Okay, I’d like to say I’ve written weirder headlines in my time, but I haven’t really.
However, when I stumbled across an instagram post showcasing an Aussie couple’s unique take on a wishing well, I felt I just had to share.
Jessi and Millie are self-confessed ‘queer mums slow living offgrid’, who are now mums to a beautiful little boy, Tide.
However, an image from their wedding back in 2020 is still circulating online, as it has opened a discussion in terms of the way we do wishing wells for modern weddings. You see, these two needed to go down the IVF route in the hopes of becoming parents; a route which as many of us know can be very costly, both mentally and financially.
Jessi and Millie decided to just be straight with their guests, and instead of having a regular wishing well, they created signage that read ‘Help us make a baby!’, and charged their guests for drinks, arcade games, and tattoos – for a good cause!
In fact, when they eventually fell pregnant, they would often laugh about the fact that it only happened because their guests got so drunk at their wedding.
When asked to describe the decision, they said: ‘Sometimes we talk about the reason we are pregnant now is due in part to our wedding guests getting really drunk 🥂
We charged for drinks, not much but enough to cover the cost & make a small profit of about $0.50 – $1.00 a drink…. people ended up drinking a lot!
We bought some second hand arcade games, pinball machines and grab machines & filled them with everything from toys to cigarettes to free drinks vouchers to shots. They were $1 a play and were a big hit. After the wedding we even sold them for a profit!
We also had @soulofprey on hand to do $40 flash tattoos. She literally worked like an absolute trooper all day & it’s so nice that so many of our wedding guests have a permanent reminder or our wedding day on their bodies…. for some reason that was a 🍕 for most of us? 😂
So yeah, our wedding guests and our amazing vendors helped get us pregnant. Pretty cool right? As far as we are concerned you are all Aunties, Uncles & Earth parents to our baby 🌏
If you’re planning a wedding & want a nice way to ask your guests to contribute to a big life event save this post as a prompt.’
The fact is, times are changing and we have seen a huge shift in the way weddings are organised. Plus, the cost of living is insane right now, as we all know – so is the way we do weddings set to change, as well?
I really like the fact that Millie and Jessi were so transparent with the guests about their goals, and made them all a part of the process. This is perhaps a way that any couple could seek some help from their guests. ‘Help us buy a house’, or ‘Help us travel the world!’ – anyone?
// Written by Olivia Mackinnon
