How To Find LGBTQ Friendly Wedding Venues: The Best Tips & Tricks!

Simple, yet sometimes trying, question… How To Find LGBTQ Friendly Wedding Venues? SO many couples who are starting their wedding planning journey struggle with this, so we’re here to help! As an LGBTQ+ couple ourselves, we know what it’s like to navigate the wedding world… being in the community, we’ve heard the stories (and have some of our own).

It’s the sad truth that not everyone is on the inclusive train yet, but have no fear, there are more good than bad vendors out there. We are seeing more and more people in the wedding biz show their love for everyone and start adding inclusive bits and pieces to their biz…. we love love love this so much! 🙂 Sometimes it just takes a little bit of digging to find them!!

In this blog, we’re going to chat all things LGBTQ Friendly wedding venues and how to tell if they’re inclusive or not. We’re going to deep dive into how to screen their websites and social medias, how to check their language to see if it is truly inclusive or if it’s too outdated for you to even bother with ’em, looking for inclusivity statements, proofing contact forms and what is a green flag or red one, if they’re certified or not (YES this is a thing!), everything down to the getting ready suits, and finally, an email template if it comes down to that!

We did the hard work for you… what else are we here for?!! 😉 We got your back, always! These are our best tips when looking for LGBTQ+ wedding vendors.

Why does inclusivity matter?

You want vendors for your wedding that accept you and your lover for everything you are, everything you love, everything you stand for! Why wouldn’t you want to hire people who will be in your corner rather than someone who’s just in the wedding biz game for a quick buck? We truly believe if you look hard enough, you’ll find exactly what you’re on the search for 🙂 This just happens to be inclusive wedding vendors… no big deal, hahaha!

Our one big piece of advice, DON’T GIVE UP! This search can be tiring and annoying and down right annoying – we get it! We have been right in your shoes! But don’t give up and don’t be afraid to ask for help or suggestions along the way! There are always a million connections hidden beneath one wedding vendor, we know everyone!

Okay… maybe not everyone, but people in this business are often fullll of fantastic advice and other names of people within this community to help you build you day just how you want it… with people who are genuinely happy to be celebrating your love! That sounds like the ideal situation to us 🙂

Check their website and social media images!

This is your easiest option for How To Find LGBTQ Friendly Wedding Venues right here!! In this day and age of everything’s on the internet, it has quite literally never been easier to do a quick check, quick scan, quick look at a businesses social media page – and their images – to see if they’re inclusive! While looking through their socials, ask yourself: do you see representation of yourself in these photos? If so… things are looking bright! There’s no excuse for brands to not showcase LGBTQ+ couples on their social media if they truly are inclusive… keep this in mind!

Check for inclusive language!

Another giveaway! What does inclusive language look like? Long gone are the days of “his” and “hers”… to be well rounded wedding venue these days, we need to keep the inclusivity at a high and that means staying neutral when addressing all future clients! This looks like “honey” and “baby” and “lover” instead of husband and wife… don’t those sound cuter anyways?! We think so!

Inclusive language isn’t just about “whats right”… because it’s been abouttttt time its been looked at a business necessity, but it also just make your clients feel safer! How are clients supposed to be able to tell you’re inclusive and happy to help them get married if you don’t advertise you do so?! WORDING IS ADVERTISEMENT. You heard it here first, your wording tells just as much about you and your brand or company as any good advertisement would! Be inclusive, get more business – it is literally that simple! And come on…. it just makes you a kinder, more accepting human, no? 😉

Do they have an inclusivity statement?

Per Google’s definition, “A diversity and inclusion statement demonstrates a company’s commitment to building an inclusive, varied workplace welcoming to people of all backgrounds. Much like a mission and values statement, the diversity and inclusion statement is, ideally, more than just a marketing exercise.” We like it!!

Heres ours as an example for y’all:

We believe in 3 simple words: love is love. We know what it’s like to be rejected by people who don’t believe in those 3 words (even during our own wedding planning). So our mission is to make you feel understood – to make you realize that your story is worthwhile and that you are a part of a community! We value conversations about overcoming adversity and we can’t wait to hear your story, because every love story is beautiful!”

