These LGBTQ+ Couples’ Wedding Day Outfits Are Out-Of-The-Box Beautiful

Wedding planning looks different for everyone — you might elope, host an intimate backyard ceremony, or throw a reception abroad. But regardless of how you choose to celebrate the occasion, you’ll go through the process of picking out what to wear, which is time-consuming and overwhelming, even more so if your style doesn’t fall into traditional gender norms. For those who want to bypass heteronormative ways of dressing, there are ways to find a look that feels uniquely you. To that end, TZR asked LGBTQ+ couples to share their wedding outfit ideas, ahead, which will certainly help to inspire your own ensemble for the big day.

In speaking with the couples, it’s clear that the bridal fashion industry needs to offer more diverse styling options for people who want to eschew fluffy white dresses or traditional, masculine-feeling suits. (And perhaps, get rid of gender-based fashion labeling altogether.) “It would be nice to see the bridal industry evolve a bit more for people who might not identify as simply feminine or masculine,” says Los Angeles-based artist Wallace May to TZR. “For people like me, who fall right in the middle of that, it can be more of a challenge to find something that I feel comfortable and confident wearing.” May, who eloped with partner Gabrielle Korn in November 2021, wound up selecting a lace button-down shirt, paired with white pants and dark loafers, for their wedding day.

Fashion aside, a few couples who TZR interviewed for this story did acknowledge that there have been small advances in the wedding industry, as a whole, to make the LGBTQ+ communities feel represented. For one, LGBTQ+ couples are appearing more frequently in bridal magazine spreads, on event venues’ pages, and on wedding photographers’ websites. “We specifically chose our photographer, officiant, and florist because of the diversity on their Instagram pages,” says Kaylee Rote, a natural wine consultant. “We knew that reaching out to them would be a breeze because of the types of couples they have worked with in the past.”

“We do see a lot of change since we got married [in 2008], but there is a long way to go,” adds Realtor Ellen Parker-Krantz. “Our friends were featured in Brides magazine when they got married in 2017, so some of the industry is changing for the better. We are now starting to see same-sex wedding cards and [same-sex] couples in almost every television show. My hope is that one day, everyone will be able to love who they love with no judgment. I would love to see all types of marriages celebrated and recognized by all industries.”

For those who are in the beginning or middle stages of planning your wedding and need major outfit inspo, scroll ahead to see the different ensembles couples wore on their big day. Along the way, they also share their touching proposals and meet-cute anecdotes that make their wedding day outfits all the more heartwarming.

Wallace May & Gabrielle Korn

Who popped the question and how did the proposal happen?

WM: Gabrielle! It was New Year’s Eve 2019 (before the wrath of 2020 began) and we had gone out to a fancy dinner. While we were sitting at the table I asked Gabrielle if she had any New Year's resolutions. She replied that she didn’t know yet. When we got back home, I took Venus (our big squishy pit bull) out for a walk and when I came back in, Gabrielle was sitting on the sofa and said ‘I’m ready to tell you my New Year’s resolution,’ and pulled the ring from underneath the couch cushion.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

GK: For our elopement, we had an emergency trip to Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, like one week before, and just grabbed the first white things we found. Because it was [November 2021] there were only three or four white dresses in the whole store. I hate wedding dresses and didn’t want to go to a bridal shop. I just wanted a dress that happened to be white. The one I ended up getting, which was Proenza [Schouler], was an immediate OH! moment. I put it on and Wallace just started nodding enthusiastically.

The tailor at Saks had to bring it in on the shoulders, so that made me a little anxious because there was a chance that it wouldn’t be ready in time. Also, there was a stain on it that they promised they could get out — they didn’t, but at that point I didn’t have any options left. The dress was pretty inexpensive for a wedding dress, so on the way home I blew a bunch of money buying gold Tibi boots online, and had them sent straight to my parents’ house in New York. I didn’t even try on the whole outfit until the day we got married [at House Of Collections in Williamsburg, Brooklyn].

