This Romantic LGBTQ+ Adventure Elopement Prioritized Wheelchair Accessibility

In this romantic adventure elopement-styled shoot, the creative team’s number one goal was to prioritize wheelchair-accessibility while leaning into unique whimsical elements. From the real-life couple to the incredible vendor team, a majority of this group consisted of people from the LGBTQ+, POC, and Disabled communities (with a couple of solid allies)!

Photographer Marissa Solini shares that while the wedding industry is a place of beauty and joy, not all types of beauty and joy are fully represented online or on social media. The best way to change that? Create the work and celebrate the relationships you want to see better represented in the wedding industry. “The ripple effect of that can be so incredible and I’ve seen how validating it can be for couples I’ve worked with to be able to see themselves celebrated and photographed in that way, and also for others to be able to see a body, identity or relationship that looks like theirs.” We could not agree more!

To create this inclusive inspirational shoot Marissa enlisted the help of SlowCult who provided the most gorgeous florals and whimsical event design as well as models Catalina + Samm… a very in love real-life couple!! Let’s dive in!

Oh So In Love!

Catalina and Samm (a real-life couple!) started the styled shoot by handwriting in their vow books, from Ecstatic Ceremonies, under a picnic shelter.

This bride looks stunning in her Jessa Kae dress paired with a sparkly pair of bridal sneakers! She shares with us: “It was truly an honor to work with all these wonderful vendors who shared their talents with us. I had so many ideas of what this shoot was going to look like and nothing I dreamed up even came close to the end result. It was elegant and whimsical and magical. Everyone’s vision came together to foster the most loving and safe space. I really felt like even though it was a staged shoot, it was created for us as if it was our actual elopement. My only regret would have to be that I didn’t marry Samm right then and there!”

GWS asked Catalina what she wants non-disabled people to know about marriage equality when it comes to the disabled community…what are some ways non-disabled people can help support the push for marriage equality?

“Well for starters, there is no such thing as marriage equality for disabled individuals. People who are on Social Security Disability from the government are not able to get married without being stripped of their medical and financial benefits. While there is no law saying disabled people can’t get married, there are “marriage penalties”. If you are on SSDI and you marry someone who isn’t, their income and assets are counted as your own which disqualifies you from receiving aid as you are no longer eligible. When I was on SSDI I was audited monthly to make sure I never accrued more than $2,000 in assets at any given time. This included the financial assistance I was receiving monthly. This is extremely harmful and risky for people who rely on that aid to survive. The amount of assets you can have was decided in the 90’s and has not gone up with cost of living and inflation. So while the aid is minimal to start, it could be taken away if you were to get married. I am not sure how to fix the issue to be honest. All I can say is pay attention to who you are voting for and speak up.”

GWS: You have a podcast called Doing It Disabled — tell us about that and your motivation for starting that!

Catalina: “Early this year my Instagram friend Haley and I decided to start a podcast all about disability called Doing It Disabled. We were continuously sending each other voice memos venting about the ableist interactions we had during the day. I jokingly suggested that we should just have a podcast, and the following week Haley sent me the recording equipment! We are still really new at it and it’s not perfect by any measure but we are so proud of our little podcast and we love engaging with the disability community. Not only are we trying to engage with other disabled individuals but we are aiming to create a learning environment for everyone. Haley and I often say that we are experts in our own disabilities and we have plenty to learn about the multitudes of other disabilities that exist. We are all learning and by no means know everything there is to know. I think that we lead with curiosity and empathy and in my opinion that is a solid start towards a good podcast.“

Loving Samm’s look? Their suit is from Sumissura dressed up with the coolest bowtie from Crooked Branch Studio!

Samm was thrilled to share with us their favorite quality about Catalina:

“My favorite thing about my partner Catalina is just her fierceness in everything that she does. She is fierce in her love, in her advocacy, and her light and her energy is something that just draws you in. It’s infectious, it’s magnetizing, and she lights up a room, whichever one she rolls into. It’s a privilege to love her and to be loved by her, and it’s a privilege to be her partner and I’m very thankful for that.”

Catalina then answered the same question!

