Kendall and Shannon’s citrus-themed wedding was a vibrant celebration of love, unity and their shared passion for food and travel. Inspired by their mutual love for culinary delights and their zest for life, they embarked on planning a wedding that reflected their deep connection and honored the journey of love and equality.
The wedding theme was more than just aesthetics; it was a reflection of their vibrant personalities and shared interests. Their love for all things citrus not only infused their celebration with bright and cheery hues but also symbolized the freshness and zest they bring into each other’s lives. From lime green to sunny yellow, from pink grapefruit to vibrant orange, every element of their wedding decor radiated the joy and warmth of their love.
Their commitment to inclusivity and acknowledgment of the LGBTQ+ community’s struggles added a poignant layer to their ceremony. Standing before their loved ones, Kendall and Shannon paid tribute to those who paved the way for their right to marry, emphasizing the importance of love and equality in their union.
As the guests gathered, they were greeted by a whimsical display of citrus-themed decor. From floral arrangements bursting with citrus hues to tables adorned with lemons, limes, and clementines, every detail exuded the couple’s infectious energy and love for all things bright and beautiful. Even the seating chart, aptly named “Orange you glad you’re here?”, added a playful touch to the festivities.
The floral arrangements, a testament to Kendall’s mother’s passion for gardening, added a burst of color and elegance to the venue. Flowers adorned every corner, from the ceremony arch to the tables, creating a summery atmosphere despite the September date.
The couple’s thoughtful touches extended beyond decor, infusing every aspect of the celebration with meaning and joy. Their interactive seating chart and family-style meal encouraged guests to connect and share in the love and laughter.
However, it was a twist of fate that truly made their wedding unforgettable. As rain poured down during the ceremony, instead of dampening spirits, it brought everyone closer together. Guests rallied around the couple, turning a potentially solemn moment into a joyous celebration of love and community.
Fashioned in attire that reflected their individual styles, Kendall and Shannon radiated happiness and love. Kendall, in her custom suit adorned with personal touches, stood proudly alongside her wedding party, all donning suits in shades of citrus. Shannon, elegant in her simple yet stunning dress, epitomized grace and beauty.
Their love story, from a chance meeting at a dyke march to two heartfelt proposals, is a testament to the power of love and serendipity. From a secluded beach in Mexico to a surprise engagement party surrounded by loved ones, Kendall and Shannon’s journey to marriage was filled with unforgettable moments of joy and love.
As they danced the night away, surrounded by family and friends, Kendall and Shannon’s wedding was more than just a celebration of their love; it was a testament to the enduring power of love, equality and the journey that brought them together. Their advice to other couples planning their wedding? Celebrate every moment, cherish the journey, and always remember that love is the true centerpiece of any celebration.
We caught up with Kendall and Shannon to learn about their wedding in their own words.
Equally Wed: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
Kendall: Shannon and I love food. It’s one of the things we connect best on: our love of food and travel. I even used to work as a chef. So when we were thinking about a theme for our wedding we wanted something that felt bright and cheery but also that represented us. After looking at a lot of different inspiration photos, we decided on a citrus theme. We loved incorporating all of the citrus colors green for lime, yellow for lemon, pink for grapefruit, orange for tangerines. A citrus theme was the best of both worlds for us because the colors are light and happy, almost giving a mediterranean vibe and the citrus theme connected our love of food. Neither of us are religious so we did not incorporate any religious traditions as part of our day. We did however want to make sure we said something in our ceremony speech to remember and commemorate the queer couples who until recently in the U.S. were not able to marry the person they loved. We wanted to remember and feel gratitude for all of the people who came before us who fought for the right to marry so that we could stand together in front of our family and friends and commit to loving each other for the rest of our lives. Before we met each other Shannon and I had both marched separately, me in San Francisco and Shannon in Miami for gay rights and gay marriage. It was only a few years earlier when I went to the capitol building in San Francisco the morning they announced that gay people could legally get married. We did not think it would be appropriate to have a wedding that did not give recognition to all of the hardship that fell on our community to gain this right.
Let’s talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
We decided to lean into our citrus theme. We love a themed party and wanted all of the elements of our wedding to be citrus themed. We did not DIY any of the decorations but we did do a lot of work and planning to bring all of the citrus elements together in a way that did not feel too cheesy. We asked our florists to only choose flowers that matched citrus colors and we added little tangerines to our arch in the ceremony. On the tables we placed lemons, limes, clementines and grapefruits interspersed among the flowers. Our seating chart was even titled “Orange you glad you’re here?” Each guest could find their seat by looking at rows of clementines that had a little green paper leaf with their name and seat number written on it. (Jen Krause Paper Co did all of our signage- Thanks Jen!). When deciding our signature cocktails we thought it would be fun to stick with cocktails made with citrus. We had a margarita (lime juice), a Meyer lemon and rosemary cocktail with gin, and a nonalcoholic spritzer made with grapefruit juice, thyme syrup and soda water as our signature drinks. Even on all of our menus, signs, and table numbers we choose to add delicate hints of citrus.
