A Wedding That Was Inspired by Adventure and Intention

Meg and Abby cleverly infused details that represented their identities and values throughout their San Diego queer wedding.

In order to bring their travel-themed wedding vision to life, Meg and Abby landed on San Diego’s Japanese Friendship Garden, located in historic Balboa Park. “We selected [the Japanese Friendship Garden] not only because it’s one of the most beautiful spaces in the city, but also because it was important to us to support a non-profit organization rather than a venue that exists solely to boost the wedding industry.” This selection was the first of many that put the couple’s core values into action for a day filled with intentional choices.

THE CEREMONY

The couple kicked off what would become a night of dancing with a dance down the aisle as their procession. “Being queer and not subscribing to many traditions in our everyday lives, it was important that our wedding day followed suit,” expressed Abby and Meg. The couple designed their own wedding ceremony, which was officiated by a close friend, taking a moment at the beginning to recite Mouthful of Forevers written by queer poet Clementine von Radics, taking a moment to acknowledge their community. “Being queer, our chosen family is extremely important to us, and it was a pretty emotional moment to look out and see our community rallying around and smiling back at us.”

THE RECEPTION

Minimalist greenery runners lined farmhouse tables that were set with vintage stoneware and colorful mismatched goblets. With their wedding falling during Pride month, Abby and Meg used the time at the beginning of their reception to skip the traditional toasts and instead deliver a queer history lesson, highlighting the significance of getting married during an anniversary month of the Stonewall riots.

Their love of travel was well-documented in the details: vintage suitcases and globes sprinkled throughout, table numbers representing countries, and old postcards for guests to write wished adventures and drop into an antique mailbox. Guests sipped from camp mugs designed with a custom logo that doubled as favors, a sustainably chic choice. “Both of us feel pretty strongly about environmental issues, and the bar was supposed to have disposable cups, so having the camp mugs was our way of reducing the environmental impact.”

The newlyweds were all for nixing traditions, including the cake cutting ceremony. In fact, Meg and Abby skipped having a cake altogether and offered a dessert bar spread with donuts, churros, chocolate covered strawberries and many other delicacies.

“Because having a vibrant celebration was our main priority for the day, this was a better option so we didn’t have to halt the flow with a cake cutting, and guests could set their own pace and stay out on the dance floor as long as they wanted,” Abby and Meg explained.

And dance they did. Meg and Abby hired rockabilly band The Stilettos to perform at the reception. The couple had seen the group perform at a local speakeasy shortly after getting engaged and wanted to share the band’s energetic presence with their guests throughout the night.