• The Real Housewives of Orange County star Braunwyn Windham-Burke married girlfriend Jennifer Spinner on Dec. 4 at their home in Nashville, Tennessee.
• A notary legalized the union, which was attended by five of Windham-Burke’s seven children.
• “Jen is my best friend, and I am so lucky that I get to wake up and go to bed with the person that I’d rather be around more than anyone else,” says Winham-Burke

Braunwyn Windham-Burke got married in a “last minute” wedding ceremony at home!

The Real Housewives of Orange County alumna, 47, tied the knot with her girlfriend, Jennifer Spinner, 40, at their Nashville home on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

“This is just about us and us saying, ‘You know what? We love each other. Let’s do this,'” says Windham-Burke, adding that the couple plans to have multiple larger wedding celebrations in Guatemala, California and New York in 2026. “And then when we actually have the big wedding, we won’t be as stressed out and we’ll be like, ‘This is just a party with our friends.’ “

Originally, the couple wasn’t planning on getting married until October 2026, but they moved up the wedding date “due to the uncertainty and the political and social climate around LGBTQ+ rights in Tennessee.”

Worried about whether “gay marriage will go back to the states” under Donald Trump’s presidency, Spinner tells PEOPLE that she and the Bravo star “just wanted to be legally protected and hopefully grandfathered in to any changes that happen.”

Windham-Burke adds: “This is just making it legal and giving us those protections that we need as a queer couple living in the south.”

The pair began dating in July 2022, after meeting over Instagram, and had two proposals. To celebrate their first anniversary together in July 2023, Windham-Burke surprised Spinner by proposing at 14th Street Park in New York City — steps away from where they had their first kiss. The two got engaged again in October 2023 after Spinner proposed to Windham-Burke with the help of her four youngest children.

They committed to a future together during a ring exchange in North Carolina on New Year’s Eve, and at an unofficial ceremony at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on Valentine’s Day. Now, they’ve made things legal.

“We’ve just had a lot of backlash here. We’ve had a hard time with the environment and the climate, and for us, this is our own little act of protest,” Windham-Burke tells PEOPLE. “We want to stand in our power.”

Spinner, who is an advisory board member of Franklin Pride TN, adds: “It’s not just a protest … Obviously we’re really privileged in a lot of ways, and we’re not just like every other couple that’s doing this, but we have kids that we’re raising together and we have ex-partners that we’re trying to co-parent with, and I think that we need the protections and the rights that marriage offer, and unfortunately, we’re not on our own timeline because the government is deciding that timeline for us in some ways.”

Last November, Windham-Burke finalized her divorce from Sean Burke. The former spouses were married for 23 years and were granted 50/50 custody of their seven children — Bella, 24; Rowan, 22; Jacob, 19; 11-year-old twins Caden and Curren; Koa, 9; and Hazel, 6.

Bella, Caden, Curren, Koa and Hazel were picked up from school early to be present for the home ceremony, which included a notary. At the time, Rowan was in New York and Jacob in California.

“I literally this morning [Dec. 3] sent a text to our friends in Nashville, ‘We’re getting married tomorrow if you’re free,'” says Windham-Burke, who came out as a lesbian in late 2020. “So we’re going to have some of our friends here, but that is how we live our life like, ‘Let’s do this.’ “

Her dress was also a last-minute decision, with it being “whatever [she] could get next-day delivery for.” She wore a dress from Amazon and a jacket from Bloomingdale’s.

Meanwhile, Spinner had “the best experience” finding a suit from Sacca’s in New York. But having grown up in Long Island when “it was not a queer-friendly place” made her almost not enter the store.

“We were walking through there and all of a sudden I heard a gasp out of Jen,” Windham-Burke says. “And I went back there and there was this phenomenal rhinestone tuxedo that fit her perfectly.”

Initially, the couple planned to get married at their local courthouse but Windham-Burke, who says she personally saw a lot of things change after “the insanity of the election,” discovered that “they no longer perform marriage ceremonies because so many of the judges there didn’t want to perform gay marriages.”

It was instead suggested that they get married at The UPS Store. Although that would have been “on brand” for the couple, they opted to have a public official come to their house.

Getting married sooner than planned didn’t make the afternoon union any less special.

“I know it’s funny that we’re planning it last minute, but it’s not a trivial decision,” Spinner says.

To the couple, their marriage is “more about the kids.”

“Every kid is always looking for structure and safety that the adults in their life are going to be there for the long haul,” Spinner says. “This marriage is about showing them and having that legally documented that I am a parent. I’m one of four parents, but I’m a parent and I take that seriously and that I’m not going anywhere.”

For Windham-Burke, marriage solidifies having her favorite person by her side for life.

“Jen is my best friend, and I am so lucky that I get to wake up and go to bed with the person that I’d rather be around more than anyone else,” she says. “She’s the one that has my back. It’s been a really hard two years and I don’t think I could have gotten it through her. I think when you take your marriage vows, they say, ‘For better or worse,’ and we have been through such hard times that she’s shown up every single time.”

She continues: “As an adult, you really know what you’re signing up for. Marriage isn’t the fairy tale, it’s not always the happily ever after, but it’s that commitment that you’re my person and I’m going to be with you. You are not just my partner for life, but you’re my best friend for life.”

After the wedding, the newlyweds enjoyed babka from Long Island before going out to dinner with friends and taking the kids to Hebrew school.

Although there weren’t many attendees at their home nuptials, everyone will be invited to their “phenomenal” wedding in Guatemala, which Spinner describes as “Indiana Jones meets Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”

Their future weddings in California and New York are mostly for the women’s grandmothers, who are too old to travel.

Windham-Burke and Spinner are closing on a new home on Dec. 19 and say they are excited to start a new chapter of their lives together as wives.

“We’re so excited to finally be legally wife and wifey!” Windham-Burke exclaims.