Happy Pride month!

To celebrate we wanted to look back at some of our favorite weddings and ways to incorporate pride into your wedding day. We here at The Plannery support all love and always have - when I moved here from NYC I was surprised to find little to no wedding planners openly embracing LGBTQ couples on their websites, marketing, etc. Things have changed a lot in the last ten years, but we’re still proud to support all love and all partnerships. So take a look, below, to see how you can show your support of the LGBTQ community on your big day

Use your Wedding Program to make a statement

We see many couples - gay, straight, and everything in between - use their programs to make a statement of support. Whether it be a quote, or some words directly from the couple, your ceremony programs are a great way to put in writing how you feel about equal rights, marriage rights and the LGBTQ community.

Add some rainbow details to fly your flag of support

Melissa and Tashia decided to use rainbow tissues during their ceremony as a nod to #pride

I loved this small detail (that did emerge when the tears emerged during their beautiful ceremony!) as a subtle way to show pride. Whether it’s tissues, rainbow boutonnieres, or some other small detail, adding a little rainbow to the mix is a symbolic and powerful way to show your support.

Hire wedding vendors who are LGBTQ supporters

Whether you’re an LGBTQ couple or not, hiring a wedding vendor who is outspoken and very explicit in their support and beliefs is a very important way to show support to the LGBTQ community. By giving your dollars to vendors that support others, it matters and does make a difference. As one of our clients said about The Plannery, “as both my husband and I consider ourselves allies of the LGBT community, I really appreciate how open they are about supporting LGBT couples as well couples of diverse/mixed backgrounds and religions… It was a refreshing ‘icing on the cake’ to work with a vendor who was so transparent and open about this topic and even though we don't personally identify, we truly admire this honorable approach to their services as we have many loved ones in our lives who do.”

Photos with pride

Another way is to look for photo opps on your wedding day that show your pride! We adore Longview Gallery as a wedding venue - especially because of its proximity to Blagden Alley, an awesome alley with tons of murals - including this beautiful statement of LOVE.

Make a bold statement

Go big, or go home. Some couples decide to make a big statement - like one of my favorite couples who hired the incredible Riley Knoxx to perform at their wedding. Nothing says pride like kicking off your reception with a Beyonce impersonator (who also happens to be the first transgender performer to perform at an NBA game).

Hopefully you all saw and heard about this wedding on my social media accounts ages ago, when it was featured on Bustle (and if not, check it out now). Jenevieve and Janine had a truly special love story, and I was honored to be a part of it. After postponing their wedding so that Jenevieve could transition, I was so thrilled to finally see their marriage happen, almost a year after it was originally supposed to occur.

Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate so instead of having an outdoor ceremony at the Alexandria Waterfront park, we moved it and were still able to have it outdoors, but underneath the tented patio at Torpedo Factory. With the beautiful arbor by Barbara at Growing Wild, no one noticed :)

After a personal and beautiful ceremony, there were cocktails under the tent, followed by a wonderful dinner and dancing inside Torpedo Factory, one of my favorite unique venues in the area.

Huge props to the super rad Shawnee Custalow for the gorgeous photos. Enjoy these shots and drink in this beautiful wedding! Congrats again Jenevieve and Janine!

**Also check back next week to see another post about J&J’s design. They used The Plannery’s design services and I’ll be showing you their initial mood board and the final product!