LGBTQ Inspirational Real Wedding stories

A Wedding Planner's Evening Celebration Under the Stars at Hall of Lights in Carrollton, Texas

When an interior designer and an event designer get hitched, the decor has to be, well, nothing short of perfection. Add the fact that both experienced the pomp and circumstance of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, and your own big day is a tall order. Thankfully, Franc...

Style Lovers, Unite! This Bold Wedding at The Ebell of Los Angeles is Color Goals

Ain’t nothing like modern love. “We met on Tinder! We both swiped right,” Rob Forman says of the beginning of his relationship with Ben Fink. The pair chatted and made plans to meet. “I had a rule that Rob wasn’t aware of, that if within 24 hours of talking, plans hadn’t been set, I stopped talki...

Experience Detroit at a Wedding With Art Deco Details at The Fisher Building

Martha Maytham and Jen McCain first locked eyes at the Wayhome Music Festival on a balmy summer day in 2016. “Our paths almost crossed several times over the years,” Martha notes. “But, as fate would have it, we wouldn’t meet until the festival.” Three years after their first encounter, Jen poppe...

Exclusive: Inside Influencer Steph Frosch's Garden Rooftop Wedding in New York City

Few phenomena are more magical than a double proposal. When lovebirds Stephanie (Steph) Frosch and Melissa Barnett set out for Cape Cod for a summer vacation in 2021, both women had rings in their pockets. “We went on a trip to our favorite small beach town, unaware that we were both planning on ...

These Grooms Got a Shoutout From Taylor Swift at Their Black-Tie Wedding in California

“For our fellow same-sex couples!” Kevin Louie and Marcos Melero share, “We hope more representation in wedding blogs and magazines will allow others to see some examples of how their weddings can be both a mixture of tradition and breaking the norm.”<br><br>A serendipitous encounter on a dating ...

For a Wedding Planner, Surprise Nuptials in Her Maryland Backyard Were Just the Ticket

Imagine this: Your good friends get engaged and invite you to celebrate at a local bar. Except, upon arrival, you learn that you won’t be raising a glass to an upcoming wedding—it’s happening today. To celebrate their love, Angelica Laws (32 and a wedding planner) and Melisa Matthews (34 and a ph...

Anemones Inspired This Industrial-Meets-Art-Deco Wedding at Red Space Events in Cleveland, Ohio

Lucas (Luke) Franz and Logan Fahey planned a springtime wedding featuring a beautiful fusion of classic and modern elements. As their wedding planner, Nora Culley Tuck, shares, “The words they used in our initial design meeting were ‘Art Deco’ and ‘industrial.’” The wedding highlighted a sleek, b...

One Couple’s Intimate Autumn Wedding at Junipero Serra Museum in San Diego, California

Kelly Nyland and Angelina Bembry-Nyland first locked eyes across the yard at a mutual friend’s pool party. “It was a crazy road to get to the point that we were actually dating,” they reveal. “But we knew in our first week of being girlfriends that we wanted to get married.” Kelly first proposed ...

A Lively Sequel Wedding With Vintage Vibes at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California

They weren’t looking for just any San Francisco wedding venue. In fact, Nicholas (Nick) Tilly and Tristan (Tris) Taylor steered clear of any of the “white box” locales to which couples tend to flock in the city. “The theme really came to us after we selected the venue. We wanted to play up the sp...

This Outdoor Wedding at Olowalu on Maui Had The Perfect Mix of Tropical and Modern Vibes

“We remember just standing there, holding hands, saying, ‘There is no way this is our wedding. This is perfect,’” newlyweds Mike Watkins and Killian Smith recall. After three postponements due to the pandemic, the grooms were ecstatic to host their friends and family for their tropical nuptials—f...

A Garden-Inspired Coastal Wedding With Chinoiserie Elements at Blue Heron Landing in Stevensville, Maryland

Elizabeth (Liz) Jaramillo and Adaye Russom’s first phone conversation lasted hours—there’s nothing like a clear, telltale sign to kick-start a relationship. After six-and-a-half years, Liz knew exactly what Adaye was looking for in a proposal. “The pomp and circumstance of big proposals, although...

