Joy the Baker’s Joy Wilson Marries William Jorgensen in Surprise Thanksgiving Wedding at Home! All the Details (Exclusive)

The couple’s family and close friends thought they were coming to Wilson’s Texas house for a holiday meal on Nov. 28 — but got to witness a wedding

Joy the Baker’s Joy Wilson cooked up quite the surprise for her family and friends this Thanksgiving!

The influencer and cookbook author, 43, and her longtime love William Jorgensen invited a close circle of 40 people to Wilson’s Bellville, Texas, home for a holiday feast — only to surprise them with a wedding. Before dinner was served, the couple, who got engaged just weeks ago, tied the knot in a casual, intimate ceremony.

Wilson tells PEOPLE that she and Jorgensen, also 43, decided to throw a Thanksgiving wedding because they weren’t interested in having a big affair involving lots of planning.

“The fuss of a dedicated wedding never appealed to either of us. So since everyone was gathering at my house for Thanksgiving and family was traveling from all over the country and the world to be here, we thought it would make the celebration even more fun if we surprised everyone with the wedding before dinner,” the professional baker says.

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As for the element of surprise, Wilson explains, “We didn’t want anyone to fuss over our decisions at all, we didn’t want any showers or parties or gifts. Also, I live to see people’s surprise faces — and this is the ultimate surprise.”

“The planning was very minimal so I enjoyed [the process]. I love throwing parties!” she adds.

Guests arrived at Wilson’s house around noon on Nov. 28, and were greeted with festive holiday margaritas and appetizers. The bride remained upstairs while Jorgensen revealed the surprise and invited everyone to sit down.

The couple then exchanged traditional vows in a short outdoor ceremony officiated by Wilson’s father. The Drake on Cake creator walked down the aisle to “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri, wearing a white linen square-neck dress with puffed sleeves by Reformation. Fittingly, her mother sewed her a pale blue linen apron for the occasion.

Jorgensen’s groom’s look included Wrangler jeans, a plaid jacket, a button-down shirt, a cowboy hat and boots.

In keeping with the simple wedding scheme, the couple opted not to decorate with the usual flowers and trimmings. “There was no décor beyond my big, beautiful old house. The florals were my bouquet, which [featured] paper magnolias made by my friend Suzonne Stirling in New Orleans,” Wilson tells PEOPLE.

“And the Thanksgiving table was set with the Morris & Co. collection from Williams Sonoma to match the feel of the house, which was built in 1888,” she continues.

Wilson and Jorgensen also chose to forgo any catering assistance. Instead, the bride prepared all the food herself. She says she began prepping the meal about three weeks ahead of the wedding so that she could delegate the reheating of the food to her guests and simply enjoy the day.

The completely from-scratch menu included two turkeys — one smoked and the other fried — as well as plenty of classic Thanksgiving sides such as mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, creamed spinach, stuffing, hot biscuits and cranberry sauce. For dessert, the newlyweds served sweet potato pie, cobbler and, of course, slices of their wedding cake, a raspberry stout confection made by Wilson.

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“It was a chocolate Guinness cake with raspberry curd filling and raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream. I dotted the top with fresh raspberries and meringue,” she says, adding, “When you cut the cake to be the perfect shape, you’re left with some scraps. I used those to make cake pops for the kids.”

After dinner, the couple and their guests headed outside to play some lawn games together and celebrate the moment.

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Wilson and Jorgensen first met in 2019 at a Halloween party in New Orleans. “Will was dressed as The Good from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and I was dressed as Tom Cruise from Risky Business, aka I just had a white shirt and some socks on,” the content creator jokingly recalls.

Now that they are married, the pair are looking forward to a life full of fun and excitement. “We’re very adventurous people, and I know we’ll have an adventurous life together. We will never be bored,” Wilson says.

Already, they have their next big adventure planned — a honeymoon. “We’re going to take a trip in January and ride our motorcycles to west Texas,” Wilson shares.