Wedding planners have an intimate understanding of love like no other. Their daily interactions revolve around couples’ desires for their big day, overseeing vows, organizing receptions, and more. Each love story is unique, yet all deserve to be celebrated.
Overwhelmed with joy from this special month, we reached out to 5 LGBTQIA+ wedding planners to gather their stories, heartfelt words, and tips for planning and celebrating same-sex weddings. We also delved into what Pride means to them personally. Regardless of whether you’re planning your own wedding, working in the wedding industry, or attending as a guest, each one of us has a part to play in creating an inclusive and supportive environment.
Get ready to glean insights from these talented planners as they share their wisdom on weddings, celebrating love, Pride, and inclusivity.
Ashley Smith Events
From Alexa: Something we have seen throughout each of our same-sex weddings is adding in a special moment or moments throughout the weekend to acknowledge the history of how the couple has gotten to this point of being able to get married legally in front of their friends and family.
Whether it be through the couple’s vows to each other, creating an homage to the history of same-sex relationships that could not publicly be shared, or stories about the past trial and tribulations of the LGBTQIA+ community, our couples have been able to portray to their guests how meaningful it is to them to be able to have this moment in the presence of their loved ones.
From Jake: Pride means being your authentic self and expressing all your intricacies proudly to celebrate love in all forms. There is so much history rooted in the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s a time to reflect and create space for everyone to learn and honor differences.
Photo: Charis Buchinhoren
Diana Romo Weddings
From Diana: First of all, Happy Pride, everyone! I feel honored to have been asked to share what Pride means to me and the team at DRW. Here at DRW, we’re prone to celebrate, well, just about anything! And what better reason than to gather around the table and raise a glass to LOVE above all? Am I right?
For Pride month, we’re inspired by people we know and love who belong to underrepresented groups and yearn for acceptance. We aim to honor and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community! At DRW, we promise that equality, inclusivity, and modernity will be prerequisites for everything we do, every event we design, and anything we put our name on. It’s a vow!
To us, of course, ALL weddings matter, EVERY love is special, sacred, and holds a unique and profound significance, deserving of respect and celebration. But THIS month, the spotlight is on Pride. So this is what our team is focusing on and observing. Our couples are proof of pure joy, a feeling that all of us experience on our wedding days, and we’re excited AF to continue planning unique experiences for the passionate pairs getting ready to go all in on there forever! We’ve come a long way, but there’s still so much learning, growing, and unifying to go.
Photo: LUXART WEDDING STUDIO
Every engaged couple simply wants to feel comfortable and happy on their big day, so the smiles keep coming when you have a passionate team supporting you through thick and thin. We promise to assemble talented LGBTQ+-supportive vendors and team players for your big day who share a collaborative spirit that shines not only in their wedding crafts but in their understanding, compassion, and completely non-pigeon-holed points of view. Love is love is the sentiment this group of powerful wedding day documentarians embraced, and we dig it.
Cheers to everyone who shares a love for another person, no matter who you are. Love is Love! It’s as simple as that!
Photo: Andre Gouin
Something Blue Production
From AnnaMarie: For Pride Month, I’d love to share my top two tips!
1. Inclusive language is much easier than people think! Bride and Groom aren’t dirty words to use, but knowing your couple before you use these terms will make everyone feel more comfortable and included. Try using the terms partner, nearly-weds, or couple in the meantime.
2. Not every relationship starts with a fairytale story, especially for some LGBTQ couples. Part of getting to know your couple means asking these questions, but some may not want to talk about it or may not have the happiest stories. To truly celebrate their love story, you must have empathy and respect for where they’re coming from and keep note of items like this! If someone has an unsupportive family or friend, keep that in mind when planning, and be sensitive to topics that may bring up some feelings.
Photo: Jackie Rangel Photo
Chanda Daniels
From Chanda: Being the architect of an LGBTQ+ wedding experience, here are a few tips for planning weddings that I feel are extremely important to get you started!
1. Listen to your LGBTQ+ couples. Remember, each couple has a unique love story and will want their wedding day/weekend to be special as well. Here you will find the pronouns they want to use many of your questions will be answered, so always pay close attention.
2. Try not to say “traditionally.” Try saying, “Here are some options other clients have connected to in the past” when presenting all wedding options. For me, saying “Traditionally” means that their love is not normal, I am very intentional in the wording I use.
3. Build your inclusive team. Start doing this before signing your first LGBTQ+ couple. Look for creatives that share the same values of inclusion. Make sure to review their website and social media outlets for inclusive language.
4. Wedding day attire, never assume! During your discovery phase, ask if your client has visions of their wedding day attire. While building your creative team, ensure you have resources for gender-neutral tailors.
Pride to me means showing up in this industry to represent my community. As a planner, I want to produce amazing weddings that show my LGBTQ+ weddings can be featured and used as inspiration, that BLACK lgbtq+ weddings are just another beautiful story as well. It’s important to me to show that as a lesbian of color that, I can produce a fantastic wedding and be used as an inspiration to others who show up as I do. I believe in being what I didn’t have when I started in this industry, and if I can inspire one person, I will!
Remember, love is simply love, and weddings deserve to be celebrated by everyone.
Orange Blossom Special Events
From Brooke: As wedding planners, we are so incredibly lucky to do what we do. We get the opportunity to work with couples and celebrate love every day. All of the work we do really comes to focus in June. While we celebrate love, diversity, and pride all year long, June is the time to be incredibly grateful for our same-sex couples.
We can’t lose sight of just how meaningful it is for same-sex couples to be married under the law – a right that so many around the world are still fighting for. Today, nearly half of the weddings we plan are for same-sex couples. These weddings are filled to the brim with joy, love, and laughter. They’re beautiful and impeccably designed (of course!), but more than that, they always feel great to be a part of. We are so, so lucky and PROUD! Happy love and pride month!
Photo: Heirlume Photography
