Michael and I met at college at NYU. After a few months of dating, it was clear that we had found something special in each other and spent our remaining college years attached at the hip. I began performing on Broadway and found myself traveling on a national tour for nearly a year. Leaving Michael behind in New York was the hardest experience and once I returned, we decided that there was no need to wait to tie the knot!

When the officiant was delayed, pushing the planned sunset ceremony well into the moonlight, these two brides, and their talented photographers, rolled with the mishaps and had a beautiful, intimate ceremony on the beach by the light of the full moon.

It was love at first "swipe." Pepe and I met on a dating app, and I am forever grateful because otherwise I would not have met this wonderful man. He was the first guy I had actually agreed to meet for a date...and the last.

Our advice for couples planning their wedding would be don't follow traditions because you feel like you have to, but follow the ones you want to — the ones you truly value. Once we understood that the process of wedding planning became so much more enjoyable.

If we can arrange a wedding from Ireland, then turn up in NYC and have the most fantastic day of our lives without any problems, then anyone can!!

We both said it throughout the day and it still rings true; for many reasons, neither Frances nor myself ever thought we were going to be people who got to have the big, beautiful, LEGAL wedding...and we did, and it was fabulous. It still makes me tear up to realized how fortunate I am. 

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.”

We really just want people to know our story. We’d like to say our story is unique, and maybe it is, but we want to show the world that we are just two normal guys, gay as it turns out, who fell in love. Throughout our 18 years of being together, we have been truly surrounded by people who love us and want us to be happy. After all, we all just want to be loved.

We met through mutual friends, but we didn't date right away because David was in a relationship at the time. We were friends for two years before we decided to go on our first date in August 2018. That first date was a country concert at the Orange County fair. We danced and laughed the whole night, bonding over the similarities and values we had in common.

The only thing that was truly important was that I married the woman of my dreams and love of my life.  Everything else was just delicious frosting on the cake.

We performed a tea ceremony with our close family and friends before the main wedding ceremony. My grandmother painted calligraphy just for the occasion and it was very special to have that part of her there when she was unable to travel from China for the wedding.

We spent maybe a bit more than we should have on bourbon . . . but it is Kentucky after all.

Something in both of us just 'clicked': that desperate, heart-yanking feeling of “you aren't even gone yet and I miss you” type gushy love. We didn't even know we were waiting for each other.

We met less than a year before we got married. Our connection was almost instantaneous and grew quickly. We share a background of struggle and resilience, and a passion for our Black identities and social justice. We knew we wanted to get married on a beach, and finding an LGBTQ+ friendly island in the Caribbean narrowed down our options substantially. Puerto Rico fit, however, and our desire to support the island after the hurricane of 2017 sealed the deal.

A family-centric wedding with a combination of Western and Persian traditions in Sooke, Victoria, Canada.

“We met in middle school!”

One tradition we made up was how our bridal party, family, and each of us walked down the aisle. We had a bridesman with a bridesmaid on each arm. Our mothers escorted each other down, and our fathers walked each one of us down.

The ceremony took place inside of Portland’s City Hall with the backdrop of a spiraled staircase, historic vault, and city employees who peeked from around the corners of their office doors to catch a glance as we strolled the marbled interior halls and staircase before and after the ceremony.

We were both a little nervous – there were certain moments we didn’t have an exact script for, and so were awkward for a moment – but knowing that everyone there was thrilled for us, we felt comfortable to be a little informal and come up with things on the fly.

So much pressure is put on people to have the perfect wedding with every last detail planned, but in the end, simply having a fun day with the people we loved most was what made the wedding special.

In some Indian weddings, brides walk down the aisle with their close family and friends under a “bed of flowers.” This is something I envisioned for my own wedding, however, it was hard to find such a frame in Hong Kong. Therefore, James did a bit of research on how it looks, picked up blocks of wood, hard string, and an array of flowers, and constructed the frame from scratch.

We got married at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Los Altos, California. We choose this location because of its beautiful sanctuary and the love we were shown by the day-of coordinator. We both have a strong relationship with God, and know that a lot of Christian churches are not as willing or open to support same-sex marriages, but Immanuel Lutheran opened their doors to us with the upmost respect and love.