Kirsten Ott Palladino & Maria Palladino are co-founders of Equally Wed, an online wedding magazine celebrating love and weddings in the LGBTQ+ community. It also provides education and resources for same-sex couples and equality-minded wedding professionals. But this is far more than just a business venture.
In 2004, Kirsten and Maria fell in love, getting engaged just before Kirsten’s 30th birthday in Central Park. When Kirsten began searching online and in book stores for wedding planning resources as a same-sex couple, she didn’t see any content out there that reflected her relationship with Maria. Initially disappointed, Kirsten channeled her emotions into a project called Equally Wed — an online journal and national wedding magazine for LGBTQ+ couples. With Maria’s background in graphic design and web development and Kirsten’s experience in writing editorial content, the two created a national wedding magazine and resource guide for people in the LGBTQ+ community and their allies who want to learn, connect, and feel validation that love is love, no matter who you are.
At the time Equally Wed launched, only 6 US states had marriage equality, making Equally Wed not only an online resource for community and wedding resources for the LGBTQ+ community, but also a news and activism site during the movement toward national marriage equality. As the political and social conversation continues to evolve around same-sex marriage, so does the wedding market. Kirsten and Maria continue to push the envelope by developing relevant, thoughtful resources, including the publication of a wedding guide in 2017 specifically for LGBTQ+ couples planning their own weddings.
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