KAYLENE & JODIE

Congratulations KAYLENE & JODIE

12 March 2021, ACT and NSW

Kaylene McLeod and Jodie Rake met via an online Lesbian social group. “The proposal was on my (Jodie) birthday and with my family’s participation. We went on a trip to Mount Ainslie Lookout in Canberra. Kaylene brought along a customised sign for my son and niece to hold up. She surprised me when I turned around by dropping to one knee and proposing. She had already received the blessing from Jodie’s mum, sister, brother and son. It was followed by a beautiful family dinner.”

“Our wedding theme was very traditional with personal touches of our own. We were very passionate about including our son Bayley and making sure he felt very much a part of it. We gave Bayley a ring during the ceremony. Kaylene is a Traditional Owner from the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. Our wedding took place on Kaylene’s Country in Booderee National Park at Iluka Beach. This was a proud moment for us as it was the first gay wedding on Country for Kaylene’s community and also celebrating PRIDE month with our Rainbow family members. We wanted to include family and friends as much as possible. We opted for a classic white and gold theme and did as much as we could ourselves with help from family and dear friends. We decorated the reception and prepared the food ourselves. Our dear friends ‘Kings and Queens’ performed an extraordinary drag show at our reception. We loved how personalised our wedding was. A huge amount of effort and planning went into making sure it was meaningful to us. We absolutely adore our wedding photos taken by our dear friend and having an engagement shoot assisted greatly.”

“Our advice for other couples planning their wedding is to definitely do what you both want to and try to cancel out all the noise. Not everything will go to plan, roll with the day. Stay focused on what is important. Plan, plan and plan and think outside the box. Our honeymoon was on the Gold Coast. It was 12 days of fun, laughter and sprinkles of family visits.”

KAYLENE & JODIE’S WEDDING CREW

Celebrant - Tony Dagger, Shoalhaven Celebrant Ceremony Location - Iluka Beach, Booderee, Jervis Bay DJ - South Coast DJ’s Entertainment - Xenon Revolution, Karina Salgado and Dewayne Huckle aka Ashtray Moona Photography - Mick Tait Photography Reception - Nowra Showground Pavilion