44. Affirmations for LGBTQ+ Couples Planning Their Wedding

Send Wildly Connected a Text!

PLANNING

1. Just because I don’t always see my kind of love or gender expression represented, does not mean I am any less worthy of being in this space and having happiness.
2. Our love has just as much of a place in the world as anyone else’s
3. Our love deserves space in the world.
4. We don’t need others to understand or validate our process or love.
5. My love and how we love each other is worthy and valid.
6. Hate has no home or place in our planning process.
7. Even if we encounter mean spiritedness or hate, we know that it does not say anything about ourselves or our love, but about who they are.
8. We are deserving of every happiness that comes our way, including the joy of planning our dream wedding.
9. We promise to do things that feel right for us, even if it’s not what the world traditionally expects
10. As we plan our wedding, we honor the courage it took to be true to ourselves and to find each other in this world.
11. In the midst of planning, we find joy knowing that our love is a beacon of hope and acceptance for others in the LGBTQ+ community.
12. Every detail of our wedding reflects the authenticity of who we are as individuals and the depth of our love.
13. We affirm that we will choose to dress, present, show up and be our truest selves on our wedding day because that is the kindest thing we can do for ourselves and for our community.
14. We take pride in ourselves, in our identities and in our unique love story.
15. We will do our best to find the good and block out hate in every step of this process.
16. Today and every day, we celebrate the beautiful truth that love is love, and our love is worth celebrating
17. We are a sexy couple lol. 

DAY OF

1. We are so happy and grateful to be here as those in our community have gone before us have paved the way for us to be here and to make this celebration of love be recognized as legal and equal
2. Today, surrounded by love and support, we affirm our commitment to each other in front of the ones who matter most.
3. Regardless of what happens today, regardless of what people say or do, regardless of how people look at us, we have found love and safety in one another and we will lean into that all day long.
4. Today is about celebrating our love and recognizing that others celebrate our love too.
5. At this moment in time, it is legal for us to get married, but regardless of if that changes, our love stands strong and will stand the test of time as life changes.
6. Our love is no less worthy simply because some guests chose not to come.
7. We take pride in being here with each other and our loved ones, knowing that us showing up here and doing this is an incredible act of pride.
8. Our fellow lgbtq+ family members love and support us, even if they’re not all here with us.
9. WE deserve to be respected
10. We will dare to feel joy on this day even when or if it feels scary.
11. The queer ancestors before us are celebrating with us and are so happy to get to see us do this together.
12. You’re my person and that’s  why this is right for us.
13. We don’t need to justify our relationship to anyone. 
14. The family w

The intro and all instrumentals were written, sung and recorded by @JaynaDavisMusic

Queerly Beloved, I'm so glad you joined!
Please keep the community going by checking me out on instagram @wildlyconnectedphoto and come say hi! I'd love to hear fr

Episode Transcript

Microphone (Yeti Stereo (00:00):
Weirdly beloved.
Welcome back to this week'sepisode.
I am so, so glad for all of youthat are joining today that we
get to gather here.
Yeah, it's just been such a, abeautiful time of building
community here and the peoplewho join in and listen, I am so

(00:21):
grateful for you.
So.
Thank you so much for continuingto tune in.
Episode after episode.
For those of you that listenmore regularly, I'm sure you may
have noticed that there wasn'tan episode last week.
It is starting to become thestart of wedding busy season,
which is so exciting.

(00:43):
Yeah, I mean, It's hard to notget excited this time of year
for all of the lovely, amazingcouples that are getting married
and the weather has been sobeautiful.
And.
The most exciting part, justgetting that set the most
exciting part because yourwedding is the most exciting

(01:04):
part for me, but.
Pride month is starting.
June is just around the cornerand there's going to be lots of
exciting things happeningaround.
The wildly connected photoworld.
So definitely stay tuned forthat.
And I hope all of you, whetheryou're allies or in the

(01:24):
community have really excitingplans for pride.
If you don't please come join meat the twin cities pride.
I would love to see you there.
So.
That's kind of all I have forupdates.
For this week's episode, we aretalking about affirmations for
LGBTQ plus couples.

(01:46):
As they're planning.
And for their actual wedding dayas well.
And I'm just going to start outby saying I'm fully embracing
the cheesiness of this episode.
Because, yes, I do think thatsometimes like affirmations or
encouraging things, they do feela little bit cheesy and sure.