One Couple's Chic Wedding Inspired by "The Princess and the Frog" at 501 Union in Brooklyn, New York

Not only did this couple lean into fairytale inspiration for their wedding, but their love story also started much like a fairytale—with a few obstacles to overcome. “Ty and I met at a birthday party when we were both 21,” Janelle Kelty explains. “I said I didn’t want to go, but my best friend in...

High-Fashion Meets South-of-France in this Stunning Southern California Wedding at Villa del Sol d'Oro

Los Angeles-based sweethearts Tertulien Thomas and Kristopher (Kris) Elder had been discussing the idea of marriage for some time. “Little did Kris know that I was already plotting a proposal—I had just finished paying off the deposit to my jeweler the day he asked me that question,” Tertulien re...

This World-Traveling Couple Selected the Wythe Hotel in New York City for Their Vintage-Inspired Wedding

David Nimmo and Jason Pettigrew’s relationship can best be described as a worldly romance: spanning cities, states, countries and even continents. But, their story began as many do—in New York City. “We met on Tinder! Our first date had us hopping around the West Village, Soho and Nolita: having ...

Brides With a Vibrant Color Palette Host a Boho Wedding at 701 Whaley in Columbia, South Carolina

“Our friendship started in 2019 with a girl’s night out, a glass of sweet red and a t-shirt that said Free Hugs,” laughs Ebony Strudwick. She and Gillian Porterfield hit it off immediately, indulging in a night filled with “lots of laughs, looks and lively entertainment.” At the night’s end, Ebon...

"The Hunger Games" Inspired This Colorful Wedding at The Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, California

The attire seen in Panem’s Capitol in The Hunger Games inspired Jonathon Dakarai (35 and a UX designer) and Kyle Prosen’s (30 and a medical policy account manager) wedding. “While the people of the Capitol are generally evil, their over-the-top fashion represents a certain delusional optimism, an...

This Couple Embraced Art Deco Decadence at Their Country Music Hall of Fame Wedding in Nashville, Tennessee

Theirs is a timeless love: Aidan Grano and Brady Mickelsen shrewdly infused aspects of their blended personalities and tastes into their Nashville nuptials. In an effort to highlight the different vibes of each of their wedding venues, the grooms decided to play to the spaces’ unique styles. “Eac...

A Boho-Chic Beach Destination Wedding at Delek Tulum in Mexico

A boho-chic beach wedding in Tulum, Mexico, was the perfect way for sweethearts Cary Schultz and James Marquez to celebrate their love. Having visited the destination before, the couple fell in love with the town and its laid-back vibe—a perfect setting for their big day. With that in mind, the a...

One Couple's Simple Urban Minimony at Maketto in Washington, DC

Although the pandemic forced Phil and Kellen to postpone their larger wedding celebration, they didn’t want to wait to get legally married. The couple decided to have a minimony in Washington, DC. The color palette, decor and stationery at the minimony also subtly hinted at was to come at their b...

This Couple Rode Bikes Around Washington, DC, for Their Prewedding Engagement Photo Shoot

To celebrate their engagement, Phil and Kellen took engagement photos all around their beloved city: Washington, DC. The wedding engagement photo shoot included a stroll around the Kennedy Center with the building’s iconic architecture and gold columns creating an elegant backdrop.<br><br>Phil an...

One Couple's Personalized Waterfront Wedding at Ocean Key Resort in Key West, Florida

2022 saw a rise in domestic destination weddings, and Katie and Kaitlin were one of the many couples who found it more appealing to stay within the United States. The uncertainty of border-crossing regulations, paired with unprecedented travel delays, means that many to-be-weds who may have previ...

The Soundtrack for This Wedding at Atelier Playa Mujeres in Cancun, Mexico, Included "Moulin Rouge" and Beyoncé

To celebrate their marriage, TV personalities AJ Gibson and Emile Ennis Jr. planned a destination wedding weekend in Mexico. "This wedding was 10 years in the making, so it was super important that we were surrounded by family and friends who were 100% supportive of our love," says Emile. "Planni...

Old Hollywood Inspired This Jewel-Tone Wedding at The Ebell of Los Angeles in California

For their wedding at The Ebell of Los Angeles in California, Hannah and Sarah drew inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hannah and Sarah are history and film lovers, so they chose to incorporate both interests into the formal event. The classic film "Casablanca" was projected on the wall...