What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
Our floral team was a huge part of our theme coming together. They knocked it out of the park with our colors and made it feel super summery and bright even though our wedding was in September. Kendall’s mom is super into gardening and plants and the flowers were very important to her so she very generously covered way more florals than we ever imagined having. There were flowers everywhere. Our arch was huge, flowers on every table, on the seating chart, around the ceremony seating, at the bars etc. etc. They were beautiful.
Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
Because nearly 90% of our wedding guests were from out of town, and very few people knew each other, we really wanted to do things that would get people talking to each other, so we chose to do a family style meal, and a bit of an interactive seating chart. But what we could not have planned was that it ended up POURING for about half of our ceremony. Everyone got soaking wet, and our strings had to stop playing which meant Shannon would have to walk down the aisle in silence. Our guests upon realizing this began to sing for us to fill in the silence but that quickly turned to cheering as Shannon walked down the aisle soaking wet from head to toe. The rain ended up being this great equalizer and gave everyone something to talk about with each other which was so fun. It took away an air of seriousness or shyness that most people feel at a wedding with a bunch of strangers and it ended up just being an amazing party. The rain helped to create community in a way we never could have planned for on our own. Another integral part of the wedding being a success (at least to us) was everyone dancing and the band got everyone on the dance floor and interacted with the crowd a ton. We all had a blast.
Let’s talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
We both wanted the traditional experience of going to look for wedding outfits in store with family/friends, so that’s what we did. Kendall: I went suit shopping many times because I really wanted to make sure my suit fit me perfectly as a small woman. I usually don’t fit in most suits as they are tailored for men and I have small shoulders so it was important to me that my suit be custom. The most special time I had going suit shopping was with my dad when he visited Austin. We had so much fun trying on different suits and ties together and he was so supportive of me wanting to wear a suit. He even took me out for oysters afterwards to celebrate!I ended up getting a custom suit from Indochino which was great! They worked with me on so many fun details- my shirt cuffs had me and Shannon’s initials on them, and on the inside of my jacket they embroidered our wedding date and the first nickname that Shannon and I ever called each other: Trouble. When we met we always used to call each other that because we knew that if it didn’t work out between us we would both be left so heartbroken. It felt scary being so in love with someone we just met, so we called each other Trouble. As for my wedding party I really wanted them all to wear suits even though 4 out of the 5 of them were women who probably would have worn dresses to my wedding if they weren’t in my party. I was nervous to ask them to wear suits but they were all so supportive and were actually super excited to get to wear suits instead of dresses for once. We all wore dark blue, my suit being a little lighter and brighter than my party’s. Shannon: I went dress shopping with my mom and sister in California and tried on so many dresses. There was one that was so pretty but I refused to try it on because it was just over budget. But my family convinced me to try it on anyway, telling me they would each give me $100 so that the dress was still in my budget. The second I stepped into it (it wasn’t even fully on or zipped yet) I knew it was the one that I wanted. When I got back to Austin I booked an appointment with my seamstress (Olga European Fashion) and brought a few close friends so they could see the dress and help make bustle/accessory decisions which felt like a party. My whole outfit ended up being very simple which is exactly what I wanted. The only jewelry I wore were a pair of long dangly earrings and my mother-in-laws tennis bracelet as my something borrowed (and of course my wedding rings!).I originally wanted my whole wedding party in pink, and Kendall said absolutely not because she did not want to have a pink and blue colored wedding!! So my party ended up in various shades of citrus which I think turned out soooo much prettier and fun than all pink. They wore shades of pinks, yellows and oranges.
How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
Kendall: Shannon and I met for the first time at Dyke March during Pride in San Francisco. If you’ve ever been to Dyke March in SF you know its a sea of lesbians that covers all of Dolores Park. I’d already been there for a few hours when Shannon showed up and joined the group I had been hanging out with. I remember immediately thinking she was very attractive. Luckily she was talking to one of my closest friends, so I went to join the conversation. To this day, I will always remember the first time we locked eyes. We both had the biggest goofiest smiles on our face and I remember thinking there was an immediate connection. If I am being really honest (despite how corny it sounds) I remember the whole world and all of the sounds of Dyke March were tuned out when I saw her for the first time and there was a soft warm glow surrounding her. I’d never believed in love at first sight until that moment. I truly thought the concept had been made up to sell books and movies but I have never in my life felt so instantly connected to another person. After talking for a bit, I exited the conversation and Shannon proceeded to ask my friend Christabel if I was single. Two minutes later when Christabel was alone again I asked her if she knew what Shannon’s deal was. We ended up spending the entire day together partying into the late hours of the night. Shannon even told her sister that day that she was going to marry me. I soon realized how right my instincts had been in that first moment, Shannon and I had so much in common. We both grew up on the east coast in NJ and NY, have a deep love of food, and travel is one of our biggest passions in life. A year later we even ended up traveling the world together for a year. We had two proposals:Shannon: Kendall proposed to me on a very secluded beach in Mexico when we were working remotely just north of Puerto Vallarta summer of 2021. The proposal was perfect. Kendall told me she was taking me on a date