Equally Wed: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your LGBTQ+ Wedding

by Kirsten Ott Palladino

By and large, most wedding books in the market are still centered around one bride and one groom. And yet, the advent of full marriage equality in the United States has made a new, polished wedding planning book dedicated to guiding LGBTQ couples both timely and essential. Kirsten Palladino will fill that need with this definitive book to inspire couples everywhere who are seeking a meaningful, personal ceremony and a momentous beginning to legally married life.Equally Wed brings author Palladino's expertise as the founder and editorial director of the world's leading online resource for LGBTQ wedding planning to the page. Palladino walks readers through every step of the notoriously costly and arduous planning process with wisdom and accessibility. From how to incorporate hot trends among LGBTQ couples to advice on how to incorporate children into a ceremony to more serious hurdles like dealing with homophobia among family members, Equally Wed has it all. The author importantly includes an accurate picture of wedding budgets for couples from all backgrounds, and shares her invaluable insider tips for making the most of each vendor; she also addresses fashion advice specific for LGBTQ readers, such as suiting up as a nonbinary nearlywed or attending fittings as a butch lesbian or a transgender woman. And best of all, she does it with the celebratory, joyful approach that all couples deserve. With a beautiful 2-color package, a total absence of heteronormative terms and assumptions, and a wealth of advice on every wedding-related topic imaginable, Equally Wed is set to be the go-to LGBTQ wedding guide just as every couple is finally free to wed.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

268 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

About the author

Author of Equally Wed: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your LGBTQ+ Wedding (Seal Press, Hachette Book Group)

Reviews

[Kirsten Palladino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly the best wedding book ever written. :)

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book in the biz. Only suggestion would be more budget friendly suggestions/hacks and or a budget friendly edition of this book.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book and love that it exists! As a queer bride, it was amazing to feel so seen! I found much of the advice very helpful and loving. However, some of the advice was a little didactic and traditional. A wedding doesn’t NEED anything besides a couple, an officiant and a marriage license. Anything else is icing on the (optional) cake! I wish this book had reminded readers that most wedding traditions are optional and couples should decide which are most important to them. Still, I’d recommend!

[Kirsten Palladino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I *might* be a little biased...

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book with the hope that it would get me ready for my big day. It did just that, but it also gave me anxiety as with any event-planning book. It made me think of things that I haven’t though of, but also made me feel inadequate for not thinking of those things!

I also want to treat this book as a guide, not so much as a “this is the end-all-be-all book for LGBTQ+” - I love the checklists, but I’ve already completed some things earlier than what the book recommends (and I’m glad I did because DJs were recommended to be searched and booked 6 months before and I’m super lucky because our date was the last available for our DJ and we booked him 11 months before the big day).

Overall, I loved this book. It helped me get pumped for the wedding and gave me more to think about (with only a little added stress).

[Michael Dipietro · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent guide to planning an LGBTQ+ wedding! Finally. It's extremely sensitive to the needs of queer people while still giving a thorough overview of wedding traditions to keep, modify or nix.

My one criticism is that in all it covers, Equally Wed skews a bit upper-middle-class in terms of who could afford all the customs, traditions and good ettiquette it describes. I would have loved more about extreme budget DIY weddings, but maybe that's a different book/blog.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was inclusive, and really broke down everything you need to plan your day. I also appreciated the thinking points at the end of each chapter and the timeline at the end. However, it definitely caters to people who are spending a lot of money on a wedding.