WM: I always imagined wearing lace, but I also knew I didn’t want to be in a dress. I had gone online and searched, but kept coming up short until I found this beautiful lace button-down top from 3.1 Phillip Lim, which I wore with a pair of white Brunello Cucinelli pants that I bought on our emergency trip to Saks. I had to order two of the same tops and send one to NYC in case it didn’t arrive in time to our home in LA. It was definitely a risk since I didn’t have a backup if the shirt didn’t fit. It must have been meant to be because when the shirt arrived, it was perfect.

How can the bridal fashion industry become more inclusive?

GK: Formal wear, in general, is really gendered. It’s like, the fancier the clothing is, the more extremely feminine or extremely masculine it gets. I’d like there to be more innovation in fashion around luxury event wear that doesn’t feel like you have to be in drag. But we pretty much avoided all the traditional wedding industrial complex experiences, so I think we spared ourselves from really feeling the full impact of how heteronormative it is.

Taylor Donohue & Taylor Strecker

How did you two meet?

TS: I was shooting a cooking video for my friend’s restaurant (Ed’s Lobster Bar in New York City) and Taylor Donohue was the videographer. I didn’t like her at first because she was tall, thin, blonde, and her worst offense was being named Taylor! She was the younger, hotter version of me! But she was an incredible videographer, so I hired her to shoot for my blog a week after meeting her.

We were friends first, she held my hand platonically through my separation, and then one day I suggested we kiss! I had NEVER kissed a woman before, I had identified as straight my entire life, but I figured I was going through some sort of divorcee heteronormative rebellion. And, she rejected me! She said that our friendship was important to her and that she historically lost interest in hookups pretty quickly — plus, she said that I was straight. Shortly after, however, she confessed that she had had a crush on me the first day that we met and that she changed her mind on the whole kiss thing . . . seven years later we are married!

When did you get married and where was your wedding?

TS: We got married on Aug. 14, 2021 at my parents’ house in Cohasset, MA. We picked their house because we wanted to have a small intimate wedding — only 25 guests. My parents live right on the water and it’s magical. We wanted to share one of our favorite places in the world with our nearest and dearest.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

TD: Originally I was inspired by Blake Lively in A Simple Favor and thought I wanted to wear a chic, white, Ralph Lauren tailored suit. One day, during the time when I was looking for something to wear, I was sitting with my sister’s neighbors and after a few cocktails, her neighbor Jen insisted that I try on the silk slip dress that she wore for her wedding in Tulum. It inspired me to go in a more feminine direction, so I started looking for simple, elegant dresses. I ended up buying three. By the morning of the wedding I had narrowed it down to two dresses. My older sister, who married us, preferred the dress with the mock neck because she said it reminded her of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, so that’s what I went with!

TS: This was my second wedding and I did the whole Monique Lhuillier-tulle-princess vibe the first time around, so I defaulted to TD to pick her look first to set the tone. She ended up going with a super simple dress from BHLDN. We wanted it to feel like an elevated dinner party at my parent’s house [where we got married]. Simple, for me, was a challenge. I love fashion and over-the-top drama (your girl loves a cape), so finding something simple yet chic was more difficult than I had expected. I was ready to throw down some serious coin for a designer look, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I decided to wear a $236 jumpsuit from ASOS on my wedding day. I actually bought it for the rehearsal dinner, but it fit like a glove and it had a dramatic neckline. The jumpsuit anchored [that] casual feel my wife and I were going for.

Michael Hartung & Jason Gotay

Who popped the question and how did the proposal happen?

JG: We’d been together for maybe six years when we started to have conversations about what the next steps would be. I have a couple years on Michael, and I was feeling ready to take that next step [to get married], and so I said to him, ‘If and when you’re ever ready for that, know that I see that for us.’ I think it was maybe a year or so after [this conversation that], we were in the midst of the pandemic.

