How to add some Pride to your wedding

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

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

Photo by Chris Ferenzi

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.”

Photo by Shawnee Custalow

Photos with pride

Photo by Susan Hornyak

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

Photo by Justin McCallum

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).

Adam and Ryan's Carnegie Institution of Science DC Wedding

Photo by Justin McCallum

Adam and Ryan signed on to work with me back when I was about to have my 2nd baby! I helped them get started - nailed down the venue and some of the major vendors, had my baby (!), then came back to help them out with the rest of their planning. And I’m SO blessed and thankful that they took a chance on a very pregnant woman. This might have been one of my favorite weddings of all time. They were so much fun to work with and I knew that their love and their wedding would be so special. Justin McCallum’s awesome photos capture every moment, big and small. They started the day with some photos around the Carnegie Institution of Science. Then after signing the license with friends and family, they had a beautiful ceremony in the round. One of my favorite details was that they’d ordered two custom gobos - one for during the ceremony (which listed both of their “maiden” names), and one after, pronouncing them, The Hunters :)

After the cocktail hour, their wedding party had some of the most fabulous entrances I’ve ever seen, including their officiant walking in to Like a Prayer, the ring bearer dancing, and of course, Ryan clacking that fan.

Dinner by Main Event Catering was delicious, as was their stunning custom cake (which incorporated their married logo) by Fluffy Thoughts.

And then… it was the best part of the night. Adam and Ryan did their first dance to Beyonce’s XO, and then announced the incredible Riley Knoxx. This infamous Beyonce performer surprised the guests with a 20 minute set and kicked off the dance party like no one else. (and BTW, she also appears in Taylor Swift’s new music video!). It was legit one of the best weddings I’ve had the honor of being a part of - I need more Beyonce in my life (who doesn’t??).

Thank you and congrats again to Adam and Ryan for allowing me to help plan and organize this awesome day! And a special shout out to Scorpio Entertainment. They not only kicked ass as DJ but had a ton of other elements to coordinate - like Riley’s performance/lighting/sound, the special logo lighting, etc - and nailed it all.

Adam and Ryan’s Vendors:

Planner: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: Carnegie Institution of Science

Caterer: Main Event Caterers

Photographer: Justin McCallum

DJ, Lighting, and Sound: Scorpio Entertainment

Florist: Highway to Hill

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Hair/Make-up: Ebonie Jones

Performance! by Riley Knoxx

Wes and Brian // Hotel Monaco Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Planner

I’m not really sure where to begin with Wes and Brian. They hired me for full planning - after a hilarious meeting in which one of them forgot what secret word they were going to use to indicate to the other that they liked me and wanted to hire me on the spot. So I left and then immediately got called back to their beautiful apartment with the news that I was hired!

From there, things just got better. We did site visits at which Wes bought a painting from a gallery. I learned they were going to have a Best Man and a Best “Bitch”. We drank lots of wine over photographer meetings. We complained about people who shall not be named. We basically had a blast.

Wes and Brian originally wanted to do a courthouse ceremony but after seeing the sad trellis that adorns (if you can call it that) the DC courthouse, decided to do an intimate ceremony at the War Memorial. After some post-ceremony photos, they had a cocktail hour and blow-out reception at Hotel Monaco in DC. Wes and Brian settled on gray and red as their colors (Brian may or may not be from Ohio, and red is a lucky color in the Chinese culture), and Mike Bell from MyDeejay rocked it along with Emily from Love Blooms and her modern floral arrangements.

So sit back and enjoy these fantastic images from the super talented ladies at Paired Images. Some of my favorite moments include:

• Jess from Paired Images stepping up and tying their bow ties cause they’d forgotten to research how to do it. She is the sh*t.

• Wes and Brian’s gorgeous cake from Fluffy Thoughts and their adorbs cake topper.

• Me wrangling big, red balloons. And being super relieved when one that had escaped due to some rough play by the kiddies popped mid reception rather than float into Hotel Monaco’s beautiful dome (whew).

• The insane, raucous dancing.

So thrilled for these two - Congrats again, Wes and Brian!!

Wes and Brian's Vendors:

Wedding Planner: Katie, The Plannery

Venue: Hotel Monaco, DC

Photographers: Paired Images

DJ: Mike Bell, MyDeejay

Florist: Emily, Love Blooms

Cake: Fluffy Thoughts

Uplighting: I Want Ambiance

Photobooth: SillyShotz

Balloons: Balloon Affairs of Frederick

Melissa and Tashia // Josephine Butler Parks Center Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Planner

In case you couldn’t tell, wedding season hit. Hence the silence on this here blog. The good news, however, is that the photos from the rad, beautiful and fun weddings I worked on this spring are rolling in and I have one of my favorites to share with you today - Melissa and Tashia’s Hollywood glam wedding at Josephine Butler Parks Center, with photos by Chris Ferenzi.

I met Melissa and Tashia way back when at last year’s Say I Do Expo (which I was sadly unable to attend this year due to another wedding). They hired me to help them nail down some of their major decisions and vendors, and then work with them on month-of coordination.

Here’s the thing about Melissa and Tashia - they are one of the sweetest couples you’ll ever meet. Their love for each other is truly palpable, they’re both insanely smart and ambitious, and they’re just a joy to be around. Not to mention - I finally got myself a bride in pants!!! (in case you weren’t aware of my obsession, see here). And good grief, what a hot bride in pants Tashia was (and that vest, and that lace… I could go on). Melissa rocked it equally hard with a stunning dress that featured a bolero she removed for the reception (hot hot hot) and those smokin’ red lips. She also had ridiculously hot shoes that somehow weren't photographed but trust me when I say they were beautiful. I had to get that out of the way cause I was completely obsessed with their bridal attire.

Ok.

Melissa and Tashia DIY’d a lot of their wedding and you’d never freaking know it. Melissa’s mother did the flowers (can you believe it?), Tashia’s cousin DJ’d, and they created all their own signage and a great record guest book!

After some getting ready pics, a first look, and fun family and bridal party shots, they had their ceremony. Filled with tears, laughter and rainbow tissues, it was simply beautiful. I can’t get over the smiles on their faces.

Cocktails were followed by a delicious meal by Main Event Catering - and then they danced and danced and danced.

I’ll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves, except to mention that M&T hired Tiny Paper Portraits to do hand-cut portraits for their guests. It was a huge hit and they were such a pleasure to work with. Such an awesome, classy alternative to the photo booth. Get on that, people.

Congrats again to Melissa and Tashia! You're such a beautiful couple, inside and out.

Melissa and Tashia's vendors:

Wedding Planner and Coordinator: The Plannery

Photographer: Chris Ferenzi

Venue: Josephine Butler Parks Center

Caterer: A Main Event

Make-up/Hair: Modern Bridal Studio

Cake: Sweet Black Orchid

Silhouette Artist: Tiny Paper Portraits