“We made history!”

Wednesday 11 July 2018

They met in a nightclub and soon bonded over music, champagne and fine dining. Now, they’re just married… 20 years later.

Elmina hairstylist John Cronin and Optician’s Assistant Neil Renouf, who works at English and Mulley’s, this week made history by becoming the first same-sex couple to get married in Jersey.

But it had been a long road to get to that point, with Jersey’s laws standing in the way of making their love “official."

“We met at La Cala, would you believe?” Neil recalled. But was it love at first sight? “Something like that! It didn’t take long before we were regularly seeing each other – that was 20 years ago.”

Pictured: John and Neil quickly bonded after meeting in La Cala around two decades ago.

“We both like the same sort of things, same sort of music, we both like champagne, we both like nice restaurants and we both like nice clothes and we both love islands and we both love Jersey, and we both love France. So we’ve got a lot in common,” he added. 

Around 10 years ago, wedding bells started tinkling in their minds, but “the law hadn’t come in, so we just waited,” Neil said.

But the waiting paid off. Despite lagging behind other jurisdictions, Jersey finally made moves to introduce the law last year and, after debate amongst politicians, it was passed by 42 votes to one. 

Pictured: The smiling couple moments after they tied the knot.

Knowing this, John had been down to the Office of the Superintendent Registrar to “find things out” and plan a date. The pair provisionally signed up to tie the knot on Monday 9 July, but, as Neil explained, “it wasn’t 100% official then because the law hadn’t changed yet.”

Little did they realise that the date they had chosen would actually make them the first couple to make the most of the legislation – a welcome surprise for the pair.

“We were really happy about that – we made history! There was a really great buzz at the Registrar's Office as well.”

Pictured: Friends and family scattered confetti over the smiling newlyweds.

Jersey’s Superintendent Registrar, Claire Follain, who "had the pleasure of officiating" at the ceremony, described the day as "very special." 

"We look forward to welcoming other same sex couples to be married in Jersey as the year goes on, and offer our warm congratulations to our first couple who have made history in Jersey today," she said.

Photographer Gary Power was equally delighted to have played a part in the couple's day. 

Pictured: Claire Follain, the Superintendent Registrar, described officiating at the wedding as a "pleasure."

"It was emotional and it should have happened long ago. The room was filled with emotion, love and I think relief," he said of the ceremony from his view behind the camera. 

For him, one of the most special things was taking a photo of the couple holding hands walking through town. "I've had few people mention that there was a fear of walking down King Street hand-in-hand, saying, 'To be able to do that in Jersey fearlessly is all I wish to see in my life time.' So the image of [John and Neil] doing this is very powerful." 

The photographs and the day itself was helped by the weather, with temperatures rocketing to nearly 30 degrees. "It was so hot that our flowers were shrivelling!" Neil laughed.

Pictured: The newlyweds walk through town to their special wedding lunch in Samphire.

The newlyweds were showered with confetti as they left the official ceremony, before moving on to Samphire for a special lunch with 14 close friends, followed by an evening party on the rooftop to celebrate making history into the wee hours. "We wanted the day to be quite casual, so we didn’t do any speeches or a first dance or any of that sort of stuff... In the evening we had other friends who couldn’t make it to the day who came in the evening. We had drinks and a DJ. We left and it was still going on then, so I don’t know how long it went on for!"

So where's the honeymoon? They might be back at work this week, but the pair have a special September getaway to enjoy the sun, sands and high life of Nice in the South of France.

The best bit of the whole experience? "We couldn't name a highlight - it was all special!"