A year ago, Joe Jonas and his bride Sophie Turner were circulating through the white floral- and candle-dotted tables set up on the grounds of France's Château de Tourreau.
While they had a team of pros to see that champagne glasses were brimming and the cold towels meant to take the sting out of the scorching June day were plentiful, the new Mr. and Mrs. still had a few hosting duties to attend to. They had to stay hydrated. of course, a guest telling E! News they appropriately had drinks in their hand all night long, and ensure Turner's tulle and silk gazar Louis Vuitton gown remained selfie-ready. Plus there was the responsibility of keeping Diplo off the 'gram lest he try to livestream this wedding as well.
But more than anything, the couple, intending for their nuptials "to be a huge party," as the source put it, wanted to make certain Ashley Graham, Maisie Williams and his brothers Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas were enjoying the mix of electronic music and hip-hop on offer and taking advantage of the late night French fries and chicken fingers.
Now they're ready to cater to just one VIP—their daughter making her arrival just last week.
While selecting announcements for the little one, reportedly named Willa, may not be on the to-do list, the 24-year-old Game of Thrones alum and the Jonas Brothers musician, 30, having chosen to keep their news and her bump largely under wraps, they've powered through other pre-baby musts like putting together a nursery in their recently purchased L.A.-area manse. A roomy, modern space one source described to People as "a great family house."
Unsurprisingly over-the-moon, as an insider described the pair to ET, "The couple is already obsessed and can't stop gloating about their new addition. The couple is taking time to enjoy this special moment."
Cheers to a successful first year. Or, year and change rather, the duo's affair in the South of France technically their second wedding, having made it all nice and legal first with post-Billboard Music Awards vows at Vegas' Little White Wedding Chapel that seemed altogether more fun than a quick trip to the courthouse. They approached that May evening with the amount of levity required when an Elvis impersonator and Ring Pops are present, but when it comes to their commitment, the couple of four years are dead serious.
"Marriage is a private thing between two people and I think that's how it should always be," she explained to NET-A-PORTER's PorterEdit last May. "It's not about the dress, it's not about the food. It's about being husband and wife, and being dedicated to each other forever."
Appropriately, the British actress bookended her year with nods toward life's truly important issues.
Last May it was about responding to the heavy serving of criticism the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team was receiving for celebrating their victories too hard in the run up to the World Cup. Having heard that Alex Morgan's tea drinking gesture at the end of the team's win over Britain was a nod toward her "That's the tea," catchphrase and not a mockery of the country's drinking habits, she chimed in from her honeymoon in the Maldives.
"I'm incredibly sad and incredibly proud of that team. But I am so honored that we lost to such an incredible team, the U.S. Women's Football team," she noted in an Instagram Story video. "Alex Morgan, all the haters that are saying that this was disrespectful, I'm honored that you thought of me and all those people that are hating on you are probably sitting at home, millennials drinking Kombucha. And I'm really f--king proud of you, Alex Morgan, congratulations on your win. And that's the motherf--king tea."
Her words were just as forceful in June when an Instagram follower dared question why she, Jonas and countless others continue to protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality. Noting that all four officers involved in George Floyd's death have been arrested and charged, the fan asked, "Sooooo can we have peace now ?"
In short, no. "This is about the systemic racism that black people have faced for hundreds and hundreds of years," she wrote. "This is about changing the system. Justice will be done when society reflects our believes that we are all equal. Until then there should be no peace."
And Turner will continue speaking out as she sees fit.
Mostly, though, in between collecting People's Choice Awards nominations, turning out at the Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards, appearing together in Jonas' new Quibi travel series, Cup of Joe, and rocking out to the Jo Bros' Grammys' performance, she's been enjoying her relationship upgrade.
"I feel as though the only thing that's changed for me is having this incredible sense of security," she gushed in Elle's April issue. "Just the word 'husband' and the word 'wife'—they solidify the relationship. I love being married. I think it's wonderful."
Hard to complain about a year that saw them celebrating Jonas' milestone 30th in August, pulling up in a Aston Martin to a James Bond-themed bash at New York City's Cipriani Wall Street. Or shelling out for a 14,000-square-foot Encino, Calif. home, a December purchase that felt especially prudent once the stay-at-home orders came down this spring. (Thankfully they'd squeezed that last Cabo San Lucas getaway in just under the wire.)
"We're having a good time," the singer told Andy Cohen about their Lego- and Zoom trivia-filled quarantine life during an April Instagram Live chat. "We got married last year, so we're still enjoying that time."
For Turner, a natural homebody, that's meant cozying up in her sweats, mocking her husbands unnecessarily formal use of jeans, reading through scripts and keeping the drinks coming as he takes to Instagram Live with his DJ skills. "I pour him his drinks. I pour him his alcohol. I give him tequila shots," she revealed during a March appearance on Conan at Home. "He'll text me and be like, 'What time is it?' I'll reply from the kitchen, 'Shot time,' and bring him a shot of tequila."
Sometimes she'll take a break to walk their pups. Otherwise, she shared, she's "kind of loving" being "very, very quarantined" at home. "There's no rules in quarantine. It's fun."
When you think about it, it's a pretty peaceful way to enjoy your first months as newlyweds and waning days of total freedom.
"Everything seems to be working out in my favor here," she explained to Conan O'Brien. "Joe's like a—he's a real social butterfly. So, I struggle to kind of lock him down and have him just spend time with me. So, it's kind of…it's, like, prison for him, but it's great for me."
A situation made all the better by Jonas' willingness to let Turner truss him out in her makeup and pamper her by whipping up various cuisines.
"I am trying to get my British delicacies down," he told Cohen. "For us it has been wonderful... the thing I would encourage other couples is to find fun creative ways to have a date night with one another."
Take, for instance, the plan he came up with to mark their Vegas anniversary, when the coronavirus blew up his original idea to celebrate in Sin City.
"I might try to recreate Vegas in our house," he told James Corden on an at-home episode of The Late Late Show. "I have a DJ set up. We could do a night club." Frankly, that'd be pretty tame Friday night for the duo, who never tire of toasting to their love. "We used to be the couple that every few days we would celebrate," he explained. "So, it'd be like, we've been dating for a week, we'd have a party or a big dinner. We've been dating for a month…and we were that nauseating couple."
Now, though, he said, "I think we've chilled out quite a bit." Not that they're approaching the arrival of their child with anything less than pure, unadulterated excitement. "Everyone is ecstatic and so happy for them," a source told E! News, the couple themselves experiencing something more akin to pure bliss.
"I think for the longest time I didn't have a real sense of myself," the actress articulated to Glamour last year. "A lot of [my happiness now] is to do with being with a person I've fallen in love with, who loves me more than he loves himself, and who wants to see me find my own happiness. That was probably the biggest thing that pushed me to find who I am."
A couple that can find the fun in any situation and prop each other up with unconditional love and support? God, we're such suckers for them.
(Originally published June 29, 2020, at 12 a.m. PT)