At a time when so many weddings and styled shoots are looking like carbon copies of each other, this one, planned to perfection by Hitched AF and photographed by McKenzie Bigliazzi is a very much welcomed and needed breath of fucking FRESH AIR.

When stylist and planner Jen discovered The Oasis, a retro Denver rental property with a layered past, she immediately knew she had to do something there. The mid-century spot had once been a private retreat for a gay couple in the 1970s who ran an antique shop in the front and held sherry-fueled gatherings in the back. Still filled with their original design choices, the space now carries the energy of its history: part hideaway, part celebration.

“The space itself and its history as a party pad and a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community in the 70s was the inspiration for this shoot”, she told us. “Our concept was 1970s Playboy mansion pool party but make it a queer wedding!”

The shoot also brought together a team of LGBTQ+ wedding professionals and allies and featured real-life couple Sam and Rory, who both identify as queer and nonbinary. Rory is also disabled and plus sized. Like many people planning weddings, they didn’t often see themselves reflected in styled shoots so jumped at the chance to get involved with this one.

“I wanted to create something real,” Jen explains. “Not just in terms of cost, but in how it felt. A lot of styled shoots are a designer’s vision executed by a team, but this one was a collaboration from beginning to end.” The wardrobe was built around what Sam and Rory wanted to wear. The flowers were based on colours the florist, Kara of KaraKara Blooms, felt drawn to. The cake, a kitschy, red heart-shaped throwback to a honeymoon suite tub, was inspired by the pool party vibe. Every creative decision came from people bouncing off one another, rather than following a formula.

The team had about $2,000 in hard costs, with many contributors donating time, labour, and rentals. Part of the budget came from a styled shoot competition by Visualist, which Jen won, using most of the prize money to cover florals and clothing. The goal wasn’t to build a shoot that only looked cool, it was to show what’s actually possible for couples on a real-world budget. “Of course, affordable is relative,” Jen explained, “but this could be recreated for a lower than average budget. It’s not out of reach the way so many styled shoots are.”

The models got ready together. There was no staged first look. The dancing was real. The pool-jumping happened. The photos capture moments because moments actually happened. “It looked like a party because it was a party,” Jen said. “It looked like a real wedding because it was a real love story.”

Throughout the process, Jen kept returning to the reason she started her business in the first place. “The wedding industry still defaults to a very narrow formula. That’s hard to navigate if your wedding doesn’t fit that mold. It’s even harder if you’re queer, nonbinary, plus size, or disabled.”

Shoots like this one are about challenging that norm and at Rock n Roll Bride we could NOT be more here for it if we tried! “It’s important that couples see themselves in wedding media” Jen concluded. “That they know they’re not alone. That they can do it their way.”