(02:07):
Maybe they are sometimes.
But I also think that it'ssomething that continues to
exist and people continue torecommend because they do work
and they're nice things to hear.
And.
It's important to speak kindlyto ourselves and to each other.
And so, yes, I'm embracing thecheese, but I'm also wanting to

(02:29):
acknowledge how important thisis.
Of course this isn't to saythat.
Couples outside of the queerspace, don't deserve to have
affirmations as well.
But if you have listened to thepast couple of episodes, I've
talked about, you know, thestresses of wedding planning and
just the idea that weddingplanning and weddings in

(02:51):
general.
Come with a lot of stress.
But there's just so many addedlayers of stress when you are a
queer couple.
Aye.
Talk to queer couples all thetime.
That's like the biggest part ofmy job.
And so with that in mind,something that I hear a lot of

(03:13):
couples express.
Is stress from different areasof planning or stresses or
worries or concerns they havefor their actual day.
And whether or not some of thethings that they are worried
about actually ever happen, likereaching out to vendors or being
rejected or being rejected byfriends or family members.

(03:36):
That does happen.
But even if it doesn't, I thinkjust even acknowledging that
those worries are there for somany people.
Is really important and.
I mean, this podcast existsbecause the reality is that.
Being an LGBTQ couple in thewedding space.

(03:57):
Like we just, we all face uniquechallenges.
And so having a little bit ofextra and Encouragement and
support is really important.
And.
I've talked to so many coupleswho, you know, have said.
Like.
It's just, it's really scary or.

(04:18):
Honestly, sometimes just likesad or disheartening, like not
seeing our love represented asmuch.
And so.
I just felt like this episodewas really important regardless
of the cheese, because I think.
Even like picturing myself in myown journey with my queerness

(04:40):
and in my relationship and in mywedding planning process, like
it's hard, there's so manythings to think about.
And.
So.
I'm just going to stop ramblinghere.
But.
I do.
Really, really intend this to befor the queer folks, listening

(05:01):
to my podcast.
If there are allies here and youwant to just get some
inspiration, maybe for somethings that you can share with
the LGBTQ folks in your life,please do.
And.
I would encourage you all toshare this episode with someone
who you feel.
Might need it.
And that has nothing to do withanalytics or likes or follows,

(05:24):
but just to like some of them aquick encouragement and.
This episode is basically justgoing to be me sharing
affirmations, and I'm going tocopy and paste all the ones I've
written in the show notes sothat you can go and copy and
paste or.
Steal any of the ones you want,please do.

(05:45):
I did write all of these.
So one I need to acknowledge I'mnot really a writer like writing
super eloquently is not mybiggest star.
But also acknowledging like, Idid sort of just let my brain
flow and write these, butthere's also a possibility that
I've heard.
This before or heard somethingsimilar or some variation of

(06:07):
this already exists in theworld.
So my intention is not to copyor steal from anyone else.
These were just things that cameinto my mind that were a
reflection of.
You know, worries that coupleshave expressed in the past or
even things that come up in myown mind.
So just wanting to acknowledgethat.

(06:29):
I'm going to break up theaffirmations into two parts.
So the first part is for theplanning process specifically,
because.
As they mentioned, there'sunique worries and stresses that
come with that already.
But then all the layers too, ofreaching out to vendors and not
being sure of things and becausenot always, but the planning

(06:51):
process can be quite a longtime.
Obviously some people getmarried in a shorter amount of
time and that's amazing too, buta lot of times the planning
process can be like 8, 10, 12,16, 18 months long.
And so it's kind of a long timeto be sitting in this space.
So I wanted to specificallyaddress that.

(07:12):
And then also have some onesthat maybe felt more fitting for
like your actual wedding daythat you could be reminding
yourself of and saying toyourself on your wedding day and
to each other.
And there's some overlap heretoo.
Again, snap that serious aroundthese podcast parts, but just

(07:33):
wanted to kind of say that.
So again, I'm just going to goahead and read these.
Please take what you want.
Leave what doesn't feel fitting,maybe all of these don't apply.
Maybe only some of them do.
But I'm hoping that you all getat least a little something out
of this.
So here we go.

(07:53):
This is for the planning stagesof your wedding or elopement.
Just because I don't always seemy kind of love or gender
expression represented.
Does not mean I'm any lessworthy of being in this space
and having happiness.
Our love has just as much of aplace in the world as anyone

(08:16):
else's.
Our love.
Deserves space in this world.
We don't need others tounderstand or validate our
process of planning or our love.
My love and how we love eachother is worthy and valid.

(08:38):
Hate has no home or place in ourplanning process.
I'm an amazing person.
My partner is an amazing person.
And together we make an amazingteam, especially as we plan this
special life event together.
Even if we encounter meanspiritedness, mean spiritedness

(09:02):
or hate, we know that it doesnot say anything about ourselves
or our love.
But about who they are.
We are deserving of everyhappiness that comes our way.
Including the joy of planning,our dream wedding.
We promise to do things thatfeel right for us.

(09:23):
Even if it's not what the worldtraditionally expects.
As we plan our wedding, we honorthe courage.
It took to be true to ourselvesand to find each other in this
world.
In the midst of planning.
We find joy, knowing that ourlove is a beacon of hope and
acceptance for others and theLGBTQ plus community.