We’ve heard it a ton, coming out of this time, that the pandemic kind of made or broke a lot of couples. For us, we really thrived. We were really grateful for each other during that time and I think it brought us even closer together. It felt right. Michael proposed when we were away Upstate on a little weekend escape. He asked [while we were] in bed, over breakfast, and it was really beautiful and lovely. We got married at The Kester Homestead in October 2021.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

JG: I had been working with stylist Stephanie Tricola, who was dressing me for events in the city. [Editor’s note: Gotay is an actor.] She’s fantastic and was totally on board to help Michael and I with our wedding looks. She got the ball rolling on reaching out to designers and seeing who would be interested in working with us. Hugo Boss had been sending me looks for red carpets and events last year, so they were really gracious and so helpful in collaborating with us. We were able to go to their store for a couple of different, private sessions to try some things on and then midway through our brainstorming process, I think I had the idea: ‘what if we went with crisp, white suits?’ To kind of do a play on the traditional bridal look, maybe instead of going clean white, we could play with something a little bit less severe. Maybe a cream or an off-white, something that was a little warmer for [a fall wedding].

MH: We decided, too, on wearing the same suits but I went with a bow tie. Jason went with a traditional skinny tie. And then, we were looking for what shoes would be appropriate. We loved the idea of bringing in more contemporary, hip, modern shoes into our outfits. We looked around a lot and we landed on Dr. Martens dress shoes that were gorgeous and fun.

From the beginning, too, we knew we wanted multiple looks on our wedding day, since we both love fashion and dressing up. Boss had these gorgeous sweaters, so for cocktail hour, we took off our ties, and moving into the reception, we changed into the white sweaters [to wear] under the suits. I went with a turtleneck and Jason had a crewneck sweater. Then, we had our dance floor looks, which was fun. I knew I wanted to wear a skirt at some point in the night, just to sort of be a part of this queer wedding that we’re having.

I’ve always loved dressing up and challenging the gender norms of what it means to dress up as a man and as a gay man. To have a skirt felt like a really fun part of that. We found this really lovely, white tulle skirt that was so bridal. We both got T-shirts made that said, ‘Groom’ on the front and ‘Just Married’ on the back. Jason had these high-waisted pants that he wore with his top, and we put little, sparkly epaulettes on his T-shirt. We both wore one of my grandma’s earrings. I wore my grandma’s necklace for that part, and we both had these awesome sunglasses.

How can the bridal fashion industry become more inclusive?

JG: We weren’t up against too many roadblocks, but we were also in an immense position of privilege. I had a stylist who knew a lot of people. She was able to take us around SoHo and shop for us and give us different options, and that privilege isn’t given to a lot of queer couples who are doing this on their own.

MH: I want to also add, I think specifically in the LGBTQ+ community, male-identifying people come in all different shapes and sizes. It is very clear that when you’re shopping for a [mens] suit, and specifically your wedding day suit, that fitting into something like that means fitting into a sector of the fashion industry that is very specific to men, who are much bigger than I am. I’ve gotten used to this in my life, but it’s a real shame that I can’t go into a store, people my size [or any size outside the prescribed norm] can’t go into a store, and feel seen in those spaces and feel taken care of without all the extra care, money, and time.

Claribel Jimenez-Feliz & Juani Feliz

How did you two meet?

CJF: We met in May of 2007 when we were casually introduced by Juani’s older sister, who was a friend of mine in college. At the time, we were both in serious relationships and never imagined that we’d end up dating five years later. In January of 2012, we crossed paths again, and dove deeper into getting to know each other. One great conversation led to the next, and we found ourselves in a long-distance relationship (between Boston and New York) that spanned four years, before we moved in together in 2016.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

JF: I reluctantly went to a sample sale at RK Bridal with my two best friends. It was my first time trying on wedding dresses, and I doubted that I’d be able to find one right away. I was also thinking of going the jumpsuit/pantsuit route instead of a gown. Four dresses in, I found myself standing in the dress I’d get married in. I couldn’t stop staring at myself in the mirror, it took my mind some time to catch up with what I was feeling. I snapped out of it when the RK bridal assistant said, “you don’t want to take it off do you?” and I softly replied, “no.” That’s when I knew. I couldn’t unsee myself in that dress, and no other dress I tried on afterwards made me feel the same way.

