Ryan & Ben: First Comes Baby, Then Comes Marriage
Aussies Ben and Ryan first met online in 2009. They both chatted for months until Ryan reached out to invite Ben over for their first date. “Ben was visiting the city so I invited him over. We had a beer with the fire on and got through the initial awkward conversations. After that, it was easy. We got along so well and became inseparable shortly after."
One month into dating, things got serious. “It didn’t take long until the first ‘I love you’ was exchanged. It was an amazing feeling knowing that our feelings were both headed in the same direction.” It may have not been in the most romantic setting, but even ‘I love you’s’ over text are romantic. “I had a few drinks to build up the courage.” Ryan laughed.
Over the following years, their relationship progressed. Ben and Ryan were deliberate in their conversations around marriage, and starting a family. “There wasn’t a proposal per se. It was more a conversation that turned into planning. A lot of it was working around our surrogacy journey — as we were newly pregnant via surrogacy in the States! We knew we would get married one day, but after finding out we were going to be welcoming a baby into our family, we decided to continue the celebration and get hitched!”
The beauty of an elopement is that it makes the wedding planning process a breeze. Ryan and Ben did not stress about the minor details of the day, and with choosing Las Vegas as their dream elopement destination, they couldn’t wait to fly over and celebrate. “Eloping just seemed so much easier, and we knew that when we returned home to Australia that we could have a large relaxed cocktail party with our closest friends and family.”
The decoration for their Las Vegas elopement was perfectly simple and minimal. The middle of the desert outside of the city set an incredible backdrop for their intimate ceremony. Wearing fitted black and white tuxedos, Ben and Ryan celebrated their love and their new family with champagne, doughnuts, and lots of laughter.
“We got ready in our hotel room, our photographer met us there for pictures. We then headed to Primrose Cocktail Bar for a couple of whiskey sours. We jumped into a vintage red on red American Rambler and headed out to the Eldorado Dry Lake Bed for our sunset ceremony.” As the sun landed on the horizon, Ben and Ryan said their vows in the middle of the dry lake bed. Afterwards, heading out for rollerskating and pizza!
“The whole day was perfect. It was super chill from start to finish. It started by the pool during the day and continued with getting hitched in the late afternoon! Before the ceremony, we also got to do a Skype call with our surrogate while she was at the doctor’s office getting our 20 week ultrasound. Seeing our boy before our wedding just made the day even sweeter. There were no nerves, no stress and no anxiety. It was just us. The ceremony with the sun setting over the mountains in the dessert was so very special.”
After the elopement, Ben and Ryan flew to Minneapolis to see their surrogate. “It was an awesome occasion straight after our wedding as we found out the gender of our baby — a baby boy! After a few days in Minneapolis we headed to Austin, Texas as we love food. Texan BBQ blew our minds.”
Returning back to Australia, Ben and Ryan held their own reception with a giant surprise for their friends and family, announcing that they were having a baby and starting a family together. Now husbands, Mr. and Mr. Hayes live together with their son, Morrissey in Australia.
Photographer: Amy Lee Hybrager @aimleephotography
