit was done, they headed to a local bar, Rio’s, for what they describe as “life-changing margaritas” and chips with salsa. The only thing they wished they’d had more of was time. “Your wedding is the biggest party of your life, and no matter how much you try to be intentional about it, the time just flies by”, she admitted. “If we could’ve rented out the space for double the time, we would have!”

They weren’t chasing perfection, instead they were focused on connection. And because of that their wedding ended up being beautifully authentic to them and their relationship. “Realistically, you and your guests aren’t going to really remember the music, the food, the dress code”, Shannon concluded. “The most important thing to understand, for both traditional and non-traditional weddings, is that the only thing everyone will remember is how they felt.”