This queer, vegan, spacebunnies-inspired wedding, complete with a rocket arbor, was perfectly Jacqui & Francesca.
THEIR LOVE STORY
Jacqui and Francesca are a queer couple who have been together for over five years. Jacqui is an actor, voice actor, and drag king performer while Francesca aspires to be a medical writer. They enjoy dressing up, attending shows, and spending time with their little rescue dog Marley.
Their love story began when Jacqui picked on Francesca during one of her drag shows. Even though Jacqui was playing a villainous psychopath, they still felt chemistry between them. A photographer even captured the moment.
On their second anniversary, Francesca blindfolded Jacqui and read a poem in her ear in a remote woodland shepherd’s hut. The poem came from an LGBTQ+ short that Jacqui showed Francesca after their first date.
FINDING THEIR OUTFITS
For Francesca, finding the perfect dress was simple – she fell in love with the first dress she tried on and made a few edits to make it more princess-like, taking inspiration from Aurora’s dress in Maleficent. For Jacqui, it was more complicated. After deliberating over whether to go for a dress or a suit, she found the perfect middle ground. A friend recommended a queer tailor who helped Jacqui design the perfect tuxedo tailcoat, influenced by Janelle Monae’s gender-fluid fashion style.
BRINGING THEIR DIY WEDDING TO LIFE
After three years of engagement, they waited through all of COVID to have a massive party. All their wedding party came to their tiny flat to do lots of crafts. The entire place was filled with eco-glitter for weeks!
The wedding was held at a library that their friend recommended. They thought it would be magical to get married in a place full of stories. The theme was space bunnies, inspired by Les Lapines by Françoise Doherty, a short stop-motion film about two space bunnies falling in love. The color themes were baby pink and turquoise, like the colors of the bunnies.
They had many DIY projects for the big day. A friend built them a wooden rocket arch for the altar. Francesca’s father made rocketship table centerpieces and rockets to launch after the ceremony. The bridal group made spacey headdresses, planets, trees, bunny ears for all the wedding guests, and a space pom-pom hat for Francesca’s mother. Jacqui spent half a day making homemade “Space” jam for their wedding favors and also made two space bunny toppers for the wedding cake. Francesca’s sister made the space-themed planet and moon bouquets.
THE WEDDING DAY
The wedding day was filled with fun and silly moments. They walked down the aisle to Dammit Janet from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The bridesmaids entered with bubble guns, and they had two of their friends marry them dressed in spacey jumpsuits under a rocket arch. They even launched their own space rockets into the air to tie up the ceremony.
The vegan three-tiered galaxy space cake was insane, with space bunny versions of themselves on top. The best speech was given in the form of a film from their dog Marley, created with help from one of their bridesmaids and voiced by one of their wedding party. They had bets over the wedding speech length, culminating in a tiebreaker round where guests had to perform their best space rocket interpretation!
They had a super cute first dance, followed by an awesome all-female punk rock band which got the entire room dancing. Jacqui has a sweet tooth, so they had a nostalgic vegan pick and mix available over the evening. Their friends provided glitter face painting and a cool space backdrop for photos.
Their favorite moments were having everyone there for the first dance, with everyone joining in and screaming their hearts out for the band’s first song. They also loved some of the outfits that their guests wore, including a galaxy-themed tailored suit, an actual space suit, and
Photography by Lauren Marchant
Cake Tastopia
Celebrant Ecoglitter Fun
Ceremony Venue Upper Norwood Library
DJ Dolls
Dress Designer David’s Bridal
Florist Tessa Whitehouse
Hair Stylist Aitch London
Make Up Artist Eliza Wasiak
Signage Bronie & Ed (Friends)
Suit Designer Fearon Now
