December 28, 2019 / Wedding
2nd Floor Events Wedding - Jenn + Tiffany
These babes thoooooo WE’RE SO LUCKY JENN + TIFFANY ASKED US TO SPEND THE DAY PHOTOING THEIR 2nd FLOOR EVENTS WEDDING (and cue the annoying SEO language… sorry). As I’ve now completed the writing of this post and am re-reading for editing purposes, I realize that it’s actually kind of a serious one. That’s pretty rare for me. But human rights are fucking important, so… read on, noting that we’ll be discussing important things after I realize 2 paragraphs from now that I’m boring. Please note that I understand that I lack the perspective to be able to have an important opinion on this subject, so, I’mma mostly leave it up to others who can say it better because they live it.
We met Jenn and Tiffany in a weird basement bar in Oshawa.
We were real’ surprised when they actually wanted to hire us after meeting for THEIR 2nd FLOOR EVENTS WEDDING (sry), ’cause they’re SO obviously cooler than us. Like, they have style and cool hair and are very, very culturally aware and well-educated. And us…well… we’re white hetero folks from Cobourg*. I feel like, one amazing couple at a time, Mat + I are going to become so much better as people. Not that we’re bad. We’re just… white folks from Cobourg! It’s just a bit of a bubble, you know? *I mean, we’re in a hetero marriage, though Mat is the only truly hetero person in our relationship. I’ve always openly identified as “straightish”, but there’s definitely a better word to describe me.
We met them again before the 2nd Floor Events wedding for an engagement photo date at Trinity-Bellwoods Park. They drank beer and watched dogs play in the Dog Bowl. It was fun, but this is boring. I’m going to stop writing now and quote these two amazing women because they have so much important stuff to say and they say it so well. Tiffany and Jenn are a lesbian couple, in case you hadn’t guessed that. To so many of us this is very much a normal, “yeah, so?” bit of information. But it’s actually a really big deal that they got married.
A word about important shit from Tiffany:
” Although not the first queer couple in my family to be wed, we are the first lesbian couple. The gravity of this is not lost on me.
It’s strange to think that marriage equality in Canada is something that was achieved in my lifetime. Stranger still, that this right is not globally recognized. There is still work to be done on many fronts (women’s rights, transgender rights, and the rights of people of colour to name a few).”
and now from Jenn:
“We are fortunate to live in a country where our love is recognized (and even celebrated). There are countless queer trailblazers all over the world who are fighting for others to have the same rights as we do. We honour them and their struggles, though it’s all far from over. I am optimistic that marriage equality can be achieved, globally, in our lifetime.”
Confession: I dated a homophobe for four years.
Not actually related to the 2nd Floor Events wedding, but relevant to the conversation.
Though I haven’t myself experienced persecution or limited rights based on the people I love and/or have sex with, I did have a boyfriend (before 2012) who was *incredibly* homophobic. He and his family came from a country where it was, um, frowned upon, to not be hetero. From wikipedia: “In May 2014, Amnesty International identified this country as one of a number of countries where there is a marked lack of will to tackle homophobia and transphobia, noting that public authorities had repeatedly banned pride marches on the basis of violent threats from homophobic groups and had failed to protect LGBT individuals and organizations from discrimination, including verbal and social media threats and physical attacks.”
UGH. I was seriously, seriously grossed out by the lack of acceptance from someone born in the same decade as me. Like, aren’t we all supposed to be getting past this as the generations learn and grow? Love is LOVE.
Living in my beautiful Canadian bubble, I didn’t really have to think about it anymore after that relationship ended.
so I’m embarrassed to say that I’m just discovering NOW that four months after that Amnesty International identification of my ex’s home country as sucking for LGBTQ people, their capital had its first ever successful Pride Parade. FUCK. YA. And it’s had successful Pride Parades EVERY YEAR SINCE. FUCK. YA.
And guess what else? In that same country, in June 2017, an OPENLY GAY WOMAN was voted Prime Minister. Holy shit. FUCK. YA.
I’m also happy to report that the ol’ homophobic ex-boyfriend moved past that toxic culture bullshit and no longer feels the need to have an opinion on relationships that don’t concern him. It’s probably not my place to be proud of him, but I’m proud of him. That shit was engrained deeeeeeeeep. If he can do it, maybe so can most (if not all) of the rest of the world in our lifetime.
Welp,
I guess after going through all of that just now, I’m feeling like I’ve got some faith in humanity for the future. This feels like a good place to end this and get on with the pics, no? I leave you with wise words from another wise human I know (said at *another* lesbian wedding we photographed this year),
CHEERS TO THE QUEERS! Links at the bottom.
Friggin OBSESSSSSED with the florals by Wild North Flowers
Yes, ^that is Multi-purpose Mat helping with setup.
^Multi-purpose Mat to the rescue with the tissues.
It’s Toronto, so… there were people.
I chose to leave in the construction pylons for authenticity.
not. a. dry. eye.
Like the ceremony, the speeches weren’t emotional at all.
INSTA LINKS:
Venue: @2ndfloorevents
Florist: @wildnorthflowers
Wedding Attire: @vinta_to
