Rustic mountain wedding at The Red Barn at Hampshire College

Catherine and Gillian had a rustic, romantic wedding in the mountains at The Red Barn at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

“We wanted the day to feel both peaceful, but also vibrant with touches of dapper romance. We are both sweet and silly people and felt that the surrounding valley mountains, known as the Happy Valley, would be the perfect place to share that joy with our families and friends.”

What advice would you give to engaged LGBTQ+ couples?

Enjoy being engaged and give yourself lots of time to plan the wedding around your life! It can feel crazy sometimes, but making sure you have time to book the right vendors and plan makes the day so much better.

Advice for vendors and venues working with LGBTQ+ couples?

Be thoughtful about the wording you include on your forms (bride and groom vs partner 1 and partner 2 or something else), and ask your clients early on how they want to be addressed.

Who walked down the aisle and with whom? Or who (if anyone) waited at the front?

We walked down together to symbolize the fact that we are giving ourselves to one another.

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

We were lucky in that we ran into very few issues related to our status as LGBTQ+. The main issues we faced were in relation to clothing. Catherine knew immediately she wanted to go to Bindle & Keep because of their proven record with LGBTQ+ clients, but when choosing ties, she tried to use Men’s Wearhouse to get an exact match to the bridespeople dresses. Needless to say, it did not go well, and she ended up using ties.com and their ability to send you swatches to match fabric before purchase.

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

Our photographer was amazing and gave us a great deal, in part because he understood our limited budget issues (we paid for everything ourselves), and also because he wanted to demonstrate support for the LGBTQ+ community.