Jason and Becy, 26, had hoped to tie the knot on a very special family anniversary in 2020, but the global pandemic wrecked their plans.
“It was all meant to happen last November 28, which was my grandfather’s 92nd birthday, but COVID-19 restrictions meant we had to postpone,” explains Jason, who recently won two major Young Achiever Awards for his charity work supporting kids growing up, as he did, in isolated areas.
“At the time it was a really tough decision, but everything turned out perfect in the end. My granddad John Owen was there to celebrate with us at All Saints’ Anglican in Albert, which has so much family significance.”
Jason’s great-grandmother, Eva Owen, dedicated much of her time and money to keeping the miniature church alive before she passed away in 1988, so it was the obvious place for Jason and his beloved Becy, an early childhood educator, to marry on June 5.
Walking down the aisle beside her father, Darrel Harvey, Becy looked stunning in a mermaid-style lace gown. In keeping with tradition, her new dress was accessorised with an heirloom wedding ring and a brooch borrowed from her grandmother.
Her five attendants, wearing dusty pink dresses, were joined by two cute pageboys as Jason’s cousin Matty Young performed a soulful version of the Jason Mraz ballad, ‘I Won’t Give Up’, to a rapt audience of 150 family and close friends.
Waiting in front of the altar with best man Ash Young – another cousin and guitarist in the groom’s touring band – the “born romantic” husband-to-be was starting to feel emotional.
“Becy looked amazing …so beautiful,” smiles Jason, who shot to fame as runner-up to Samantha Jade on The X Factor in 2012.
“And the old church, which has been through the wringer a bit over the years, scrubbed up well. We did it all up, fixed a lot of holes, repainted it and cleaned the grounds, and it was great to see it in such good condition.
"I tell you, there were a lot of emotions flowing that day – much happiness from all different directions,” adds the self-confessed softie, whose grandfather inspired his enduring love of John Denver, and the resulting hit.
“I held myself together pretty well during the ceremony, but I lost myself talking to my pop afterwards.
“You know what the old guys are like – he didn’t show much emotion, but he did say he thought Nanna Owen would have been really, really happy. I reckon she was probably looking down at us the whole time. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Pop went home afterwards and had a cry himself!”
Read more in this week's New Idea, on sale now.
