Oklahoma elopement in the Wichita Mountains with enchanting all black attire

Sam + Jenny

Orientation: Lesbian; Lesbian

Pronouns: She/Her; She/Her

Wedding Location: Oklahoma

Sam and Jenny’s magical elopement took place in Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. They wanted to do something nontraditional, which is why they chose to wear black. They describe their look as a “boho/elegant vibe.”

“The day was full of love, laughter and pure joy,” they added. “The landscape was our backdrop and we invited our children to be a part of the day.”

What advice would you give to engaged LGBTQ+ couples?

Be patient and prepare yourselves for one of the best day of your lives!!! Make sure you do all of the little cute wedding things you want to do. It’s your day not anyone else’s. Be honest with what you want as a couple and what your vision is.

Advice for vendors and venues working with LGBTQ+ couples?

Take the time to understand where the LGBTQ+ couple is coming from , their own experiences, our culture and where we come from. There were a few vendors who flat out refused to take us on clients just because we were gay and were not too nice about it. We didn’t take it personal whatsoever. So with much digging and research we found vendors and artists that had prior experience with or are actually LBGTQ owned. Have an open mind and don’t make assumptions.

What challenges did you face as an LGBTQ+ couple planning your wedding?

There were multiple times we had to bring it to people’s attention when looking for venues and photographers that we were a lesbian couple. Even down to our wedding website, wedding decor, Pinterest wedding ideas, etc….Everything is so “heterosexual” and not LGBTQ+ friendly. Every thing we came across was “bride and groom” so we ended up working with a lot of individual people to create custom pretty much every thing, which was perfectly ok with us. It just made it all so much more meaningful.

Did you encounter any pleasant surprises as an LGBTQ+ couple planning your wedding?

The amount of support we had from our friends was absolutely incredible and we had such good luck working with all LGBTQ+ friendly or owned companies. It took some digging to find the right people to work with but in the end it was the ultimate perfect wedding.