[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/same-sex-couple-marries-in-the-first-wedding-ever-held-at-the-rhs-chelsea-flower-show\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/same-sex-couple-marries-in-the-first-wedding-ever-held-at-the-rhs-chelsea-flower-show\/","headline":"Same-sex couple marries in the first wedding ever held at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show","name":"Same-sex couple marries in the first wedding ever held at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show","description":"\u201cIt took us 18 years to get engaged,\u201d says Malde, \u201cbut in our minds we\u2019ve always been married to each other. Today we\u2019re making it more official.\u201d\r\n","datePublished":"2023-05-26","dateModified":"2023-05-26","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/marley\/#Person","name":"Marley Madding","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/marley\/","identifier":12421,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e150567506b1f5b751e2885fa5be7446c095593a181345e8ec7cb49e9e437c89?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e150567506b1f5b751e2885fa5be7446c095593a181345e8ec7cb49e9e437c89?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/FwuXUfVWwAElbmF.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/FwuXUfVWwAElbmF.jpg","height":1195,"width":1800},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/same-sex-couple-marries-in-the-first-wedding-ever-held-at-the-rhs-chelsea-flower-show\/","about":["Real LGBTQ+ Weddings"],"wordCount":403,"keywords":["Chelsea Flower Show","flower show","garden wedding","Hindu wedding","same-sex wedding"],"articleBody":"After more than a century of garden shows, the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s annual Chelsea Flower Show hosted its first wedding this week, when award-winning garden designer Manoj Malde married his partner of 33 years, Clive Gillmor, in a garden Malde created. \u201cIsn\u2019t it a glorious idea?\u201d says James Alexander-Sinclair, an RHS judge who introduced the ceremony. \u201cSomebody who actually designs this garden about bringing people together, and then gets married [in] it. It\u2019s just a really nice way to connect the whole thing together.\u201dWhat a way to kick off #RHSChelsea Press Day \ud83c\udf89In a historic first for Chelsea Flower Show, @Manoj_Malde, designer of The RHS and @EasternEye Garden of Unity, and Clive Gillmor got married on the garden this morning! Congratulations Manoj and Clive \ud83d\udc9ehttps:\/\/t.co\/JjbtolrPvb pic.twitter.com\/gcbLd7d4Q4\u2014 The RHS (@The_RHS) May 22, 2023Malde, who is the RHS Ambassador for inclusivity and diversity, and Gillmor wed in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony, surrounded by a variety of spiritually significant plants that Malde incorporated into his design of the Eastern Eye Garden of Unity: Japanese cherry blossoms, cardoon and oregano. The garden also contains Asian fruits and vegetables, celebrating Asian household cooking.One of Malde\u2019s missions in designing the space is to make gardening accessible to people who have been historically excluded from it, noting that \u201cplanting food and highlighting diverse stories helps attract a greater variety of people.\u201d In another Chelsea Flower Show first, the Eastern Eye garden is home to posts with messages in Braille so that blind and visually impaired patrons can enjoy the garden more fully.@housebeautifuluk Here\u2019s everything you missed during Chelsea Flower Show\u2019s Press Day – music, dancing, celebrities, the royal family and even a wedding. And gardens too, of course! #rhschelsea #chelseaflowershow #chelseaflowershow2023 \u266c Yellow Flower Garden – LavistaraFor Malde and Gillmor\u2019s wedding ceremony, pink, orange, red, and green flowers were strung with beads around the center of the garden as mandaps, which are a Hindu tradition. Sitar and flute music played as the couple donned white floral garlands and exchanged their vows in front of family, friends, fellow RHS judges and onlooking flower show attendees. \u201cIt took us 18 years to get engaged,\u201d says Malde, \u201cbut in our minds we\u2019ve always been married to each other. Today we\u2019re making it more official.\u201d Featured image by Charlotte Graham for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Same-sex couple marries in the first wedding ever held at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/same-sex-couple-marries-in-the-first-wedding-ever-held-at-the-rhs-chelsea-flower-show\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]