We splurged on paying for our cat O’Malley to spend the two nights with us in the hotel. The Boro is pet friendly and we knew we wanted him in on the wedding photographs. He played a key role in the proposal itself so he needed to be there!

It was incredibly important to both of us to wear exactly what we wanted at our wedding, not whatever may be expected by wedding standards or by anyone else we know. Personal style is so empowering, and we wanted to feel our most powerful, radiant, and joyful.

On this day 4 years ago, Andrea proposed to Carla, just one day after the historic Supreme Court decision. “We read about the celebrations happening back home and started to get emotional at the realization that so many people, including us, would now be legally validated and protected as couples. We never expected to see this happen during our youth — and much less in Puerto Rico. It was then that Andrea gently took my promise ring from my finger and asked me if I would ever marry her.”

This pride month is especially meaningful, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising which brought visibility to LGBTQ+ issues and the community’s struggle for equal rights. We still face a great deal of discrimination in this world, but no one can dampen the light of love shone from these couples. To honor the sacrifice of every one who has helped the community reach this point, we are highlighting 50 moments of pure queer love and joy from past Catalyst couples. Thank you for sharing your love and light with us and the world!

With so much pressure to have a Pinterest-perfect wedding day, choosing the backdrop for saying your “I Do’s” can be a tough decision. Thankfully, there is no one way to choose a backdrop for your wedding ceremony. As with anything on your wedding day, choose a backdrop that really reflects who you are as a couple. Here are some of our favorites to inspire you and show you that any choice can be beautiful!

It’s that time of the year! Here are our favorite real wedding moments from 2018!

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I wore white on my wedding day. It was a pretty awesome dress, but I chose it knowing full well that the idea of wearing white on your wedding day is not some tradition as old as time, just as old as the Victorian Era. White dresses are a little bit about purity and femininity, but also a whole lot about wealth. It wasn't until the last few centuries that the average woman could dream of affording a dress that they would only wear once.

So let's banish this whole idea of the white wedding dress as being a necessity. If you want to wear one, that's awesome! If you don't, that's fine, too! Let's celebrate these 10 AMAZING outfits that prove that you can pretty much do WHATEVER YOU WANT.

After prepping at the hotel, we made our way down to the pier. It had been overcast and threatening to pour all day, but we'd yet to have any rain and we crossed our fingers and prayed to Mother Nature to hold out until after the ceremony. Lo and behold, those grumpy grey clouds were the best thing to happen to our wedding because when we arrived at the site around 4 p.m. it was absolutely deserted! With the exception of a group of teenagers and a lone, very chilled out pot-smoking cloud gazer who was occupying the only skyline facing corner of the entire pier (and who kindly conceded it when approached by our ever efficient, polite and diplomatic officiant), we had the whole pier to ourselves! It was incredible. We felt as though we were in New York City's most exclusive spot, set against the backdrop of one of the most iconic skylines in the world. The breeze was blowing, the water was lapping and the city was just starting to light up—we were on Cloud 9!