Less than two weeks after becoming engaged, Runaway June member Jennifer Wayne married her fiancé, Austin Moody, tying the knot in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Jan. 9. The couple told PEOPLE that they chose the sunny spot because they “love” the area and “really wanted to get married on the water.”
“Jennifer grew up on the beach, and there’s something so calming and healing about the ocean,” Moody said. “We are having a boat ‘sail off’ after we tie the knot.” He and Wayne made sure to bring Nashville to the beach, sharing that their wedding was “cowboy/cowgirl themed” and that “Everyone will be in boots and hats.” After the big day, Wayne shared a photo from the day on Instagram with the caption, “I got to marry my favorite person in the world last night… [Austin Moody]. My forever now.”
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Moody shared the same image and wrote that he was “still in complete shock but I’m humbled and honored to introduce you to Mrs. Moody.”
“Now more than ever, I am able to truly admire and appreciate everything she is,” his caption continued. “I’ve never met anyone so kind and generous to people she knows as well as complete strangers. Without even knowing it, she teaches me how to be a better person every day that I am with her. I can’t believe I got to marry my best friend. Jennifer, now I stand before the world a brand new man because of the love you’ve shown me. From this moment on you will never walk alone [Jennifer Wayne].”
Due to the pandemic, the pair kept the wedding “very small” with less than 20 guests, all of whom were tested prior to the ceremony. “We are taking COVID very seriously and have requested that all of the guests receive a recent COVID test before attending,” they said. “We are having the ceremony outdoors with plenty of room to social distance.”
Wayne’s sister, Annie Cadwell, and her best friend, Andrea Rothe, served as her maids of honor, and the couple was married by Dianne Krus, who Wayne called Moody’s “guardian angel” during his years in Nashville. Wayne also incorporated a tribute to her grandparents, the late film icon John Wayne and Pilar Palette, wearing Pallete’s engagement ring from Wayne.
Wayne and Moody first shared their relationship with fans on Instagram in October 2020 and became engaged in December at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, where they first met five years ago. They reconnected last summer after Wayne’s bandmate Natalie Stovall received a text from Moody about a dog he had found on the freeway.
“He knew Natalie, and he knew she loved dogs,” Wayne shared. “So, he sent the picture of the dog to Natalie, and Natalie said, ‘Oh, Jen saves dogs … we need to send to Jen.’ The rest is history!”
