On Pride Saturday, wedding officiant Leonard Nolasco stood in the ballroom at the Sutton Place Hotel in front of grooms Dan Calle and Curtis Godfrey, reciting the words at the heart of his trade.
“Love is what we all share,” he said. “It’s the great unifier, our one universal truth … Love is what we’re doing right.”
He had already given his spiel three times that day, in the very same room. On Saturday, he would marry six queer couples, then come Pride Sunday, he’ll marry six more. The hotel and its restaurant Abrielle joined forces with micro-wedding purveyor The Pop-Up Chapel Co. to give 12 free weddings to LGBTQ+ couples who wanted to celebrate their love on the most gloriously rainbow-hued weekend of the year.
The Pop-Up Chapel Co. CEO, Alicia Thurston, has thrown more than 800 weddings since 2023, prioritizing inclusive vendors, marketing language and imagery; she estimates that 10 to 20 per cent of their weddings each year are LGBTQ+.
There were almost 80 applicants for the 14 free Pride spots (two couples had to bow out at the last minute). Pride is not just a celebration, but a reminder that equality can’t be taken for granted, according to Thurston.
“Queer couples are still navigating spaces, families, and even vendors who don’t fully see or welcome them, and in a climate where rights and visibility are being challenged in real time, that matters even more,” she says.
“Everyone deserves to experience one of life’s biggest moments knowing they belong exactly as they are.”
The couple in at the 2 p.m. time slot, Godfrey and Calle, met at the Interior Design Show almost 10 years ago. Recently, Godfrey came across the wedding contest on Instagram and immediately sent it to Calle.
“We looked at each other, smiled, and said, ‘Should we do this?’ It just felt right,” Godfrey says.
Calle says they value the traditions and milestones that marriage represents, but, as a same-sex couple, those experiences haven’t always felt equally accessible: “So being able to celebrate our love in this way is incredibly meaningful.”
Their ceremony incorporated little personal touches, like playing Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One” as the grooms’ mothers walked them down the aisle, and a ceremony shout-out to their shared love for the television show “Heated Rivalry” and sticky-toffee pudding.
Calle wore a hummingbird pin inside the breast of his jacket, close to his heart, to represent his late Aunt Martha, while Godfrey donned a bird of paradise boutonniere to honour the favourite flower of his late father.
His voice may have shaken a little when he recited the “for better or worse” part, but Godfrey’s smile was steady as he gazed into his new husband’s eyes. Soon, they’d walk back down the aisle to the synth sounds of Fleetwood Mac’s song “Everywhere.”
Jacky Yu met his partner, Bryan Nguyen, on Coffee Meets Bagel in 2019; seven years later, they walked each other down the aisle in the 4 p.m. time slot, beaming. He says these nuptials are important because there are still so many places in the world where gay marriage is not allowed.
“Us getting married is a public declaration that we as LGBTQ+ people deserve equal rights,” he says.
He and Nguyen figured it was a perfect fit since they’d always wanted a small wedding — and never had time to plan one. Much of the past year has been tied up in working on their adoption application.
The grooms wrote their own vows, with Nguyen declaring himself the luckiest man in the world to be standing at the altar with his future co-dad. Yu recounted how they first met (Nguyen fell for Yu despite his wearing a slightly embarrassing beret) and his shared elation at becoming parents together (and maybe convincing Nguyen to expand his palate and eat more lamb).
“(This ceremony is) a big declaration to our past selves who were still in the closet that it’s OK to be who we are,” Yu says. “I think our past selves would have never imagined that we could be so happy and authentically ourselves.”
Calle and Godfrey also celebrated their relationship more quietly for many years. “Now,” Calle says, “I’m at a point in my life where I want to celebrate our love openly and proudly — I’m proud of who I am, I’m proud of our relationship, and I can’t think of a more meaningful weekend to make that commitment than during Pride.”
