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Three Times Over  //   Braden Baumann & Fae Nachtigal

September 21  //  Engaged 1.21.22  //  Santorini, Greece

We were able to have three celebrations for our wedding. The first was a Laotian family blessing in Oklahoma. Then we privately exchanged vows in Santorini Greece, where we stayed during a honeymoon nine-day cruise. In October, we celebrated in Madison with all our friends and family at a park, then at Five Nightclub. We’re so blessed with the capacity to travel and be greeted with so much love when we come back home. Photographer: Karen Peck

All the World’s a Stage  //   Patrick & Steve Sisson

September 22  //  Engaged 7.1.23  //  Goodman Center, Madison

Steve and Patrick met working on a musical. The theater remains a big part of their lives and was a cornerstone of their engagement and wedding. Steve secretly planned the engagement. It started with Pat’s friend calling to say she needed help shopping for a 4th of July party. She took him to seven places of significance to the couple, and at each stop there was a special person who gave another clue. A friend from New York took photographs, Mom appeared via Zoom, friends filed into a dance studio, others came up from Chicago, and all ended up at the couple’s home after telling Pat what they liked about him and the relationship. In a procession ala Michael Scott, Pat proceeded down a line of friends who offered proposals. He said no to each before saying yes to Steve.

The wedding was also planned by the two avid entertainers. They facilitated conversations between participants by giving them a “Wedbill” playbill of activities, which included nametags, Karaoke, silent auction, dinner theater, a puzzle featuring the couple, Christmas ornament making, and a shrinky dink table. Somehow there was still energy for an afterparty at I/O Arcade. Photographer: White Willow Studios

Grandma’s Gotta Be There  //   Robert & Spencer Rohloff

October 3  //  Engaged 9.15.23  //  Kohler Andrae State Park, Sheboygan

We decided to do a small, intimate wedding spur-of-the-moment. We had to change our plans. Robert’s grandma is battling stage 4 cancer, and he couldn’t imagine getting married without her being there on his special day. She raised him alongside his mom, and she is his angel.

So we got married on National Mean Girls Day, so it was perfect! The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and the water was as gorgeous as it was the day Robert proposed at the same location. We had Robert’s sister officiate our wedding, a full circle moment as his sister was the first person he came out to. His mom and grandma walked him down the aisle as well as Spencer’s dad. It was a small wedding, but it was perfect. Photographer: Leilani Alaniz

High Church to High Gay  //   Jeffrey Montoya & Matthew Werlein

October 5  //  Engaged 3.8.24  //  Christ Church & LaCage Nite Club, Milwaukee

The wedding day of Dr. & Mr. Montoya-Werlein started with a ceremony at Christ Church, officiated by eight of our favorite clergypersons. It included readings, vows, and holy communion, with music on organ, violin, trumpet, and guitar. The first reading, a selected passage from the Supreme Court Decision Obergefell v. Hodges, set the tone of marriage equality. The sermon was entitled “Love out Loud.” Our goldendoodle, Lucy, was the best dog.

Our brunch, a Harry Potter-themed reception, was held at LaCage Nite Club. Easton Boyd was the Master of Ceremony. Ramona the Drag Queen performed numbers from Madonna, Cher, and Whitney Houston. Matthew likes to say our wedding went from “High Church to High Gay!” because of the transition from a traditional religious to flamboyant celebration. Photographer: Rahimi Saidan