14 Stories

Our New York City elopement packages continue to be a big hit with Rhen at the helm.  In the past few weeks, we've worked with some great couples from Texas and Michigan to create extraordinary mini weddings.

First, Bill and Nick came in from Texas with their teenage kids who didn't know they were attending their dads' wedding!  They also brought the kids moms, some other family and a small group of friends for about 12 in total.  We upgraded to a limo coach, rented a chapel, added in a mini orchestra, upgraded to a custom ceremony officiated by a former priest and made their experience the biggest elopement package to date!  Of course, as they pointed out, everything is bigger in Texas!  

Until the professional photos come in, check out this photo I took from Bill and Nick's wedding during our NYC elopement package:

Scott and Todd are always in motion.  With one house in New York but living between Atlanta and Chicago, our time together was limited so we packed their trips to New York City full of meetings to plan their big NYC gay wedding.  They chose to get married at the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park because years ago when they first started dating, they had a memorable date at its former Rise bar.  The Ritz is a beautiful property with stunning views of the Statue of Liberty.  The ballroom is versatile and fun but we sought to transform it from a hotel ballroom into something truly special.

We started with a theme (New York City) and colors (yellow and purple, each of their moms favorite colors).  We brought in a lighting designer/AV company who projected images during dinner which made guests feel like they were staring out at city lights.  The designer also lit the dinner tables and added beautiful projections and purple uplights.  The beautiful flowers totally popped on the tables!

This New York City same-sex wedding was very special and a first for us because they had a Video Jockey!  Our AV company set up giant screens and speakers while the VJ mixed music videos live for the guests.  Throughout the night, photos of earlier in the wedding rotated in.  

Enjoy the beautiful photos by Katje Hempel.  Floral by Fleurs.  Lighting by Kayne LIVE.  Entertainment by Wendy Kidd Entertainment. Stationery by Bella Figura.  Photobooth by Fifth Avenue Digital.  Cake by Cake Alchemy.

Our Destiny New York elopement package is very popular - check out some scenes from our elopements this year...

Angela and Valerie

Mark and Richard 

James and David

Ashley and Marisol

(all photos by Kat Hempel)

Sometimes we hear from same-sex couples who want to have more than 20 guests but don't want to fuss with fully custom planning, despite wanting a beautiful, luxurious New York wedding experience.  For them, we are offering a new service, the Destiny Maxi package!

The Destiny Maxi is a semi-custom wedding planning package for up to 50 guests.  Top-notch photography, flowers (including centerpieces), wedding cake, an officiant and a private indoor ceremony space are all included.  You even get options to personalize when it comes to flowers and cake.  Simply choose the option that makes sense for you, add food and beverage costs and we'll do the rest.  

All you have to do is invite your guests and show up!  Wedding planning doesn't get any easier than this.  

The Destiny Maxi can be booked online today through this link!

This week in the gay wedding travel guide, it's Provincetown, Massachusetts (aka P-town), the tiny town on the tip of Cape Cod and a hugely popular LGBT tourist destination in the U.S.  

For a tiny town, P-town offers world class dining, great shops and beautiful beaches.  It’s a great place to plan your gay wedding but has very few wedding venues and is most suitable for smaller weddings.  Also, July and August are tough times for weddings in P-town because it's high tourist season and many inns require 5 night stays.

Where to Stay:  Gabriel’s is our pick for women with a great location near the center of town.  The rooms are beautiful with great amenities, including an outdoor hot tub!  For guys and mixed groups, we also love the Carriage House (also with an outdoor hot tub!) and the White Porch Inn.  There are many, many inns in Ptown so you'll easily find a great spot.

What to Do:  Stroll the many boutiques and galleries of Commercial Street.  Check out the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in the East End.  Explore the Pilgrim Monument museum to see what P-town was like when the Pilgrims landed (it’s where the Mayflower Compact was signed).  Hit the beaches by bike, car, cab or bus.  Herring Cove is a more accessible and family-friendly bay beach.  Race Point is a more adult beach on the ocean side.  You can rent bikes and ride the paved trails through the dunes.  Enjoy cabaret and drag shows at night or hit one of the town’s nightclubs.

How to Get Married:  You can apply for your marriage license at Provincetown City Hall for $35 but keep in mind that, in Massachusetts, there’s a 3 day waiting period.  If you are in a rush, you can have that waived by a court order if you drive to Orleans, Massachusetts.  We suggest, however, applying for and picking up your license in Boston instead since the courthouse and City Hall are near each other.  We can help with this process through our Vows package.

