Saying ‘I don’t’ to tradition
Jacqueline and Doug wanted to elope for their wedding - a decision that divided their families, writes Stephanie Mitchell
Jacqueline and Dougal Medley always wanted to elope. The problem was, when Jacqueline, a tattoo artist originally from Waitara, told her family all hell broke lose. ‘‘My mum completely freaked out. All of my family were against it. I was having panic attacks.’’
Dougal’s family on the other hand were just relieved to see the pair make the commitment, his mum Robyn said.
It was also familiar territory – Dougal was her second child out of three to elope.
‘‘It would have been nice to be there but it’s their wedding. They did it their way and we did it our way. So long as they’re happy that’s all you want for your children,’’ Robyn said.
Jacqueline met Dougal, an engineering surveyor, whilst watching Mac De Marco at a music festival in his home town of Melbourne.
In time the tattoo-clad pair uprooted and moved to Toronto, Canada, where they now live with their two cats Maia and Neko.
It was in their Toronto home that Dougal popped the question.
‘‘I came home from a terrible day at work and it was the middle of winter. I didn’t expect it at all. When I came through the front door there were candles and fairy lights and Dougal had a ring in one hand and my cat Maia in the other hand and asked me to marry him – and the cat,’’ Jacqueline said.
To celebrate their nuptials the pair escaped to Mexico.
After searching endlessly for venues in Mexico, Jacqueline found Memory Box Photography who specialise in destination weddings and planned everything, meaning they could quite simply fly in and fly out.
Their wedding day cost them a little more than $4000 and that included everything – the ceremony, venue, hair and makeup, and a photographer. Pretty impressive considering the average New Zealand wedding costs $30,000.
Jacqueline’s dress was the next big cost at $2000, she shyly admitted. But the dress, from Toronto-based Lovers Land, was worth every penny.
The couple had only four close friends to witness them tying the knot and knew travelling to Mexico was a big commitment to ask people. ‘‘We didn’t want to force people in to it but everyone was so keen,’’ Jacqueline said.
They didn’t want it to be a financial burden on themselves either.
‘‘We didn’t want to be in debt for a oneday celebration,’’ Dougal said.
The ceremony took place at Cenote Azul, south of Playa Del Carmen in the Riviera Maya. When they started telling people they were going to get married in
‘‘I can’t imagine our wedding day any other way than the way we did it.’’ Jacqueline Medley
a cenote, or in water, they were met with some confusion as to how that would work.
‘‘People kept saying ‘so you’re actually going to be in the water?’’
And they were. After having a traditional Mayan ceremony performed by a shaman and his wife, the newlypronounced Mr and Mrs stepped into the crystal blue waters of Cenote Azul.
The Mayan ceremony meant rather than their wedding be religious it was about tying them to the earth and the universe.
Jacqueline’s only meltdown on the day was when her makeup went wrong and she had to redo it herself.
‘‘He gave me winged liner that looked like a five-year-old had done it. It was the only time I went bridezilla and Dougal had to deal with it.’’
Aside from the mini-meltdown, Jacqueline and Dougal had the destination wedding of their dreams and encourage everyone to elope.
‘‘I can’t imagine our wedding day any other way than the way we did it.’’