A couple's sensory-friendly wedding in an idyllic English garden included an intimate picnic, earplugs, and outdoor games

• Ramona Jones and Aaron Gibson got married on September 5, 2021.

• The couple planned a sensory-friendly day to accommodate their neurodivergencies.

• Jones made a TikTok of the one-of-a-kind wedding that has over 15 million views.

Ramona Jones and Aaron Gibson met when they were just 15 years old.

Jones, who uses she/they pronouns, and Gibson, who uses he/him pronouns, met through mutual friends on Bebo, the MySpace precursor, as Jones told Insider.

"Our mutual friend facilitated us meeting up and helped us chat to each other," Jones, 28, told Insider.

Jones and Gibson started dating in 2009, and they got engaged in January of 2021 on their 12th anniversary. They planned their wedding for September 5, 2021.

Today, Jones and Gibson, 29, live in Somerset, UK, with their dogs. Jones is a cottagecore content creator, and Gibson is a photographer, videographer, and carpenter.

Jones and Gibson knew they wanted their wedding to be sensory-friendly.

"I'm autistic and Aaron has ADHD," Jones told Insider. "His sensory needs don't really interfere with his life in the same way that mine do, so we both prioritized mine on the wedding day."

Jones knew a traditional wedding wouldn't be the right fit after their previous experience at weddings.

"I had only ever been to like four weddings before ours, but it quite quickly taught me that I can't cope with them because of all the noise and the crowds," Jones said, adding that the unpredictability of the day is also triggering for them.

"It's kind of like everything about the day is stressful for me as an autistic person," Jones said.

"We just tried to make everything as stripped back and calm and peaceful as we possibly could so that I could cope with the day," Jones told Insider of their approach to their wedding.

The newlyweds knew they didn't want to have a big party like many do on their wedding days.

Jones and Gibson didn't want to have a party-style reception.

"I knew that the first bit would be a lot of emotions and a lot of building up the stimulation," Jones said of why they weren't interested in having a big reception. "And I thought after that, it has to be quiet time for both of us. So Aaron was fine with not having a reception."

The couple had a luncheon in a garden after they said 'I do' instead.

They also kept their guest list small.

Jones wasn't interested in having a big guest list.

"Crowds were one of the most important things," Jones said. "We chose a really small venue that only had 18 seats."

"It was helpful having a small venue because we could say to people, 'I need to not have crowds, and the venue can't hold people,'" she said.

Jones and Gibson only invited 18 family members to the intimate wedding at Abbey House Gardens, which has since temporarily closed.

Jones started the day by getting ready at home surrounded by friends.

"A lot of the people that helped were friends," Jones said of their wedding vendors, which made both her and Aaron more comfortable throughout the wedding. "They were friends, and they knew what my needs were."

On the morning of the wedding, Jones got ready at home, opting for the familiar space that would put them at ease. Jones' sister, their wedding photographer and friend Rosie Hardy, and their videographer and friend Emilie Ferris kept them company. Another friend, Jen Scott, did their hair, and their sister's friend, Bean & Bear, did their makeup.

"When she did the makeup, she was really communicating a lot," Jones said of Bean & Bear, who also gave them a fidget toy to use throughout the wedding day. "I knew exactly what was going on, which I really appreciated."

"It was just really helpful," Jones said of knowing the people who got them ready for the wedding. "I didn't have to explain myself to people because they know me already. And that was a really big help for me."

"Being at home getting ready was nice," Jones added. "And a friend that was doing my makeup brought a dog around to calm me down. So that was cute."

Jones also took quiet breaks throughout the morning, which prevented them from getting overstimulated.

Jones intentionally wore an updo to the wedding.

"Having the hair up was really helpful," Jones said. "If it's windy, my hair can be a big trigger if it hits me in the face."

Scott gave Jones a braided updo, and a flower crown designed by Jones' friend Moth Florist completed the wedding look.

