A Rainbow Wedding Celebrating Queer Love and Vegan Food

Looking for rainbow wedding ideas and inspiration? This joy-filled celebration is packed with vibrant details, plant-based food, and heartfelt intention. Meet Lizzy and Tiffany, whose wedding was magic from the very first moment—glowing from the inside out. Playful, powerful, and rooted in who they are, their celebration was built on every kind of love: queer love, chosen family love, vegan love, and self-love. It was a day full of color, comfort food, and radical joy—a reminder that weddings can reflect our deepest values without losing a hint of sparkle.

The ceremony unfolded in a secret garden tucked behind Lizzy’s parents’ house, where the couple had spent over a year transforming wild overgrowth into something beautiful. “We tried to plant native things,” Lizzy said. “We wanted tall grasses…we spent a lot of time building a path for everyone—and us—to walk down.”

This rainbow wedding wasn’t just a moment. It was a crafted, meaningful reflection of care, beauty, and doing things with heart. Let’s get into everything they did to make their day unforgettable!

Behind the Rainbow Wedding

Every detail of Lizzy and Tiffany’s rainbow wedding was chosen with care—from the joyful color palette to the hand-built path for the guests to walk down. This wasn’t just a party with pretty florals and vibrant decor. It was a layered expression of queer love, intentional beauty, and community-rooted joy. The result? A celebration that didn’t just look like them—it felt like them, too.

Color was more than an aesthetic choice; it was a symbol of visibility, self-expression, and love in every shade. From their outfits to the food, every element came together to tell a story—not just of two people getting married, but of a shared life built with heart, hope, and beautiful pride.

The Color Palette of Pride

This rainbow wedding wasn’t just colorful—it was a full-spectrum love story told through texture, hue, and intention. Bold swaths of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple showed up in everything from the desserts to the attire—each element chosen not just for looks, but for meaning. “We wanted to celebrate queerness in a way that felt soft and magical,” said Lizzy, and the design echoed that. Rainbow ribbons danced from floral hoops. Place cards popped with color that mirrored the Pride flag. Even the food joined in, serving up playful nods to the theme—proving that color, when done with heart, can feel like home.

A Rainbow Wedding Reception Full of Meaning

“Going into our wedding planning we really wanted to work with queer, vegan, and/or POC vendors,” Lizzy said.

“The first venue we visited was Graffiti HeArt, which is a nonprofit arts building. The moment we walked in we knew it was the place. It was unique, cozy, covered in art, had paintings of Ruth Bader Ginsberg hanging in the entrance, and the building was spray-painted with lots of fun rainbow colors. After we [decided] this was where we wanted our wedding reception, we found out it was owned by a queer woman. It felt all too surreally perfect for us. We reserved it that same day.”

Planning an Inclusive Vegan Wedding Weekend

From the very beginning, Lizzy and Tiffany set out to create a celebration that broke from tradition in all the right ways. Their invitations, designed with pride-inspired colors, set the tone for a wedding that prioritized joy and inclusivity. Instead of assigning gendered roles, they asked their closest friends to be part of their “best people”—a term that felt truer to their values and their circle of support.

Their bachelorette party—lovingly dubbed the “Bachqueerette”—was just as thoughtful. It featured custom hats printed by Lizzy’s brother’s screen printing business, BSP Apparel Studio, and a stunning spread of vegan and allergy-friendly cookies from Bee-Loved Cookie Co., a local Cleveland favorite. “We made a conscious decision not to call ourselves a tribe,” Lizzy said, noting their desire to honor Indigenous communities with language that respects rather than appropriates.

The weekend getaway took place in a colorful Ohio cabin, with themed areas that featured their own playlists, drink menus, and outfit styles. After settling in, they treated themselves to vegan pizza and laser tag—two must-haves for this fun-loving couple. “It was more fun than I could have imagined,” said Lizzy. “Ohio Pie Co. makes the most delicious vegan pizzas. Our favorites are the Firebird, Heart of it All, Fried Dill Pickle Chip, and Chicken Club—all vegan, of course.”

