Cue the credits for this more-perfect-than-Hallmark love story: we’re honored to have Actor and TV Host Jonathan Bennett and fiance Jaymes Vaughan join us to talk to tell us their love at first sight moment (unreal…) and tell us why they’re passionate about speaking up for LGBTQ+ couples at the Inclusive Awareness Conference.
Jonathan and Jaymes will be featured speakers in an impressive lineup at the Inclusive Awareness Conference, hosted by the National Gay Wedding Association, virtually taking place on January 5, 2022 . Top thought-leaders in the inclusive wedding space will be leading virtual presentations to guide you to making your business a welcoming and inclusive place for LGBTQ+ couples.
More about the conference… “Hosted by wedding planner Holly Gray of Anything but Gray Events, who will be bringing her dynamic energy to guide our guests through virtual presentations by keynote speakers include Chasten Glezman Buttigieg, Sara Cunningham (of Free Mom Hugs) and Brian Green, plus sessions led by top industry speakers such as Jove Meyer, Tara Melvin, Jose Rolon, Meghan Ely, Kirsten Palladino, Kelly Balch, Bron Hansboro and more. And the newly engaged actor Jonathan Bennett and his fiancé Jaymes Vaughan will be taking the stage in an authentic presentation sharing their own experiences navigating wedding planning as an LGBTQ+ couple.”
Each attendee will be armed with an actionable business plan to grow their wedding business with inclusivity in mind.
Is there any better way to kick off 2022 than with like-minded industry friends, learning from the best in the biz? Secure your tickets now — this is an event you won’t want to miss. Style Me Pretty readers and vendors will receive a discount of $50 off NGWA membership which gives you access to a special pricing bundle of $395 to join the NGWA and attend the Inclusive Awareness Conference! Use code SMP2021 at checkout!
Without further ado… the two lovebirds Jonathan Bennett and Jaymes Vaughn!
Jonathan: I was on a press tour for the show I hosted, Halloween Wars and I get toThe Grove where Jaymes’s show he hosts Celebrity Page TV was filming and I had never heard of him before, but when I saw him setting up to do the interview, I thought he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. I ran to the bathroom to fix my hair. I came out of the bathroom and his producer Jade was there and I actually asked her: “Am I about to meet my future husband?”
James: For me, I was ready to do my interview and get on with the day. So I’m just doing my pleasantries with this super spastic guy (Jonathan) on set and then I was oh we need a picture for our show’s social. The minute he leans into me, it’s like electricity. And then the producer calls, 3, 2, 1, go. And it was like something out of a sitcom.
Jonathan: Complete disaster. But you can literally watch us fall in love with each other on camera.
Jaymes: And this is in front of a live crowd at The Grove so they’re all seeing it happen too, my producers are looking at me like “whaaaat is going on” it was very obvious.
Jonathan: So after I asked “can I have your number” And he said, “I would hope so.”
My publicist said “you came on a little strong, whatever you do, make sure you wait at least three days to call.”
So as soon as the car dropped me off at home…I called him. Haha I said, “Would it be weird if I came back to The Grove so we could kiss and see if this is the real deal?” And he said “Not at all.” I said good, because I’m already in my car and on the way.
Jaymes: I was having lunch in between shoots, so I’m like sure, then frantically went searching for gum!
Jonathan: We finally find each other and I think I just looked at him and I said, “Okay, let’s do this.” And we just kissed in the parking lot.
Jaymes: And it was that feeling that people tell you about but you never really think it’s real. It was honestly magical. That night Jonathan showed up at my door with two hoodies and said “want to go to the beach?”. And that was our first date. Which is funny cause if someone asked me what my ideal date was, it would be going to the beach, not a fancy dinner, not anything crazy, just sitting on the beach. We talked for six hours about everything. We both lost our dads to cancer and we really bonded over that right away. We’ve always kind of felt like they the ones who put us win each other’s lives.
Jonathan: So we went to Barney’s Beanery to finally get dinner after and the waitress was like, “Oh my god, you guys are so cute together, how long have you been together?” “ Um, like six hours.”
Jaymes: So she knew, and I think we knew then too. But its just so hard to believe that it can be so easy like that. But it was, from day one.
Jonathan: Day one
Jaymes: Yup, day one, which is so not like me, But I knew. I knew to the point that my show actually titled all the internal scripts that day “Jaymes’s Husband’s Show” haha, so I guess my producers knew too!
Jaymes: When your boyfriend is in Hallmark movies it’s like well dang how am I gonna top what he’s already done on screen? So I knew it had to be really special. We’ve always tried to find our song and we never could. My background is in music, so I thought, why don’t I just write it?
Jonathan does this thing where he will turn to me sometimes and “Hey, do you love me?” And I’m like, “duh, you know I love you.” One day, he said it to me and it clicked—this is what I write the song about. A song that you can put on anytime you need that answer. And just like that, the words just all fell out.
Thank you for the compliment on the ring by the way. There really isn’t a precedent for two guys. I knew we were both going to want to wear rings to say we’re engaged. But it felt silly to have a ring that we didn’t wear later, so I teamed up with Kay Jewelers and designed one. So you wear the ring diamond-side out, for to world see we’re engaged, then we get married, it flips and the diamonds face us, because my world is more beautiful with you in it forever.
Jonathan: The story of our rings. Jaymes reached to Kay Jewelers because what do you do when two men are getting engaged? What are the rules? What are the traditions? So he designed something to create our own rules, our own tradition. The ring is actually both our engagement ring and our future wedding band. On one side at the gallery (the top part of the ring) there are diamonds all the way around it. At the other end, the gallery looks like a traditional wedding band. We both have one. So while we are engaged the diamonds face out so the world sees them. Then we get married we flip the rings so the diamonds face us so when we look down we see them because life is more beautiful when we are together forever. How brilliant is that?!! Ugh, that’s why I’m marrying him folks!
Jonathan: It’s the first time all of our family and friend will be all together in one place. We are so excited. Jaymes:
Our families have never met, so that’s why were are getting married at Unico 2087 Hotel Riviera Maya, because it’s an all-inclusive resort and everyone gets to spend the week together before we say I do. And they’ll get a chance to bond and get to know each other, while in a vacation environment. That’s a pretty fun thing to get to share with all of them. Because once we exchange those vows, they’re all one big family now too.
Jonathan: Todd Danforth, who is an amazing photographer by the way, told us about NGWA and we were like “yup how do we help?”
Jaymes: Their mission lines up so well with our own mission of doing our own wedding loudly and proudly too. Marriage equality is still so new, we all have a chance to really help shape how the wedding world is going to treat our community, so let’s do it!
Jonathan: From the moment you decide to pop the question, to the day you say “I do,” it should be nothing but a time of excitement; not a time of worrying about how you will be received. We know this from experience. We were turned away from our first venue simply because we are gay. So let’s not focus on that. Let’s shine a light on the wonderful resources available to our community during the happiest time of our lives!
Jaymes: You are not alone! Even if you’re in the smallest town, I promise you you are not alone. Social media can be an amazing resource to help you feel seen. That’s why we choose to live our life as loudly and proudly as we can on social media because we know we needed to see that when we were younger back in our small towns struggling to have hope. There’s so much love out there to be seen!