When is a gay wedding more than just a gay wedding? When your husband to be has had a 30 year dream of getting married in Venice, Italy since the age of 11.  Love means you’ll do just about anything to make it happen. After all,  isn’t that what love is about, making your fiancés  dreams come true. Our worldly guest list included friends from Chicago, Texas, Washington, California, Fiji and Australia. Yes our peeps flew half way around the world for us. #Blessed 

After our glorious nuptials under the baroque fresco, we wanted to give our guests a fun photo op while the Ridotto Ballroom was being redressed for dinner.  We’d designed our own step and repeat and had it installed in the adjoining Crozzola room. We added a prop table that included an assortment of Venetian masks and Chinese fans. ‘Dynasty poses’ are something we adore doing in our photo ops. Strike a pose, throw in a little attitude, and viola! 

Once the Ridotto was reset, our guests flooded back in, found their tables, and prepared for the continuation of the festivities. Recio and I burst into spontaneous dance as we re- entered the ballroom and made our way to our table.  Recio decided to throw in a little twerking,  and our guests went wild.

As the evening progressed We had many of the traditional moments.  Our first dance, speeches from our best men,  our personal speeches, a champagne toast, and the cutting of the cake.

The cutting of the cake was a moment that we couldn’t wait to share with our guests, because we had a little surprise in store for them. We, yes Recio and I, were the cake topper. My best man David Stanko had taken us to Doob 3D as a wedding gift. In their photo studio we held a pose in a round room, filled with 75 cameras. A single flash gave them a digital 3D file. Six weeks later we received our little statue in the mail. It was a total show stopper!! After the big reveal our guests were jockeying to take photos of it, especially  with the two of us standing behind it. Even the Hotel staff lost their minds when they pulled it out of the box… I’d forgotten to mention that it was literally ‘us’ as the cake topper. Thank you David for one of the best moments of the evening, and for helping us make this a spectacular gay wedding.

Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal

Here’s the moment we danced into the ballroom. A huge thank you to our camera man Andrea Rizzo for creating this fantastic video.

Our 8 hour wedding event began with a 30 minute gondola ride before arriving in Piazza San Marco. Our gondolier took us out into the Grand Canal, passing by the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture built in 1687. We turned onto a smaller canal enjoying the tranquility of the nearly empty canals before arriving back at the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal. It was our private time to reconnect, to get centered, and to remind ourselves to stay in the moment. We wanted to be present and  take in all of the beauty that was about to unfold.

Once on solid ground we walked over to the Piazza San Marco, mixing with the tourists on the street. Everyone around us could feel the excitement and the magic… because these bespoke chinoiserie tuxedos weren’t about to be ignored.

We stopped in front of the Good Luck Centurion… because  it’s good luck to touch his belly.

From there we entered the famed Piazza. Walking hand in hand took on a new meaning as we passed by tourists. Some smiled and waved, some took photos, and some seemed a bit startled. This little square draws people from all around the world… I had to wonder, was gay marriage legal where they were from? In that moment, I realized that we were making a political statement. A huge statement. So much larger than I’d ever imagined. I wasn’t trying to be a political activist, just a guy marrying the guy he loves. So I held his hand a little tighter, and was grateful for this extraordinary opportunity.

We paused in front of the Doge’s Palace to take in the beautiful views of the Lagoon. It was the perfect mid September day, not to hot and not to cold. The iconic gothic details date back to 1340 and are recognized around the world. I feel so lucky that we could have this beautiful moment in front of it, becoming apart of its nearly 700 years of history.

We stole a kiss  in front St. Mark’s Basilica, the Italio-Byzantine church we’d visited months earlier for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  The gold mosaic ceilings inside are beyond breathtaking.

The opulent lace like arches with their gold hues, look a bit like a crown in this photo. I know we certainly felt like royalty on this day. Once we were finished in Piazza San Marco, we headed over to the Ridotto Ballroom to begin our fairytale wedding…

One of our wedding photographers, Andrea Rizzo, created this stunning video of the empty streets and canals of Venice, during initial lockdown due to Covid19. We hope you’ll watch it, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.