on Friday after work. First we went and got appetizers and drinks at a cute local restaurant in the town we were staying. Then we took a taxi north to a surprise location. When we got close I realized Kendall was taking me to a remote beach that we had visited and loved a few weeks prior, which I was thrilled about because I thought we’d be able to watch the sunset and swim a bit. But when we got there I was shocked because there was a beautiful picnic laid out with a little table, blankets, pillows, my favorite flowers, twinkle lights and wine. I was SHOCKED. Truly I had no idea what was coming because we had gone engagement ring shopping a few weeks prior and when I told Kendall she had to propose within a year of looking at rings she acted as if that was very short, so I did not think we were getting engaged anytime soon!! Even when she got down on one knee I didn’t think she would have a ring because we had been out of the country for weeks at that point. When she pulled the ring out of her pocket I screamed “where did you get that?!” I was so in shock I just kept asking her “Really? We’re really getting married?!” Once I screamed yes 100 times we hugged and kissed and cried. Then we sat down on the blanket for the picnic, Kendall pulled out my second surprise which was a little notebook that she had been keeping for the last year and writing all the reasons she loved me in it. This was so meaningful and sweet, especially because Kendall hates to write, and we spend allllll of our time together so I do not know how she did this so surreptitiously. We had the best night on the beach reading her notebook, eating snacks, drinking wine, watching the sunset and swimming in the ocean (one of my favorite things to do in the world). On the way home from the beach she said she had one more surprise: that we were going to a resort the next day nearby to spend the weekend celebrating and relaxing! It was one of my favorite weekends we’ve ever had together. A few weeks later, when we got back to Austin my sister came to visit us. She asked for that Saturday to just be me and her to have some sister time. Little did I know, Kendall had asked her to get me out of the house because she was planning a surprise engagement party with our closest family and friends. When my sister and I got back from shopping that afternoon I opened the door to our house that was filled with friends and family who had flown in from all over the US to celebrate us that weekend! I was so surprised all over again and could not believe what an amazing job Kendall had done planning a surprise party while we were in Mexico together. It was so much fun for all of our loved ones to get to know each other more and be all in one place at one time which is so rare!Kendall: Three months after I proposed to Shannon, she made plans for us to get a couples massage and a manicure at a local spa, followed by dinner out at a restaurant. Shannon’s always planning cute dates for us so I didn’t think our spa date was out of the norm. On our way to dinner, Shannon told me she forgot her coat and would like to quickly go back to the house to pick it up. We arrived at the house, and she ran in to grab her coat and I waited in the car. Once inside the house, she called me on my cell saying that she realized she messed up the time of our dinner reservation and we had 30 minutes before we needed to arrive at the restaurant. At this point, I started to get suspicious that she was proposing. Shannon is always very on time and has never messed up the time for a reservation in our entire relationship. I walked in the house and it was decorated in rose petals, candles were everywhere and our wedding song “You are the best thing” by Ray LaMontagne was playing on our record player. Shannon was waiting for me down on one knee. I could not figure out how she had gotten the house decorated because when we’d left the house a few hours before it was definitely not covered in rose petals. She had had one of her close friends decorate our house while we were out, purchase our wedding song album and turn it on, and grab a cute cheese board for us to eat afterwards. It was all very romantic! The following day she took us for a weekend trip to Canyon Lake to relax and celebrate.
What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
We were both really excited for the ceremony, and just having the opportunity to celebrate our love with so many people. There aren’t really any other traditions built into American society that celebrate love or people’s relationships besides weddings and anniversary parties when you get older. But we consider our relationship one of our proudest accomplishments and the most important thing in our lives so getting to celebrate our love with others was so special. We also did a private last dance that was sooo meaningful – highly recommend!
Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?
There are three things: 1) When you’re planning a wedding, don’t forget to plan for your marriage too. Your wedding is important but its short, marriage is forever. We did non-religious premarital counseling and even though we didn’t feel like anything was wrong in our relationship it helped our communication sooooo much! Its easy to get caught up in the details of wedding planning, but remember the only thing that HAS to happen that day is that you get married, because that’s the purpose of the whole celebration. 2) Read the book The Love Prescription by Dr. Julie and John Gottman. It’s super short, but an amazing book to bring you closer to your partner and give you tools to connect when things get hard. We read it while engaged and it changed our entire relationship for the better. 3) Celebrate EVERYTHING while planning the wedding. Go get drinks after touring your first wedding venue, make looking at wedding bands a date night, plan something special when you do your hair and makeup trial. The wedding is only one day, but you can celebrate all year while you plan the wedding and it will make an experience that can be very stressful more enjoyable. 
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FEATURED VENDORS AND CREATIVE PARTNERS
Wedding Planning & Design: Truly Together Event Co.
Photographer: Riley Glenn Photography
Venue: The Waters Point
Catering: Austin Catering
Hair & Makeup: Lux Beauty & Bridal
Florist: Remi + Gold
Ceremony Musician: Sienna String Quartet
Videography: Cloud Craft Studios
Cake: Michelle’s Patisserie
Officiant: Central Ceremonies
Draping: Monarch Event Rentals
Stationary: Jen Krause Paper Co
Transportation: CTA Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation
Elevated Rentals: Moon Tower Rentals
Place Settings & Flatware: Premiere Events