CJF: I had the most amazing experience at one of Kleinfeld’s Martina Liana trunk shows, where I met Martina and “said yes to the dress.” Unlike Juani, I had done extensive research and had a print out of all of the dresses and styles I gravitated towards. Even so, I didn’t expect to feel what I did with the first dress I tried on …. a rush of emotions. It was just so beautiful [that] I could not stop staring at myself in the mirror. I could not believe that I had found “the one” already, but after trying on a few more dresses, no other compared so I tried it back on and knew I had to say yes!

How did you feel when you first saw each other in your looks?

CJF: For the first look, the photographer positioned us back to back on the stage where we would be saying our I do’s. As we waited for the cue from our photographer, we were both nervous, excited and in disbelief that the moment had finally come. The past 10 years of our relationship flashed before our eyes — it was a rush of emotions. We cried and held each other, both thinking “wow she looks even more beautiful than I imagined.”

Kaylee & Suz Rote

How did you two meet?

KR: We met here in Nashville at an event called QDP. It stands for Queer Dance Party and is a monthly event that a few of our friends started. Every year they host a prom event, like for those of us that didn’t get to attend prom like we might have wanted to in high school.

When did you get married and where was your wedding?

KR: We got married in New York City on Oct. 20, 2018. We love New York so much and can always feel ourselves there! We snuck up to a rooftop in Dumbo and did the ceremony there with the skyline in the background. We hired our officiant, photographer, and florist from Las Vegas and they flew in to perform the ceremony. The gals now own a wedding chapel [in Las Vegas] called Sure Thing Wedding Chapel and specialize in elopements.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

KR: We both have a pretty strong sense of our personal styles, so going into finding our looks, we knew exactly what we wanted. Suz knew she wanted a fitted suit in a specific shade of blue. Indochino was the perfect choice because they fit you right there in the store and have so many swatches of colors to choose from. They also have all of the suit styles there to try on. Nashville was very lucky to have the store locally.

I had seen a yellow Sarah Seven dress online and knew that was the fit. We have a local shop here that is called LVD Bridal. It is sort of a consignment shop for designer dresses. They asked what type of dress I was looking for in our initial contact and about a week later, called to tell me they had received a sample in my size to the shop. I didn’t have time to wait because they were unable to hold the dress long enough for any of my family to come into town. So I went to the shop by myself and tried on two dresses. The associate Ila, who now owns her own bridal shop, was so amazing and really made it feel like I was with family and so special! I took the dress to my alterations shop that afternoon!

Ellen & Paula Parker-Krantz

Who popped the question and how did the proposal happen?

EPK: I popped the question [to Paula]. When I did, we were not able to legally get married anywhere, but we both wanted to be engaged anyways. I knew exactly what she wanted in terms of a ring because we had talked about what we each liked. Before the engagement, we wore matching sapphire and diamond stacked bands for a long time and continue to wear them. When I knew I was going to propose, I knew she wanted a very simple and elegant emerald cut diamond with smaller emerald cuts on each side.

I made reservations at our favorite restaurant and was going to take her out and propose there, but she was exhausted when she got home from work and asked if we could have dinner another night. That ring was burning a hole in my pocket and I could not wait any longer. We got in our pajamas and sat on the sofa with our four dogs, which was her favorite thing to do anyway, so it made sense that I would ask her there. I popped the question and presented her with a stunning emerald cut diamond engagement ring, exactly what she always wanted. I think she almost had a heart attack, she was so stunned.

When did you get married and where was your wedding?

