Kymberlie and Kristen have the sweetest engagement story ever. They went on holiday to Italy and at one picturesque moment, Kristen pulled out a ring and ask Kym to marry her. A stunned Kym smiled, pulled out a ring and asked Kristen to marry her! Great minds absolutely think alike and these two are the perfect peas in a pod.

After their romantic engagement, Kymberlie and Kristen spent the next year putting their crafting skills to work creating all the beautiful details of their Brooklyn DIY wedding. The couple wanted a theme that reflected their vintage style with a modern twist. From the rustic flowers to the mustache tattoos and old-fashioned clove candy sticks—the couple worked hard to make sure every detail was accounted for.

There was no question, the couple wanted to get married in Brooklyn. After looking at several venues, they fell in love with MyMoon. The unique venue was salvaged from a 19th-century broiler room that had been adjacent to a garment factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The venue offered a perfect mix of rustic and contemporary the couple was looking for. The beautiful outside garden helped seal the deal!

Before their ceremony, Kym, Kristen and closest family went to Smorgasburg in Williamsburg; a weekend event that showcases 100+ local and regional food vendors down by the waterfront. The ceremony, which took place outside in the garden, was funny sweet and sentimental.

The couple read their own vows and there was not a dry eye in the house. The energy, love and excitement was so strong between the couple that Kymberlie jumped into Kristen’s arms for kiss a little too soon. The officiant hadn’t actually gotten to the “You may now kiss the bride” part. It made for the perfect scene from an endearing romantic comedy. The wedding was lively and full of love with families and friends uniting in the festivities. The fathers of the brides donned new hats from Goorin Brothers and stylin’ shades as the walked their daughters down the aisle. The small wedding party consisted of immediate family members. Vintage key bottle openers were draped by twine over oak lattice work and served as escort cards. Mason jars and vintage liquor bottles full of wild flowers decorated the space. Chalkboard signs welcomed guests and provided them with wedding details. A vintage suitcase bedecked with a burlap banner served as a card box. Vintage jars with mustache finger tattoos, old-fashioned soap bubbles and mustaches on sticks could be found throughout the venue. A photo booth found home outside in the garden, a red brick wall served as the perfect backdrop for guests taking advantage of the amusing photo opportunity.

The Manch was the name of the couples signature sip and was named after the couple’s cat. It was served in mason jars and contained bourbon, laphroaig, mint, lime and soda.

Dancing, laughter and some memorable speeches kept the reception energetic, witty and wonderful throughout the night.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Reminisce Photos

FLOWERS

Two days before the wedding, Kymberlie and Kristen set their alarm for 6 a.m., grabbed a thermos of iced coffee and set out for Manhattan’s renowned flower district. They went with an open mind, looking for flowers that represented the rustic vibe they were looking for. After browsing the shops, they settled on vibrant wild flowers in purple, pink and white. Flowers including Larkspur, Salvia, Delphinium and Zinnia filled the venue—hanging from mason jars, filled burlap and lace festooned beer bottles and peeked from bourbon bottle vases. The brides not only selected the flowers, but created each individual bouquet. For the bridal flowers, Kymberlie and her sisters chose to carry pink and cream Dahlias. Kymberlie created each bouquet the morning of her wedding, using a soft twine bow to hold the flowers in place.

ATTIRE

Kymberlie knew she did not want a typical white wedding gown. After having no luck with the city’s bridal boutiques, she visited Saks 5th Ave where she found her champagne beaded and lace gown designed by Sue Wong in their evening gown section. She was thrilled with the old Hollywood style and heavy detail that the gown provided.

Kristen’s suit was custom made by Bindle & Keep bespoke clothier based in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The clothier visited the couple’s apartment where they presented Kristen a variety of colors and patterns to choose from. Kristen chose a full suit in slate gray with a vibrant blue windowpane. Aside from custom pants, vest, jacket and short sleeved button down shirt, Kristen had a pair of dress shorts designed. This was her version of a second dress. After the toasts, she changed into the shorts—it was the perfect change of dress!

DESSERTS

Cakes: The cakes were bought in all the way from Vegan Treats located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The cakes were custom designed, and flavors included Chocolate Encased Strawberry Shortcake, Vanilla Bean & Raspberry Mousse, Peanut Butter Tandy, Old Fashioned Double Chocolate and Coconut Custard.

Donuts: The couple decided to keep true to their whimsical personalities and offer a variety of artesian vegan donuts baked by Dun-Well Donuts of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Flavors included Country Peach Pie, Maple Bourbon, Lemon Poppy Seed and Chocolate Cherry Jubilee.

Italian Cookies: Homemade by Kristen’s mom using a recipe passed down by her late Italian great grandmother.

Mini Pear Tatin: Deliciously prepared by MyMoon

Chocolate Mousse with Armagnac and Vanilla Chantilly: Creamy and rich, prepared by MyMoon

 

HAIR: Michelle Matera

 

MAKEUP: Andrea Whitten

Each member of the bridal party kept true to their tastes and natural beauty.

MUSIC:

Ceremony Music 

Abena Koomson (vocals) & Bryan Vargas (guitar) sang Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” during the aisle procession.  Both performed in the Broadway show “Fela”

DJ

DJ Mikey Palms

PRINTING:

Kym designed almost all of our printed materials for the wedding including “Welcome to our Wedding,” “Signature Sip” to our guest “day of” timelines.

Menu template was created by A Drim Design on Etsy, but the couple printed added the twine detail themselves.

Invitations: Minted

Bubble tags designed using Evermine.

 

Shoes

Kristen: Cole Haan red snake print

Kym:  NINA

Wedding rings: Zales

 


*You may wonder why we use terms such as lesbian wedding, gay wedding, queer wedding, trans wedding, marriage equality and gay marriage. We really don’t want to label our own weddings. It’s just a wedding!!! Love is love! We’re equal to our straight friends. However, if you consider the population of heterosexuals in the world versus the LGBTQ community, there’s quite a lot more of them than there are of us. Which means that in the Internet world, we’re a speck in the enormous wedding world. Which is fine. We love our speck. There’s glitter and fabulous cocktails and music on our speck. Now that we have federal marriage recognition in the United States (hooray! Marriage equality!), traditional wedding media outlets such as Martha Stewart WeddingsThe KnotStyle Me Pretty, etc. are covering same-sex weddings in their own heteronormative but sweet ways—and they are using some of these search terms. And guess what, our community also is using terms such as gay marriage, lesbian weddings, gay weddings, two brides, two grooms when planning their weddings online. So if our community is actually going to find the resource that is going to help them plan their wedding with tailored language, knowledge and professional expertise truly geared toward them, Equally Wed is prepared to strategically use overt marketing tools of engagement. To search for equality-minded wedding vendors and venues in your community, click here. To submit a wedding, engagement story, personal essay, click here. To sign up for our mailing list, click here.

Equally Wed is a queer-owned privately operated global wedding magazine for LGBTQ couples. Our founders, Maria and Kirsten Palladino, launched Equally Wed in 2010 after having trouble finding supportive wedding vendors and LGBTQ visibility in wedding media when planning their own Atlanta, Georgia, wedding. The graphic designer/web developer and editor/writer decided to do something about it for their community. The name Equally Wed, the heart with an equal sign in it and the phrase “equality-minded wedding vendors” are all registered trademarks of Palladino Publishing, LLC.