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It was organized by local LGBTQ+ queer and queer-friendly vendors, including Lensy Michelle Photography and Dearly Studio.
Seven newly-married couples now share an anniversary: Jan. 5, 2025. They were all married together, in successive ceremonies, as part of Queerly Beloved, a group wedding event put on by a coalition of queer and queer-friendly wedding vendors in the Boston area.
It started with a joke on social media.
“I made a post on Instagram, joking, saying that I wanted to throw a big gay disco where everyone got married,” said Lindsey “Lensy” Michelle, a wedding and elopement photographer and co-organizer of the event. “People started DMing me being like, that sounds fantastic.”
In the aftermath of November’s election, Michelle and her lead photographer, Jullian Valadares, put together a LGBTQ+ vendor list because “we needed to feel like we were doing at least something.”
“It was basically service providers across New England that were providing discounted or more accessible pricing for LGBTQ+, undocumented, or non-citizen marriages,” Michelle said.
There were more than 130 vendors offering services, but then “I started getting messages from everyone saying they had no more capacity for discount services,” Michelle said. That was what prompted the Instagram post, and vendors — many that were on the list already, plus others who hadn’t even heard of it — responded, wanting to get involved.
“Within 48 hours of making the post, the six co-organizers that ended up making Queerly Beloved were in a group chat together plotting what it would look like,” Michelle said.
That team of six included Michelle of Lensy Michelle Photography, Amanda Macchia of Amanda Macchia Photography, Julian Kane of Althea Floral Design, Rachel Bell of One Bell Designs, Kara Stokowski of DJ Day Glow, and Jusmine Martin of Dearly Studio.
Dearly Studio, run by Martin, is a secular micro-wedding chapel and small event space in Somerville. Located in Bow Market, a former storage facility now filled with more than 30 small businesses, Dearly Studio is only 342 square feet, so they quickly realized that wouldn’t work for a venue.
“I’d worked with The Sinclair” — a performance venue in Harvard Square — “on a few things, and Jenna from their sales team coincidentally reached out and said they were thinking of throwing one big elopement day,” Martin said. “I said you’re not going to believe this, but we’re talking about doing this thing and we need a venue.”
Queerly Beloved, as the event became known, received a grant from Fenway Health, and also raised money by opening the event to the public and selling tickets. About 350 people attended between couples, their guests, and others.
“It was so beautiful, so fun,” said Martin, who officiated the ceremonies. “Really high energy and just awesome all around.”
Couples were married in a private ceremony space before being “released” into the party with their guests. The event included performances from drag queens Heather Rose, Just JP, Chanel the Angel, and Lavender, drag king Rusty Hammer, and The Femmes Band.
Martin attributed Queerly Beloved’s success not only to the six core organizers, but also to The Sinclair and to everyone involved at every level.
“The response we got far exceeded any of our expectations,” Martin said. “We thought it would be cool if we had a couple roaming performers, and suddenly we had an hour of drag.”
Though Madison and Martin don’t plan on doing another mass wedding anytime soon, Queerly Beloved will live on as an LGBTQ+ vendor directory.
“We’re moving that from its initial spreadsheet to a website to make it more much navigable,” said Madison, who described the final product as an “easy interface to search for LGBTQ+-affirming vendors.”
Though the event was in response to President Donald Trump’s election and came a couple weeks before his inauguration, the emphasis was on celebrating the couples who were married and the queer community more broadly.
“The first couple days in office have validated why the queer rebellion has always existed, but we’ve always manifested in joy,” Michelle said.
Since being inaugurated on Monday, Trump has said the United States will only recognize two sexes, male and female, and that the government must use the term “sex,” not “gender.” Identification documents like passports and visas will be issued based only on sex assigned at birth. He also scrapped measures combating discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, amid other anti-diversity orders.
Michelle emphasized the importance of acknowledging the challenges the LGBTQ+ community is increasingly facing — “We can’t be silent,” she said — but said they’re precisely the reason celebratory spaces like Queerly Beloved are needed.
“What started as something reactionary turned into something that has nothing to do with Trump’s presidency,” Martin said. “On the day, the room was just so full of love and so full of joy and I don’t think his name was mentioned once, which was great.”
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