Jones also picked a wedding dress with comfort in mind.

"I tried a lot on, and I really liked the one that I ended up with," Jones said of the dress, which was designed by Allure Bridals.

The long-sleeve gown had a full, tulle skirt, lace detailing, and a low back.

Jones told Insider the skirt was one of her favorite features of the gown.

"I really liked that it didn't cling to my body because some of them felt really tight," Jones said. The gown's backless design also made it feel breathable.

"It didn't bother me as much as a lot of my other dresses do, and I think it was just because there was less fabric on the top and the bit on the bottom was just so big and fluffy," Jones said.

But Jones still said she changed into sweats as quickly as she could after the celebration was over.

Jones wore heels to the wedding ceremony.

"The shoes annoyed me," Jones said.

They changed into sneakers for the small reception.

Jones also wore earplugs throughout the wedding day.

Jones often wears earplugs while in large crowds, and their wedding day was no exception.

"It just helps the edge off," they said of the earplugs. "It doesn't normally stop me from having a sensory overload, but it means I can tolerate an extra hour at an event or something. So it gives me a bit more time and resources."

"They don't completely block out the noise," Jones went on to say of the plugs. "You can hear conversations, but it will take away the sound of a car or bird or other ambient noise."

Jones traveled to the ceremony in a convertible.

"I had a Morris Minor come and pick me up because that's my favorite sort of car," Jones said of the car, which was rented from Milbury Morris Minors.

Jones rode to the wedding venue with her sister, while her friends went on with their days instead of attending the wedding.

"It was nice that they understood," Jones said. "They were all really lovely and they were like, 'We're glad we could be a part of your day without stressing you out.'"

"I was a bit worried that people would be like, 'Why aren't I invited?'" Jones added. "But they were all really understanding."

Jones and Gibson's ceremony took place earlier in the day.

The couple got married at 11 a.m. in a sanctuary at Abbey House Gardens.

Because their ceremony took place in the morning, the wedding was over at around 5 p.m., and the couple was able to decompress alone in the evening.

Gibson wore a flower crown from Your London Florist that matched Jones' crown to the wedding.

Jones visited the ceremony space in advance of the wedding.

"The day before, I went to visit with my friend who did my hair so that we could spend some time in the room and see how the seats would look and really familiarize ourselves with it," Jones said.

"That was super helpful, and it was fun as well," they went on to say. "We called it my hen party in the end because we just took some flowers and decorated and took candles and things. So it was nice to do together."

Isabloom Floral Design provided flowers for the wedding.

Jones and Gibson kept their ceremony short.

Jones told Insider the ceremony only took about 20 minutes, which she and Gibson both preferred.

"It was a blur," Jones said of the ceremony. "I remember holding Aaron's hands."

Immediately following the ceremony, guests headed to a garden on the property to mingle and play games.

The space featured games including oversized checkers and Jenga.

"The games were really helpful because it takes the pressure off having to socialize with everyone," Jones said.

The plethora of conversation required at weddings can be tiring for Jones.

"I was just so tired," they said. "I didn't know what to say to people. So it was quite tricky."

Jones told Insider she had to take a quick break after the ceremony.

"During the ceremony, I remember thinking, 'I know we don't even have a reception, but I've still got to get through four hours of socializing,' and I just felt like, 'Oh, I'm so tired. I need a break," Jones said.

She took that break after the ceremony by lying down in the grass in the garden.

"If you look at the photo, it looks very serene and calm," Jones said of the photo. "But at the time my head was going nuts."

The couple had a garden party-style luncheon after the ceremony.

Jones told Insider that meals have been difficult for them at weddings in the past, in large part because the menus are often full of unfamiliar foods.

"We didn't have a fancy three-course meal," Jones said of their wedding. "We just had a buffet-style picnic so that people could help themselves, which was nice."

Live Free Kitchen provided the plant-based meal.

Jones and Gibson also intentionally sat at the end of the table rather than in the middle during their luncheon.

