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It Was a Classic Modern Love Story: They Both Swiped Right.
I’ve been planning weddings for fourteen years now. Way back when I started, most of our clients were meeting the “old-fashioned” way – through mutual acquaintances, work, or shared interests.
These days, there’s a new old-fashioned way: the mutual right swipe.
For Nick and Franklin, that serendipitous match led to effortless conversations. They realized soon after that they had a lot of friends in common. And those friends saw the magic brewing between them.
Six years in, Franklin set out to craft an unforgettable proposal—one that would mark the beginning of their journey to a Trinity Tree Farm wedding. He began planning. He set up an elaborate ruse to find out Nick’s ring size involving two other people and brunch (what’s a gay occasion without brunch, am I right?)
Under the guise of relaxing after a stressful move to a new apartment, he offered to take Nick out to a nice restaurant to celebrate their new home. He arranged a surprise engagement party to follow at a friend’s house.
And then, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Franklin took Nick by the hand, looked him in the eye, and told him how much he loved him. He got down on one knee. He pulled out the exact ring Nick had dreamed of and – of course – Nick said yes.
Choosing the Right Seattle Wedding Planner
As busy people with low tolerance for stress, hiring a wedding planner was non-negotiable for Nick and Franklin. They didn’t have the time or desire to plan it themselves. They wanted to make sure that neither they nor their guests would have to work at their wedding.
They didn’t want to have another fight about their clashing design styles like they did when they first moved in together. They worried that if one of them was in charge of the design, it would become skewed towards that persons’s taste. Finding a neutral third party to meld their styles into a cohesive design was a must.
So, they began to look for a Seattle wedding planner with a full-service planning and design package. They interviewed some who didn’t provide the level of service they were looking for or who lacked experience with LGBTQ+ weddings. Finally, they met with us.
We hit it off right away and I knew we’d be a great match to plan together. And so I was thrilled when they accepted our proposal and signed on as our clients!
Magical Forest Meets Modern Wedding Venue: Trinity Tree Farm
We cooked up a color palette with deep teal, green, and burgundy with pops of ballet pink. We filled our mood board with greenery and saturated colors. We added inspiration pulled from their love of Scandinavian design.
Nick and Franklin wanted the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest to be on full display at their wedding. They also wished for an indoor-outdoor venue. And they planned to splurge on florals, so we wanted a backdrop to show those off, too!
So we needed a wedding venue that would fit their magical forest vibes, without sacrificing their modern style.
Enter Enter Trinity Tree Farm, a working Christmas tree farm nestled in the foothills of the Cascades. We checked out the ceremony area, where wooden benches and an arch sat in front of evergreen trees of all sizes. We walked up the stairs to main hall, with loads of light pouring in the windows and a beautiful hardwood floor. We walked through the patio – a perfect spot for cocktail hour, with a large seating are around a gas firepit. It had everything they needed and wanted.
I will never forget the moment when they turned to each other, with tears welling up in their eyes.
“Did we just find our wedding venue?” Nick asked.
“I think we did,” Franklin replied.
A Danish Wedding Tradition: Kissing!
But not just any kind of kissing. Kissing while standing on chairs! Kissing while ducking beneath a table! What the what??
We always love it when we get to learn new traditions that our clients share with us and this one was a lot of fun! You know how, when guests clink their glasses with their silverware, the wedding couple is supposed to kiss? Well, this is a variation on that idea.
But instead of just kissing, they have to hop up on their chairs to smooch! And, if the guests start stomping their feet, the couple has to get low – they must crawl under a table to kiss.
Unforgettable Wedding Moments
We asked Franklin and Nick to share some of their favorite moments from their wedding and here’s what they said:
Franklin: “Getting ready at the venue with my attendants was very fun. The venue had a private space upstairs were we could dress and watch guests arrive.
Cindy also arranged that during the cocktail hour, after we were done signing the marriage license and being photographed, we would have a moment to catch our breath and enjoy being husbands together for the first time. It was very special to have that moment alone together in the middle of everything!”
Nick: “I mean, the first look sets a really high emotional bar for everything else, right? I think that was the moment where it felt real and beautiful and my heart was full of butterflies. I had the same feeling holding my mom’s hand as she got ready to walk me down the aisle.
Surprisingly, I had an amazing time dancing. We knew our friends and family weren’t much of a dancing crowd, and neither are we, but wow! Our DJ was just the best.”
And I can’t help but share a couple of my own:
First of all, you haven’t met a nicer or more genuine couple than Nick and Franklin. They put so much thought and care into the experience we created and I know that every single guest could feel that care.
In particular, we dreamed big and went all-in on their aesthetic vision, which was a challenge and a delight to bring to life! I loved working with our vendor team to bring the visuals together. We collaborated on their centerpieces, using smooth wood chargers from Pedersen’s in lieu of the more rustic wood rounds Flora D’Amore had in stock to keep the design firmly in the modern camp without sacrificing the cozy woodsiness of the arrangements. I also made custom leather wraps for their candles to bring an extra masculine touch and some texture to their tables.
One very sweet and thoughtful touch they added was giving their first slice of cake to someone else! They had a very important guest, who turned two years old on their wedding day. Instead of eating it themselves, they asked all their guests to sing “Happy Birthday” and gave the first piece to the birthday boy.
Finally, I’m a sucker for first looks – Nick is right, they really do set the bar for the day – and theirs was one of the sweetest I have ever witnessed. (I mean, there’s a reason it’s a header image on our website homepage.) Visually, their complementary suits were on point, their flower crowns were popping against the evergreen trees behind them, and the sun was shining. Emotionally, the unadulterated love and joy just radiated from them. It was a truly perfect moment in every way.
What It’s Like to Plan with Aisle Less Traveled
Here’s what Franklin and Nick had to say about working with us:
“If you’re a queer person (or ally) looking for a wedding planner, hire Aisle Less Traveled. Cindy and her team went above and beyond in every single way. Thanks to their guidance and industry savvy, we were able to define and prioritize what we wanted from our wedding and secure amazing vendors.
Our wedding looked like it came out of a magazine, our guests raved about what an amazing experience it was between the visuals and the service, and all of it was under the budget we set.
You allowed us to enjoy our wedding process instead of being buried by it.”
If you’re dreaming of a wedding that’s as unique as you are, we’d love to make it happen for you, at Trinity Tree Farm or whichever Seattle wedding venue is the right one for you. Inquire now to start planning!
Meet the Wedding Pros
Every great wedding is backed by a team of incredible wedding professionals. We can do our best work when we’re working with the best people. Here are the ones who helped us make this Trinity Tree Farm wedding happen:
Wedding Planner: Aisle Less Traveled, of course! (Learn how we can plan together here.)
Wedding Venue: Trinity Tree Farm
Photography: Jamie Buckley Photography
Florist: Flora D’Amore
DJ: Puget Sounds DJ Kelli
Catering: The Tall Chef
Dessert: Lydia’s Cakes & Confections
Officiant: Friend of the Couple
Rentals: Pedersen’s Event Rentals
Transportation: A&A Limousine
Grooms’ Suits: Indochino
Stationery: Minted
The photos you see in this post were generously shared by Jamie Buckley Photography and are reposted here with their permission. Photos in this and all posts are protected by copyright, which means it’s illegal for you to download, copy, share, or alter them without written authorization from the photographer.
