'He was never going to miss it' — Jess Jonassen's late father makes a special appearance in spirit at her wedding

Three time's a charm for Jess Jonassen and her wife Sarah, who finally tied the knot in April this year after having to postpone their nuptials twice since 2020.

First it was the pandemic, then some personal things got in the way of their second attempt — including the passing of Jonassen's father Ray to cancer in 2021.

When ABC Sport caught up with the Australian veteran and Brisbane Heat captain last year, Jonassen bravely spoke about the heartache she'd felt since his death and her ongoing struggles to celebrate life's big moments without him.

Holding back tears, she explained the void he had left in the family and some of the coping mechanisms her two sisters and Mum were using to try and band together in their grief.

As part of this, the ladybug had quickly become a symbol in his memory, given Ray's unexplainable love for the quaint red and black critters — often texting them in emoji form to his daughters during their daily correspondence.

The sisters each had a ladybug tattooed on their wrist as a permanent reminder of his impact on their lives.

For Jess, that also extended to her cricket career, after all the hours he'd spent in the nets at Rockhampton with her as a child; helping her hone the skills that would one day see her play for Australia.

But would this inked tribute be enough to honour her Dad at their eventual wedding, Jonassen speculated? Given the goal to finally walk down the aisle was well on the cards for 2023.

Well, when the opportunity came up to interview Jonassen again this year, a few months after the pair had eloped to Hawaii, ABC Sport jumped at the chance to find out how it all went.

Was the day as perfect as the pictures had appeared on social media? And had Jess found another way to ensure her father was present on the day?

Turns out, Ray had his own plans in mind.

"Believe it or not, there actually was a ladybug there on the day," Jonassen said.

"I didn't even know they had ladybugs in Hawaii, it was crazy.

"We were at our second photo shoot location, and I was standing behind Sarah when I noticed there was something on the back of her blazer.

"I went to brush it off and when I looked closer, I realised that it was a ladybug, so I got it on my wrist and showed her."

It's not the first time a real-life version of the insect has appeared to provide Jess some reassurance, as the all-rounder recounted a similar story last year from the Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

Playing in the final against England, a ladybug had landed on her chest during Australia's batting innings and remained there for much of Alyssa Healy's (170 runs) match-winning performance.

This time around though, the couple had someone ready to capture the moment on camera.

"Our wedding photographer was almost crying because his ancestry believes that people you know that pass will come back to you and have these little touch points and moments," Jonassen said.

"He was really emotional, and we were really thankful he was able to capture it.

"I sent that photo when we got it through straight to my Mum and yeah, we sort of joke that Dad was never going to miss out on something like that."

As for the move to elope overseas, Jonassen said it had been an easy decision.

"When we were initially going to get married in 2020, we were going to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, so we had flight credits due to expire by the end of 2023," she said.

"I had some player leave and we were going on holiday so we kind of put two and two together, and I suggested we get married while we were over there.

"Only both our Mums knew, we told them our plans and checked that was going to be okay, and they were both really supportive — they knew we'd been through a lot together since we initially tried to get married before COVID shut the whole world down.

"It's almost a relief to know we finally went through with it and it's really special now to be able to call Sarah my wife."

The no-fuss approach seemed to pay off, as according to Jess, the couple had an amazing day.

"The spot we chose to have our ceremony was in a public space on Magic Island, and when we were reciting our vows and finished our I do's and kissed, a few people walking past cheered.

"It wasn't till then that we remembered we were in a public place, we just got so lost in the moment.

"But yeah, it was a perfect day, we got ready together at 12pm, ceremony was at 3pm and we were back in our hotel room after photos by 5:30pm, before getting changed to go out for a nice dinner.

"It's funny looking back at what we had originally planned a few years ago and what actually happened in the end ... to be honest this way felt a lot more like us."

As a journalist, of course, you want the talent to remain the focus of the story — but this was too good not to share.

Yesterday, while writing this feature I had popped outside to grab some washing off the line.

Once I got back inside, I noticed on the top of the pile that a pair of my pants had a little friend sitting on them.

Yep, you guessed it — it was a ladybug. In the six years we've lived here, I have never spotted one in our garden before.

I like to think it was Ray, making sure I did his daughter's story justice.

You can hear Jess Jonassen in action tonight against the Perth Scorchers, as she attempts to guide the Brisbane Heat to victory in a bid to grab a spot in Saturday's WBBL09 final.

Coverage on the ABC Listen app begins at 7:30pm AEDT.