Elegant and rustic Malibou Lake Lodge wedding

Alli and Claire got married at the Malibou Lake Lodge in the fall, with a rustic and country vibe to their wedding. They got married after one and a half years engaged and their first dance was to “How Long Will I Love You” by Ellie Goulding.

“Our wedding story began a year prior to our big day. In December of 2017, due to certain political circumstances, we made the decision to elope. For obvious reasons, this did not bode well with our family and friends. We had always promised there was going to be a bigger wedding the following year and we were going to keep that promise. We knew we wouldn’t be able to plan our wedding by ourselves since our work schedules were so busy and inconsistent. We found an LGBTQ-friendly wedding planner, HoneyFitz, that we knew we could trust completely. They found the perfect venue and vendors for our simple, rustic-inspired wedding.

Everyone who says that your wedding day will fly by in a blink of an eye is one-hundred-percent right. As soon as we left the hotel to get ready at the venue, everything seemed to blur together. However, we tried to keep in mind what our officiant had told us before the wedding started—live in the moment. After months of preparation, being able to see everything come together was absolutely breathtaking. From our beautiful venue to the amazing food to the beautiful flowers and the music that kept everyone dancing, everything was perfect. Although we thought that we didn’t want a big wedding, in the end, we were so grateful we were able to share our moment with family and friends.” —from the couple

What advice would you give to engaged LGBTQ+ couples?

If you have a hectic schedule and know you won’t have time to do everything then consider getting an LGBTQ+ friendly wedding planner. We would not have survived without ours. They made everything easy and our wedding day went off without a hitch.