For their rehearsal dinner, the couple rented out the dining room at Cleveland Vegan, one of their favorite plant-based spots. Guests enjoyed a full menu of comforting, celebratory dishes—including chickpea piccata and stuffed mushrooms—followed by a rainbow-layered vegan cake that was as stunning as it was delicious. “It was a big hit and so beautiful,” said Lizzy.

The Rainbow Wedding Dress-less Attire

There were no ballgowns or black tuxedos here—just wedding looks that felt true to who they are. Tiffany’s outfit came from Kirrin Finch, a gender-defying fashion brand that makes menswear-inspired clothing for nonbinary people and women. She paired it with a paisley bowtie and rainbow bun wrap—equal parts dapper and joyful.

Lizzy collaborated with local designer Made by MB to create a dreamy white jumpsuit—soft, structured, and entirely vegan. “MB completely understood my vision and made it even better,” said Lizzy. “She made sure to use vegan fabric that was still soft, formal, and perfectly white.” The back of the jumpsuit featured a delicate lace-up rainbow ribbon—a meaningful and mesmerizing accent that celebrated queerness in the quietest, most beautiful way.

“She even made her own bottle cap buttons for me. I collect bottle caps and really wanted to incorporate them into my jumpsuit. She took my idea and ran with it. I am so incredibly happy with how it all turned out. She did an exquisite job and was so fun to work with.”

Their wedding attire wasn’t about tradition—it was about intention. Every element reflected personal meaning, comfort, and joy. This rainbow wedding didn’t just show up in the decor. It was stitched into every seam.

Captivating Rainbow Wedding Hair

Lizzy’s hair was styled by Cleveland-based hairstylist Amanda Schnirman, who brought a vibrant pop of color to the big day. Amanda braided in the same rainbow ribbon featured in Lizzy’s wedding jumpsuit, creating a cohesive look that tied the entire aesthetic together—literally. The final style was playful, personal, and full of movement, echoing the theme of joyful, purposeful beauty that ran through every part of the wedding.

Enchanting Secret Garden Ceremony

Surrounded by wild grasses, native blooms, and a path they built by hand, Lizzy and Tiffany exchanged vows in a ceremony that felt more like a sanctuary than a venue. Their “Secret Garden,” tucked behind Lizzy’s parents’ house—known affectionately as Rainbow’s End—had been transformed over the course of a year into something quietly spectacular.

“We really wanted to keep the ‘secret’ aspect,” Lizzy said. They planted tall grasses and native plants that gave it this soft, secluded feel. We spent a lot of time building a beautiful path for everyone—and us—to walk down.”

The result was a space that felt sacred, like a love letter to the land and to each other—private, personal, and deeply alive.

Flowers for the big day were provided by Bleil’s Secret Garden—a business name that felt like kismet, Lizzy said—and were matched to the wedding party’s attire.

Surrounded by their best people in joyful colors, and standing beside Tiffany’s mother, who officiated the ceremony, Lizzy and Tiffany exchanged vows that were heartfelt, powerful, and completely their own.

“I also wrote vows for my stepdaughter, as I am not just marrying Tiffany, but also committing myself to her daughter as well,” Lizzy explained. “I wanted Kenzley to have a moment to also consent to this marriage and feel connected to it.”

Special Wedding Traditions and Colorful Wedding Ideas

The blending of traditional and creative wedding ideas didn’t stop there. The two planned innovative ways to incorporate their cultural and familial identities into the wedding ceremony.

“We also had a fire going during the ceremony, and had everyone throw something into the fire that represented their hopes, dreams, love, and support for us,” Lizzie said. “We then used that fire to light our rainbow unity candle.”

“At the end of the ceremony I then broke a glass using my Oma and Opa’s (grandma and grandpa in Dutch) worn and loved wedding glasses. I always wanted to break a glass at my wedding because it seemed really fun but also important to acknowledge my Jewish heritage. I feel really connected to the Jewish culture and my family’s history.”