“How do I even answer this? I am not the type of person who ever feels complete with one word, statement, or idea so this may be a challenge. One of the many things I adore about Samm is their strength. And I am not talking about how incredibly built they are as a powerlifter. Samm’s emotional strength and resilience is unparalleled. There has never been a time where I have seen Samm give up, or accept defeat. In moments of extreme difficulty Samm will take it all in, pause to digest, and then move forward. (My chaotic Aries energy could never!) Samm’s strength shines through in their vulnerable moments, and I am so beyond privileged to be able to witness those.”

We are loving this bride’s simple wedding nails that really let her bold embellished dress shine!

Words From the Florist

The couple ventured over to a pocket of nature on the side of the paved park path that Alexis Ramblings (of SlowCult) transformed into a magical floral wonderland for Catalina & Samm to share sentiments of love in this faux-ceremony.

Alexis shares that nature is for everyone and she doesn’t feel the adventure elopement community fully embraces that. “Any couple can get married or make a life-long commitment to each other in a stunning natural environment and have a full and wonderful day of exploration! Representation matters and I was thrilled to work with a team who was dedicated to the overall vision.”

We asked Alexis to share a little bit about her vision for incorporating the florals for the ceremony:

“I wanted to create a wooded meadow for the couple to be encompassed by while they shared their handwritten vows. The early summer season inspired the wild foxglove-based florals along with roses and unique textures like garlic scapes. The overall look was romantic and lush as I used parts of the surrounding nature to design directly into. Decaying tree stumps became the perfect vessel to arrange flowers directly into the landscape and give the illusion that maybe everything grew right there.”

We then asked how she incorporates and practices sustainability in her work & business:

“Sustainability is at the forefront of my design concepts and work. I always consider the season first and work closely with local floral farmers in order to source the best blooms. I also consider the environment the couple will be in and make sure that there is nothing seeded that could drop and cause an issue like invasives, in that environment. Most often what is underneath or hidden by the flowers can be the most toxic part of floral work. While it is more expensive and time-consuming I NEVER use floral foam in my work, which is highly toxic to the user and the environment  and I always recycle and reuse materials as much as they can be. I am meticulous about composting as much natural material as possible after an event. Lastly, I do my very best to practice LNT (leave no trace) policy when working in the outdoors.”

Exchanging of Vows

The chemistry between these two is so palpable! Look at Samm’s smile!

Marissa Solini and SlowCult collaborated on the concept of having a tulle cape attached to Catalina’s wheelchair with battery-powered LED string lights sewn in for an extra touch of whimsy as the sun set later in the day.

The couple exchanged gold rings, crafted by Allison of Ringed, before sharing a celebratory kiss!

The All-Natural Reception

After some time dedicated to returning the ceremony space to its natural space as it was found, SlowCult styled a dinner setup on an accessible picnic table in the park. This set-up repurposed the ceremony florals amongst a palette of soft pinks and gold accents with the addition of an allergy-friendly strawberry chocolate cake, from Here For The Cakes, and some homemade mead, from Samm.

Some celebratory mead and cake eating was had! The evening concluded in a romantic and quiet dusk wandering with lanterns and twinkle lights.

How romantic is this!! Don’t know if an elopement is right for you? We’ve rounded up eleven MAJOR benefits to eloping that you aren’t going to want to miss!

Lastly, we gave the couple the floor to share anything else they’d like to add in regards to this elopement inspiration:

Samm: I think what I would want people to know about doing accessible weddings is that doing an accessible elopement is easy, it just takes effort and it takes time. I think what made our shoot so successful is that we had vendors and people willing to work with us to make the dream a reality, We were able to have an incredible team in which equity and access was the main focus.

Catalina shares – I do want to point out how revolutionary it felt to do this shoot. While it feels like a big statement to show an inter-abled, interracial, and queer relationship in the wedding industry, it really shouldn’t be such a big deal. When I think of wedding magazines or wedding Pinterest boards I NEVER see couples like us. Even as a little girl, dreaming of the day I would get married felt so far-fetched.

Thank you to this amazingly inspirational dream team for sharing this elopement-styled shoot with us. We greatly admire your motivation for showcasing wedding inspiration within disabled communities that are often underrepresented and hope this inspires other disabled couples to share their day with us!