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Two brides have revealed how they went against tradition and helped each other prepare for their big day before embarking on a new chapter as Mrs and Mrs Hughes.
Ashleigh Hughes, 26, and Danielle Hughes (née Ford), also 26, were just 14 years old when they met in high school.
They married 12 years later in a romantic ceremony on the sprawling Gibraltar Estate in Bowral, NSW, on June 4.
Although the couple was not together in school, they decided to put their obvious chemistry to the test when they ran into each other again in 2018.
Danielle, left, and Ashleigh, right, Hughes married on June 4 – against tradition to make it the perfect day
The couple spent the night before the wedding in an AirBnB with their bridal party and best friends
They also got ready together on the day and said it wouldn’t have made sense not to as they do everything together
Speaking to Femail, the Brisbane brides revealed, while Ashleigh had always been “very open” about how she felt towards Danielle, the timing wasn’t quite right.
“We stopped talking for a while after school, but we still had the same friends, so we still saw each other occasionally at events,” they said.
Ashleigh knew Danielle was “the one” from the moment they met in Year 9.
“I knew there was something different about her. I didn’t know I was interested in women at the time, but the more I got to know her, the more obsessed I became,” she said.
“I would tell her every day how much I loved her and not give up on us.”
It took a little longer for Danielle to have similar feelings, despite the pair being almost inseparable.
“We had our moments of arguing, but were always drawn to each other. We could never be apart for long,” Danielle said.
The problem wasn’t that Danielle didn’t have strong feelings for Ashleigh, but that she couldn’t accept them.
The girls were joined by their mothers, bridesmaids and Ashleigh’s grandmother as they got ready
The couple bought their dresses together, Ashleigh got hers first and then they found one for Danielle, relieved it didn’t clash
The brides had planned their wedding in two years and said they had the same taste which made it wasy
“I always thought to myself that we would be in a perfect world together, and one day I decided I had waited long enough,” she said.
Days before Ashleigh proposed to her, Danielle found her crying in the shower. Brisbane had gone into lockdown just before the scheduled date, which messed up her romantic plans.
“It was originally intended as a sunset picnic at Kangaroo Point. I had our makeup and hair done, bought us a new outfit, and ordered a special ring box with our initials and date engraved on it,” Ashleigh said.
“I was so upset and didn’t know what to do. Danielle found me crying in the shower and I told her my marriage proposal had been cancelled, but I didn’t give any details.’
Ashleigh was determined to make a marriage proposal from Danielle’s grandparents on April 4, so she changed her plans to make it happen.
They had a picnic in their lounge instead of Kangaroo Point.
Ashleigh said the look on Danielle’s face once she was in the dress made all the stress of the day worth it
While Danielle recalls how Ashleigh ‘lit up’ when she first tried on her dress in the store
“While I was taking Danielle to buy a desk to set up her home workspace, my best friend Lydia and her boyfriend Jory came over to set up the picnic so I could surprise her when we got home.”
Planning the wedding was difficult due to Covid restrictions, but the women were excited to be able to take every step together – including shopping for dresses.
“When Ashleigh bought her dress, the two of us were there, so she decided she wanted to keep her dress a secret from everyone, including her family and bridesmaids,” Danielle said.
The couple both walked down the aisle and met at the altar
The brides were escorted down the aisle by their devoted fathers
“We realized early on that not all dresses go well together, so we decided to go shopping together to make sure we wouldn’t collide that day,” they said.
Danielle ended up buying a dress she’d kept in her phone years before — and didn’t even realize until she took it home.
The wedding was full of even more non-traditional moments.
The night before the big day, the brides and their 20 closest friends, including bridesmaids, rented an AirBnB so they could all wake up in the house together.
Getting ready as a group and seeing each other before the ceremony was a ‘no brainer’ for the couple.
“We do everything together (literally everything!). It wouldn’t have felt right not to finish the day together,’ they said.
They said they were ‘frozen’ on their wedding day, but otherwise it was perfect
Ashleigh and Danielle had their dog Ruby at their wedding
Going against tradition was never a problem for the couple.
“We think it’s much more fun and special to be together all day. All our bridesmaids, both our mothers, Ruby our fur child and Ashleigh’s grandmother were there to get us ready.
“Having everyone around and seeing them having a good time and talking about memories helped keep everyone calm.”
And while Covid affected Ashleigh’s engagement, it didn’t derail her big day.
“Ashleigh had her heart set that we would get married on the anniversary of our relationship, which happened to fall on a Saturday in 2022,” Danielle said.
They said people should expect to use 150 percent of their budget – because everything adds up to more than you’d expect
The pair said watching each other’s preparation didn’t dampen the impact.
‘(Danielle) looked absolutely gorgeous! She beamed all day! I remember thinking to myself how lucky I was to marry her. Seeing her so happy and overjoyed made all the anticipation worth it,” Ashleigh said.