You can find it on our contact page – here! And while you’re there… stay awhile 🙂 If you’re reading this blog because you’re just starting your wedding planning journey, reach out to us if you’re looking for a friendly pair of LGBTQ+ speciality photographers hahaha! If you already have your photographer planned, check out our LGBTQ blog section for more wedding tips and even more LGBTQ+ content! We’d love to have ya 🙂

What do their contact forms look like?

A contact form should ask alllll the important questions… When are you getting married? Where did you meet? Where is your elopement venue? Your names AND pronouns!! It’s always such a satisfying thing to see wedding business owners add this to their contact forms; it shows they truly care! It’s such a small gesture, but it MATTERS! Your pronouns matter, people. Don’t forget that. A wedding business who cares and wants to refer to you correctly, will have a pronouns section on their contact form.

Pronouns are no over-site… if it important to you, it should be just as damn important to your vendor! Don’t sell yourself short, we won’t let you! 🙂

Check if they are certified!

Equally Wed Pro has an amazinggggg course that we cannot praise enough that literally CERTIFIES businesses in being as inclusively educated as possible. How stinking sweet is that????? Time to hold wedding businesses accountable, see if they’re certified!

Being a certified inclusive business shows the business owners have put in the time and money to make sure they are representing the community in a positive and respectful way AND to make sure they’re being the best people they can be… who doesn’t want to hire someone who’s already gone the extra mile before talking prices?? Uhhhhh, we do!!

What about getting ready suites?

LONG GONE are the days of the outdated names like “husband and wife suites” or even just “bridal suite”! Do you hear us??? Those days are goneeee! Look for a change in your wedding vendor, it might look something like “newly wed suites” or “the lover’s suites” or maybe simply “the wedding suite”! All of those names (and things like it!) are green flags, people!

Red flags in the wedding industry include all those little outdated names… I mean, why wouldn’t we wanna give the wedding industry a face lift??? New is not always scary! New is cool, new is exciting, new is innovative, new is inclusive. Don’t be afraid to try something new. (Do you hear this, wedding venues?!) 🙂

Side note: If you are looking for LGBTQ+ Friendly Venues in Indianapolis, we’ve got you covered! Head on over to THIS blog to see what other LGBTQ+ couples have suggested!

Check their Google Business Profile!

Google has a really awesome tool that allows businesses to add tags to their profile! If you search for a vendor on google and see they have a Google My Business Profile, you can check to see if they have added the tag “LGBTQ Friendly” You can see our listing below!

Check their reviews!

One of the best ways to check into a vendor is their reviews on google! If they do not have any reviews, RED FLAG! If they do have reviews, check to see how other people’s experiences were. This is a good thing to always do, regardless of what you are looking for. But sometimes other couples have uploaded pictures and share their experiences. You can look for specific reviews that might say “inclusive vendor” or we are an LGBTQ+ couple and had a great experience!

When in doubt… email!

If you’ve scrolled and scrolled and you are still unsure (but you REALLY want to contact this vendor!) use our email template below to reach out to them!

Hi there!

Our names are XXX and XXX! We are an LGBTQ+ Couple that is looking for a venue that is inclusive and LGBTQ+ friendly! We checked over your website and LOVE what we see! My XXX and I are obsessed with the XXXX! Before we move forward with our actual inquiry, we’d like to just make sure that you accept all couples! We are looking forward to hearing back from you!

Thank you so much for your time!

XXXX and XXX

Summing It up: How to Find LGBTQ Friendly Wedding Venues!

WOW! How To Find LGBTQ Friendly Wedding Venues shouldn’t be difficult. Theres a lot of material here, but we are hoping this helps you moving forward in the process that is finding your wedding vendors! 🙂 It can be a process for sure, we know that all too well, but it is rewarding as hell when you find people that are inclusive and just here to get y’all married! Stop wondering How To Find LGBTQ Wedding Venues, start looking for these clues!!

If you are looking for other LGBTQ+ Friendly Wedding Vendors we have a big list started! Click HERE to see them!

What do you look for first when looking for inclusive businesses?

Let us know!

XOXO
Sam + Bryt