The high volume of weddings can also be difficult for Jones, so she and Gibson made sure their wedding wouldn't be too loud.

"We had our phones controlling the music so we could change that if we needed to," she said. "A smaller amount of people and having them outdoors made that a lot easier, too."

Jones and Gibson also sat at the end of the table to further control the noise.

"One of the easiest ways that I get overwhelmed at mealtimes is if I'm sat in the middle of the table and there's noise coming from both ways," Jones told Insider. "I find it hard to keep up with the conversation already, but if there's another one, I just can't distinguish between the two and then I can't talk."

"Sitting on the end helped because it took away that additional stream of noise," Jones went on to say.

Jones was thrilled the outdoor celebration got to happen at all.

"We weren't sure if it was going to rain because the forecast said rain and the skies were really angry on the day," Jones said. "But after the ceremony, we came outside and they put the music on and it played 'Mr. Blue Sky,' which is a song that reminds me of my mom, and the clouds just parted and it was blazing sunshine for the rest of the day."

"It was magic," Jones went on to say. "I remember just standing there feeling exhausted, but I was like, 'Oh my God, that's amazing.'"

Gibson was a big source of support for Jones throughout the wedding day.

"Aaron was watching over me a lot in the day and making sure I was OK and helping with the conversation and stuff," Jones said. "So that was really good."

The couple got to spend their wedding evening alone.

The newlyweds took photos together after their guests left, and at around 5 p.m., their photographer left, too.

They spent the evening alone at the venue, soaking in their first few hours of marriage.

"There's this really nice old library in the house, and the owners filled it with candles," Jones told Insider. "We just had a takeaway surrounded by candles, and it was lovely."

The private evening together was one of Jones' favorite parts of the wedding day.

"Aaron and I didn't spend that much time together while the guests were there," Jones said. "At the end of the day, that feeling of relief and being able to be with him, that was really lovely."

Jones made a TikTok about their sensory-friendly wedding that went viral.

The TikTok has over 15 million views and nearly 3 million likes at the time of writing.

Jones said they were pleased the TikTok got positive feedback from others with neurodivergencies, and they added that they were pleasantly surprised that neurotypical people were also drawn to their laid-back nuptials.

"It was interesting how many people resonated with the video," Jones told Insider. "Lots of people commented and they were like, 'I'm not autistic, but this would really help me for this reason or that reason.'"

"And I just thought that was a really nice thing," they added. "It unified people."

Jones advises people not to feel like they have to follow wedding traditions that don't work for them.

Jones and Gibson found that not following tradition ended up being good for them and their guests.

"I think we were just really relieved that we were able to ignore a lot of the traditions and have it work in a way that was good for us," Jones said. "And everyone else said that they enjoyed it, and people were really honest. They were saying things like, 'Normally I dread weddings, but I'm not dreading yours.'"

"I feel like it benefits everyone if you can drop some of the traditions and the expectations and have it be, if it works for you, a bit lower key," she added.

Jones told Insider they love how accepting Gibson is.

Although they've known each other since they were teenagers, Gibson has given Jones freedom to grow into their adult self with ease.

"He's not afraid to drop traditions or norms, and if you tell him something that's maybe abnormal, he doesn't question it," Jones said. They said they really noticed his accepting nature when they were diagnosed with autism in adulthood.

"I was diagnosed with autism last February, but I'd known for a while before that," they said. "A lot of people go, 'Well, there's no way because you look feminine or you can talk or you've got friends and all of these misconceptions, but he doesn't."

"He's just gentle," Jones said of Gibson.

Jones went on to say that she thinks Gibson is so accepting because he is neurodivergent himself.

"Neurodivergent people are quite good at not worrying so much about social norms and categories," Jones said. "So if someone brings something up, that's seen as a bit taboo or unusual, he won't judge."

You can follow Jones on TikTok and Instagram.

Read the original article on Insider