EPK: We got married on Sept. 5, 2008 at Point Dume in Malibu because it is a breathtaking location and easily accessible. We wanted a casual, beach vibe and got married in California because that’s where we had the most support and we were ‘legal.’ We planned the whole wedding in a month because we wanted to make sure we got married when we had the opportunity.

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

EPK: We are both shopping fanatics and went to NY, LA, and Boston in search of the perfect beach vibe dresses. We didn’t want to look like twins, but we wanted to complement each other. We both are extremely picky, so we went with each other [to shop]. Paula got her dress and layering pieces at Les Habitudes on Robertson in LA. It was a silk A-line, cut on the bias with a fabulous lace long jacket. My dress was a very similar look from designer Krista Larson, it was a very flowy silk taffeta number. We both wore Indian diamond jewelry, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets because we wanted an eclectic casual vibe. I wore gold Lanvin slippers and Paula wore Jimmy Choo spiked heels, but during the wedding we were both barefoot on the beach.

Allison McNamara & Cassondra (Cass) Kaeding

Who popped the question and how did the proposal happen?

AM: Cass proposed to me and I had no idea, it was very funny. We were in Italy with friends and for the first few days of our trip, Cass was being really weird, like she wasn’t getting into the water (because she had the ring in her backpack) and [Italy] is one of our favorite places, so I thought that was strange. We did a few days in Positano, then we get to Capri for a beautiful boat day that Cass had planned. I was stung by a jellyfish, I swam into it, but I wasn’t that phased by it.

When we get to [the restaurant for lunch] at Conca del Sogno, my friends convinced me to change into a nice outfit — I was like, ‘No, why? Who cares?’ — and our friend, who never wants to takes pictures, was like, ‘Oh Allison, let’s take a photo down there, I’ll take a picture of you and Cass.” And I said, ‘I actually would prefer one of myself.’ I had no idea what was happening. So I got my solo photos first and then we took a photo together and that’s when Cass popped the question. We got engaged August 2019 and in March 2020, that’s when we started thinking about planning [our wedding].

What was the process like in searching for your wedding day outfit?

AM: I always wanted multiple outfits because I love fashion. I knew I wanted something a little bit more dramatic and flowy and beachy for the ceremony. And then I also knew I wanted to be comfortable and have mobility for the rest of the night because having fun is the biggest priority. I worked with this amazing designer Cortana on an ethically sourced silk dress. It’s so amazing that I want to dye it and wear it again, which I also thought was important. [My dress was] not this precious thing that I’m going to zip away and never see again. For my second look, I wore a two-piece, like a skirt and this very sheer tie-front top that wasn’t supposed to go with it. The pieces were from BHLDN and I love how the result came out.

CK: Since Allison and I decided to do a destination wedding in Tulum, I wanted to find the perfect outfit for a beach/jungle wedding. My first thought was a structured blazer or jacket with ankle-length tailored pants in a beige/nude color. [Then], I was watching the [2021] Met Gala red carpet and saw Fear of God designer Jerry Lorenzo in exactly what I had wanted. I knew [that look] was the one. The designer’s wife happens to be a client of mine, so she connected me with someone at Fear of God and I reached out to the brand, hoping it would be in stock and also in my size. [Editor’s note: Kaeding is a Los Angeles-based hair colorist.]

AM: I knew Cass was going to wear suiting of some type. She kept telling me: ‘It’s so crazy, you’re never going to guess what I’m wearing. You’re never going to guess.’ And then I saw it and I’m like, ‘What do you mean? This is so you.’ She looked amazing ... and she wore [these] Croc-looking shoes, which was a vibe.

How can the bridal fashion industry become more inclusive?

AM: I do think that there’s a lot of room to improve in the fashion world, just on the outfit options presented to women or women-identifying people, on their wedding day. It shouldn’t have to always be a dress. The options for people like Cass, who don’t necessarily want to dress in menswear, but who also don’t want an Ann Taylor-darted blazer, the looks are very limited for that at all the bridal salons. Even for jumpsuits, they’re so fitted and not that cool at [your traditional] bridal salons.