Jake & Mitchell: A Tale as Old as Tinder
Theirs is a tale as old as time… or as old as Tinder!
It was three days before meeting Mitchell that Jake, exploring a Buzzfeed article on 100 Unique Wedding Rings, took a screenshot of a favorite jeweler and ring. Little did he know that he’d soon find the person to whom he’d give said ring.
Mitchell meeting Jake came as a surprise, what with him newly moved to Australia, juggling university, sports, and very suddenly falling for someone. “I called him the hot camera guy,” Mitchell said of first meeting Jake. For Jake, Mitchell was “the adorable, American bro.” Their first date was a coffee date, despite Mitchell being the rare Seattleite who does not drink coffee. “First red flag,” Jake said laughing. “But we walked, I had coffee, we chatted, we kissed and well… yeah. I was pretty smitten from the beginning.”
Said beginning evolved into Jake picturing an “alternate reality where he wasn’t in my existence and something would be missing. I couldn’t imagine not waking up next to him.” For Mitchell, it was the moment at a work event where Jake was making Mitchell laugh and “I just knew this was it. This was what I wanted to do for life.”
When it came time to getting engaged, Jake orchestrated an engagement for the history books. Under the guise of shooting some drone images of their friend Sarah’s guest house in Tasmania, the two rowed out at sunset, into the bay just outside the house coaxing a group of ducks to surround their boat.
As Jake was shooting video with the drone, he handed Mitchell a card. While he read it, Jake put down the drone remote and pulled out the rings. “He looked up from the card, started crying, I started crying and we nearly rocked the boat into the water! But luckily it all went down smoothly, and Mitchell said yes!”
Their rings, made by the jeweler Jake had discovered prior to meeting Mitchell, were sandcast with sand from Mackenzies Beach in Sydney and from Mitchell’s hometown of Seattle. Jake said of the rings: “When it was time for me to rustle up the courage and pop the question, I knew the rings would have to be special & different. We still wear and love them.”
It should come as no surprise that when it came time to planning the wedding, Jake was at the ready with a Pinterest board and a vision for their big day! He said of planning: “it was exciting, exhilarating, challenging and stress-inducing. I loved and despised it.” But throughout, Mitchell described Jake being “incredibly open, and thoughtful about my values. We wanted everything to be incredibly thoughtful and personal. From the rings to the handwritten postcards on everyone’s place setting, we wanted our wedding guests to feel the love, the joy and the passion we have for them, for each other and for celebrating how far the world has come in letting two men have the same right to have their wedding officially and legally.”
A year and a day after getting engaged the two got married at Somerly House in Sutton Forest. The two wanted a destination wedding so their friends and family could spend meaningful time together. And despite a series of hiccups—Jake’s tailor for his handmade suit going AWOL, unprecedented rains in New South Wales, challenges with the venue—the two described the day as “the best weekend of our lives, not being hyperbolic. It was a dream.”
Of their ceremony, Jake said they wanted “love and only love to be shared,” which is why they decided to remove any religious elements from their ceremony. “So many religions have very strong opinions about LGBTQI+ people and how they should live.”
They also included beautifully unexpected elements like their Mothers’ Kiss. Mitchell described “right before we were pronounced husbands, our mothers were invited to give us one last kiss. They were the first to kiss us at birth, they should be the last to kiss us before we became husbands. All four of us were big teary messes, which I will never forget.”
Jake went on to explain an incredibly poignant part of their ceremony. “Mitchell and I discussed at length our surname and how we would go about evolving tradition. One thing I wanted to do was honor my maternal grandparents, both of whom had passed away, but who’s life and history influenced andimpacted my existence greatly. We chose the name Kriesler to honor them. When my grandfather Leslie arrived in Australia after surviving the holocaust, he chose to change his name to reflect this new beginning. Together with my grandmother Susan, they were brave and brilliant people who epitomized kindness and inspired resilience. Taking the name Kriesler pays homage to their durability, their authenticity, and their tolerance. I stood there bawling my eyes out as our officiant read these words and read this name. It just felt right.”
What especially felt right was “the commitment all of our friends and family showed by being present, involved, open and connected to each other.” Jake went on to explain: “I wanted the true hero of the day, of the entire weekend, to be love and community! We've created such a special life for ourselves thanks to the family and friends.” Further, the two shared: “F*ck tradition. (Can we swear? Haha!) We did exactly what we wanted and what reflected us as a couple, and it really showed! If you don’t want to wear white, or wear a dress, or wear anything! We’ve come a long way as a society to allow for everyone to express themselves as they want, and that should be reflected in your wedding! Do what you want!”
And they continued to do so with their reception and its Enchanted Forest theme. Given the weather, they had to move the reception indoors but with flowers, candles, ivy, and chandeliers, created a space that felt abandoned for decades and uncovered for this wedding. “Jake’s vision was mesmerizing!” Everything of the reception was thought out and curated. “We wanted everyone from kids to seniors dancing to gay anthems surrounded by flowers and laughter!” Jake said. And this feeling was especially true when Jake surprised Mitchell with their friend Les Beau Fierce “stepping out in a full lewk, beat and wig singing and dancing to Simply the Best.” Mitchell explained, “about halfway through her performance, the speaker system cut out, but everyone continued singing, loudly and proudly, as our queen kept performing. Then Jake, who had been holding the mic initially, started belting out Tina Turner with Beau and it made for the most outrageous, fun, eccentric, magical moment. Everyone singing, Jake riffing away and our drag queen friend sassing herself across the dance circle! Truly memorable!”
Video by: Luke Bickley.
One experience of planning their wedding that struck the two was the fact that too many people with whom they worked, still assumed the couple was straight, asking for the name of the bride whenever Jake or Mitchell would call about their services. “It's so silly how much the wedding industry has been subjugated by archaic misogyny and heteronormative ideals. It's time to move that along!” Mitchell observed. We couldn’t agree more!
But they also shared that one cannot sweat the small stuff. “There is so much that is out of your control, so much that can and will go wrong, but it all ends up OK. A lot of it is stuff that happens in your daily life, and you almost don’t pay attention to it. So why on this incredible special day?” Jake asked. Mitchell added, “you have to just be present, in the moment and feel it, before the clock strikes midnight. Because f*ck does it go fast! And then you go from Cinderellas back to basement dwelling housekeepers,” he said laughing!
However, these Cinderellas let the ball carry on in the form of a honeymoon throughout Europe. From London to Amsterdam to Berlin to Prague to Budapest to Athens to Greece to Provence and to Paris. These two covered it all. “It was the perfect way to end this whole chapter of our lives together.”
And like all great tales, there is always a next great chapter ahead.
Credits
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Somerleys House, Sutton Forest
Engagement and Personal Images Photographer: Jake Weisz
Wedding Photographer: Ben Sowry, @bensoweryphoto
Videographer: Luke Bickley
Officiant: Jared Jekyll
Caterer: The Blonde Butler
Apparel/Accessories: Reigner Clothing, OMG LMT, Rochefort Tailors, P. Johnson
Floral Designer: Ben Avery
DJ: DJ Charlie Villas
Live Music: Uncle Jed
Makeup Artist: Samantha Lauren
Hair Stylist: Alessandro Capelli