Our Picks for LGBT Photographers: John Caplice and Doreen Birsell are fantastic and the photo above was shot by Doreen. 

Our Picks for LGBT-owned Florists: Wildflower of Provincetown is our pick especially for more contemporary designs! 

Our Picks for LGBT Officiants: Rev. James Mack can officiate your religious or non-religious ceremony.

P-town’s wedding vendors are very welcoming of same-sex couples so you should have a great experience no matter who you choose.  Don't forget about us if you get stuck and are looking for a hand with all of your gay wedding plans in Provincetown.

For the past three years, 14 Stories has offered elopement packages for couples looking to marry in Massachusetts.  It's only natural that we now introduce our elopement package for couples looking to marry in New York City.  Introducing Destiny New York, our luxury elopement experience for couples from other states who want to legally marry in New York.

Destiny New York provides all couples need for a beautiful, elegant wedding ceremony including:

• In person assistance applying for your marriage license
• A luxury wedding concierge to coordinate your wedding experience 
• A town car to drive the engaged couple around Manhattan during your wedding experience 
• Officiant to officiate your wedding ceremony
•  Personal flowers - two boutonnieres or two bouquets, or one of each 
• Petite wedding cake that serves up to 20 
• Up to two hours of professional, photojournalistic-style photography coverage (ceremony and portraits), plus one disc of high resolution images 
• Dinner reservations at a nearby fine dining restaurant of your choice the evening of your wedding, or dinner arranged inside the club's private dining room (excluding food and beverage expenses) 
• 5 hours of professional wedding planning
• Access to our members-only rate at a private club where your ceremony can be held
• Unlimited referrals to other arrangements not limited to but including: spa reservations; videography; hotels and more

Every year we work with about 40-50 couples who are looking to legally marry in Boston, for just a small ceremony.  Those who book the Destiny packages can expect photos like these beautiful ones of Bernadette and Lori.  These ladies traveled to Boston from Maryland for a wonderful wedding experience with some friends and family.  We arranged for their hotel, hair and makeup, limo and more.  

Here are some highlights from their ceremony in the Public Garden.  Aren't those outfits incredible?  I love Lori's custom suit (inspired by Ellen's own wedding suit).  Bernadette's dress is absolutely stunning!  They are such a beautiful couple!






Boston gay wedding photos by Cheryl Levine.

We are very pleased to be presenting our wedding planning workshop for engaged same-sex couples Weddings Redefined  at the Vermont Wedding Salon on Saturday, February 5 at 3pm.  This workshop will help engaged LGBT couples get a great handle on how to plan their own wedding. We have presented this workshop in Boston, DC and Chicago in the past and are excited to work with couples in Vermont!  

This two hour workshop will talk about the nuts and bolts of planning your own wedding; gay wedding traditions; where to find gay-friendly wedding vendors and how to design and personalize your wedding.  We get terrific feedback on the workshop and hope you enjoy it too!

The cost to attend is $30/couple and includes hors d'oeuvres, beverages and a great packet of materials.  Space is limited and pre-registration is required.  To sign up, simply complete the form right here!

Let us know if you have any questions!

Tim and Mark live in California and when they decided to get married, same-sex marriage was not legal in their home state.  It was important to these grooms to bring their guests and their story to a place where their relationship was equal so they chose to marry in Massachusetts and hired 14 Stories to make it happen.  After a full day of visiting Boston's most unique wedding venues with us, they settled on the Boston Public Library as the perfect place to tell their story.

With the library in mind, together we developed a design theme that revolved around stories and books.  You'll see some of those details in the images below - even the table names were named after book genres (romance, mystery, etc).  We also worked with an illustration of a wolf and a fox, adorably drawn to represent each groom.  You'll see lots of that artwork in the details below, even in the wedding favors (the journals).

The wedding brought together the grooms' nearest and dearest who gathered here in Boston to pay tribute to two amazing gentlemen.  Enjoy the beautiful photos by Kat Hempel.  

Shannon and Mandy came all the way from the Bay area to marry at Walden Pond after booking our Destiny Platinum package.  Two teachers, they chose Walden Pond specifically because of their love of Thoreau and other transcendentalist writers of his time. 

Kristin Korpos was the photographer.  Janet married them.  It was a perfect day for these two brides.