Married couple reveal they’re planning a ‘re-wedding ceremony’ as bride and bride after husband came out as a transgender woman on honeymoon
- Rayna, 33, and Jae Harvey, 30, tied the knot in 2018 while Rayna was called Jake
- During honeymoon Rayna, who lives in Bridgwater, Somerset, came out to wife
- She claims she ‘suppressed’ feelings about being female since she was around 11
A couple are to walk down the aisle for the second time together – but this time as bride and bride after the groom revealed she was transgender.
Rayna, 33, and Jae Harvey, 30, who live near Bridgwater, Somerset, tied the knot in 2018 while Rayna was called Jake.
However during their honeymoon in Center Parcs, in Longleat, Wiltshire, graphic designer Rayna came out as transgender.
Rayna said she’s ‘suppressed’ her feelings about being female since she was around 11-years-old, and so found the experience of telling Jae ‘liberating’ and a ‘relief’.
A couple are to walk down the aisle for the second time together – but this time as bride and bride after the groom revealed she was transgender
Rayna has since spent £45,000 on an orchiectomy, where the testicles are removed, as well as a breast augmentation and facial surgery, and said it was ‘worth every penny’.
Jae said she’s ‘really proud’ of her partner and they’re now planning their ‘re-wedding’ in the Quantocks next September so that Rayna can have the big day she’s always dreamed of where she can be the ‘real her’.
Looking back at their first wedding, Jae said that she feels a ‘disconnect’ because Rayna wasn’t there, and she wants to feel like it’s Rayna she’s married to.
Jae said: ‘We’re planning a “re-wedding” because her family wasn’t able to make it out to Texas and now that she’s transitioned it’s another huge reason for us to do it again.
Rayna, 33, (right) and Jae Harvey, 30, who live near Bridgwater, Somerset, tied the knot in 2018 while Rayna was called Jake
During their honeymoon, graphic designer Rayna came out as transgender, and said she had ‘suppressed’ her feelings about being female since she was around 11-years-old
‘There’s a bit of a disconnect when we think back to our first wedding as I feel “well Ray wasn’t there?” and I want her in my wedding.
‘What I want more than anything is for her family to see her walk down the aisle and for her to have her day. I got to have mine with all my bells and whistles, so now it’s her turn.
‘We’re both going to be wearing beautiful black dresses for an all black and white theme with white, pink and red roses symbolising, at least for me, the death of old Ray and the re-birth of new Ray.’
Rayna added: ‘It’s for me to be the real me – our first wedding was a great day and one of the happiest of my life.’
After meeting online on MySpace back in 2007, they reconnected on MSN in 2010 and a few months later Rayna flew to Dallas, Texas, for a fortnight so they could meet for the first time.
The pair lost touch for several years but in October 2017 their love was rekindled when Jae flew out to the UK for the first time.
Rayna said it was ‘liberating’ to be able to open up to her wife and said she’d been ‘storing it away for so long’ (pictured at Jake)
Rayna got down on one knee in Bristol airport before she boarded her flight home.
They eventually tied the knot in March 2018 in Dallas, Texas, with an intimate wedding of 30 guests.
Two months later while on their honeymoon, Rayna expressed her true identity to her wife.
It was also the first time she donned a dress and said that it was a real ‘light-bulb moment’ when make-up artist Jae glammed her up.
Rayna said: ‘It was liberating. Something I’d been storing away for so long and when it actually happened it was more of a relief – the overpowering feeling was “thank God for that”.
Rayna said it was a real ‘light-bulb moment’ when make-up artist Jae glammed her up and she donned a dress for the first time
Rayna has since spent £45,000 on an orchiectomy, where the testicles are removed, as well as a breast augmentation and facial surgery, and said it was ‘worth every penny’
‘It must have been a bit of a shock for her in the first instance but she’s turned everything on its head to make me feel comfortable. I’m like the same person but in a different body really.’
Jae added: ‘We had a long talk and went over what she was feeling and there were tears and laughs – our communication has gotten so much stronger because of that.
‘She had shoulder-length hair as a man and would straighten it and do her eyebrows and didn’t really think much of it at the time.
‘But once we started talking about her gender identity I was like “oh”. It was one of those lightbulb moments. So it all made sense looking back but at the time I had no idea.’
Jae added when the pair started talking about it, Rayna realised she was ‘safe’ and her partner just wanted to help.
She added: ‘When she originally came to me even she wasn’t sure what it was what she was thinking and feeling.
‘We went through the process of trying androgyny and cross-dressing but none of it was enough or full-time female and that’s what she wanted.
‘The very first time we went out with her presenting as a female and someone addressed us as “ladies” in a restaurant her face lit up – I knew at that exact moment that she was trans.’
After coming out on Facebook, Rayna says she has received ‘absolutely incredible support’ from everyone.
This includes 93-year-old grandmother who now buys her celebration cards for a granddaughter.
The couple are determined to tie the knot again but this time with Rayna able to ‘be the real her’ becuase she wasn’t at the couple’s first wedding in Dallas (pictured)
Rayna said that life is now ‘easy’ because she’s confidently living as the woman she truly is – and Jae, who’s a hairdresser and make-up artist, has equipped her with all the necessary tools.
Rayna said: ‘It’s absolutely been worth every penny and I don’t regret any of the money I’ve spent for a single second – I don’t think you can put a price on happiness and wellbeing.
‘A lot more opportunities have been afforded to me because of my self-confidence and esteem – I’m a lot happier facing people and talking to strangers because I know they’re seeing what I want them to see now.
‘I absolutely would not have gotten to where I am today without Jae – she’s been instrumental in my transition.
‘Aside from accepting me and giving me a safe space to explore my feelings – she’s taught me so much about looking the way I want to look.
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