(09:47):
Everything about our weddingreflects the authenticity of who
we are as individuals and thedepth of our love.
Together.
We faced any challenge withgrace and determination as we
always have.
And as we always will.
We affirm that we will choose todress, present, show up and be

(10:10):
our truest selves on our weddingday, because that is the kindest
thing we can do for ourselvesand for our community.
We take pride in ourselves.
In our identities and in ourunique love story.
We will do our best to find thegood and block out hate and
every step of the process.

(10:33):
Today.
And every day we celebrate thebeautiful truth.
But love is love and our lovesworth celebrating and every way
possible.
Now, this last one is a bonusone from my lovely fiance,
Angie.
I wanted her expert opinion, ifanything was missing.

(10:54):
And she told me to tell you allthat you are an attractive
couple and that sometimes youjust need to look at each other
and say word attractive couple.
And it is silly, but it's verytrue.
I think so, make sure toremember that you're dang
attractive, sexy people.

(11:14):
And you make for a dangattractive.
Couple.
Okay.
All right.
I just have a few more and buy afew more.
I mean, like 18 more But for.
This is for your day of Andagain with these, like, I'm not
expecting you to like memorizeall of them, but if any of them

(11:38):
stand out to you.
Maybe you can just like writethem down and have them.
On a sticky note somewhere, orif you're doing a lot of
planning on your laptop orcomputer, maybe have it
somewhere where you can see byyour computer.
Maybe you make it your phonebackground or have another
creative way to just be able tothink about it and remind each

(11:59):
other.
So.
These ones are tailored a littlebit more for your actual wedding
or Loman time.
Today we affirm our love and itspurest forms.
Promising to cherish and honoreach other for all the days of
our lives.
We are so happy and grateful tobe here.

(12:22):
As those in our community havegone before us.
And have paved the way for us tobe here, to make the celebration
of love.
Be recognized as legal andequal.
Today, surrounded by love andsupport.
We affirm our commitment to eachother in front of the ones who
matter most.

(12:42):
Regardless of what happenstoday.
Regardless of what people say ordo.
Regardless of how people look atus.
We have found love and safety inone another.
And we will lean into that allday long.
Today is about celebrating ourlove and recognizing that other

(13:03):
others celebrate our love to.
At this moment in time.
It is.
Legal for us to get married.
But regardless of, if thatchanges, our love will stand
strong and stand the test oftime.
Our love is no less worthy,simply because some guests chose

(13:23):
not to come.
Our love is beautiful.
We take pride in being here witheach other and our loved ones,
knowing that us showing up hereand doing this is an incredible
act of pride.
Our fellow LGBTQ plus familymembers love and support us,

(13:45):
even if they're not all herewith us.
I deserve to be respected.
We deserve to be respected.
We will dare to feel immense joyon this day, even when, or if it
feels scary.
The queer ancestors before usare celebrating with us and are

(14:06):
so happy to get to see us dothis together.
You're my person.
And this is why it's right forus.
We don't need to justify ourrelationship to anyone.
The family we have here loves usso much.

(14:27):
Even if they're chosen familyand not by blood.
You are my family.
And the last one is just findingsomething simple that you two
can say to each other throughoutthe day, like.
I got you.
Or.
I choose you.

(14:47):
Or we're in this together.
Like something like that, thatjust feels.
Just hits different for you, youknow, just as simple something
and something that you couldeven kind of say with your eyes,
if you know what I mean.
So those are all theaffirmations.
I feel that it's no way.
A fully comprehensive list.

(15:09):
Like I think there.
Is room for so many other thingsand maybe even.
Affirmations for more specifictopics.
And if I, if I missed anything,which I'm sure I did, I hope
that this can act as inspirationfor you to maybe write your own
affirmations.

(15:29):
Like.
Take this energy and run with itand, and write some words that
feel right for you or addresslike the specific worries or
stressors that you.
As individuals and as a coupleare having to deal with.
'cause I think everyone'sexperiences a little bit unique

(15:50):
and what might feel reallystressful and is a big burden to
one couple may not be present inanother couple's life.
And so.
Yeah, feel free to take any ofthese and change them or tailor
them to your own unique needs.

(16:10):
But I hope that has you reallistening to those, even if it
feels a little bit cheesy thatyou were still able to let some
of those good vibes.
Seep in because.
I think those statements are allso true and.
It's just, it's my hope and mydream that every couple can.

(16:32):
I feel these things and go backto these things.
In their process and on theirday to just be reminded that
they're so valuable and so lovedand.
If anything, just take that withyou today.
Whenever you might be listeningthat you're so valuable, you are

(16:52):
worthy.
You are so loved.
And so is your partner.
And so is your unique lovestory.
So.
That is all I have for youtoday.
I hope this gave you good vibes.
I'm giving you all a big virtualhug, or if you're not into hugs,
then high five.

(17:13):
And I hope that you all have anamazing day.
Please remember to share thiswith a friend, a loved one, your
partner, whomever might need it.
And I will see you all in thenext episode.