Vegan Comfort Food After the Ceremony

After the ceremony, guests were treated to a creative, craveable twist on comfort food: vegan “comfort cones” from Cleveland-based Squash the Beef Catering. Each cone was filled with mac and cheese, creamy grits, and crispy fried chick’n, then glazed with syrup and hot sauce for the perfect salty-sweet-spicy bite.

“The all-vegan comfort cones were mac and cheese, grits, and fried chick’n in a waffle cone glazed with syrup and hot sauce,” Lizzy said.

It was a joyful, unexpected way to kick off the celebration—one that felt playful, memorable, and unmistakably them.

Capturing Their Day Through a Queer Lens

After the ceremony and comfort food, Lizzy, Tiffany, and their wedding party hopped onto a party bus for a photo adventure through Cleveland. Behind the camera was Tara Beth Photography, a celebrated LGBTQ+ wedding photographer whose creative eye and shared identity made all the difference.

“It was extra important for us to get a queer photographer so that our wedding was captured from a queer lens and so we didn’t have to be put into heteronormative poses,” Lizzy said.

“We wanted to know that we were fully accepted, loved, and understood by our photographer, which we were, and so much more. Tara made us feel like the most beautiful and important people in the world when she photographed us. She made us feel comfortable and really captured the essence of the whole day.”

Decked out in vibrant colors and radical joy, the group drew smiles and compliments everywhere they stopped.

“We really turned heads, which was fun,” Lizzy added. “A few people walked up to us and told us how beautiful our wedding party was and how happy it made them to see.”

Colorful Wedding Reception

For the reception, the celebration moved to Graffiti HeArt. It was the perfect backdrop for a wedding reception that felt expressive, inclusive, and full of joy.

Rather than sticking to tradition, the couple shared shortened versions of their vows and sealed it with another kiss—this time met with a rousing “Mazel Tov!” from the crowd as a glass was broken in honor of Lizzy’s Jewish heritage.

“It is just such a fun thing to do,” Lizzy said. “It made it feel really special and ceremonial. I can easily get turned off by ceremonies when it feels like it’s ritual for the sake of ritual. So it felt important to choose meaningful and purposeful things to include.”

Their goal was for guests to feel like true participants—not just observers—and this small, meaningful moment helped bring that vision to life.

A Plant-Based Wedding Feast to Remember

At the reception, Lizzy and Tiffany treated their guests to a beautiful plant-based buffet, curated by Cleveland-based Spice Catering Co., a vegan-friendly wedding caterer known for seasonal ingredients and vibrant presentation. The menu was designed to be fully vegan—bold in flavor, stunning on the plate, and deeply satisfying.

“We got so many compliments on the food,” Lizzy said. “I was obviously going to have a fully vegan wedding as a proud vegan of 7-plus years, and I really wanted to impress people with the quality and taste of the food, and Spice did just that. I was so happy to hear how much people enjoyed it.”

The Vegan Wedding Menu

The passed hors d’oeuvres included crisp and savory bites like:

• Crispy “Cacio e Pepe” 
• Beet Falafel
• Stuffed Mini Peppers

For the main buffet, guests were treated to colorful, nourishing dishes served in both platters and party jars:

• Crunchy Crudo salad with tofu feta, crispy chickpeas and herby tahini dressing
• Mushroom Chorizo tacos with kale slaw, salsa, cilantro + onion
• Firecracker Noodles Party Jar (rice noodles with veggies and sesame seeds)
• Vegetable Curry Party Jar (half sized mason jars)
• Brown Sugar and Rosemary Little Potatoes

Dessert came courtesy of Cleveland Vegan, who crafted a dessert bar full of nostalgic Midwestern favorites with a plant-based twist. Highlights included:

• Buckeyes (chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls that resemble the Ohio state tree)
• Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
• Plant-based pecan bars with a buttery, caramel-like base

Every bite reflected Lizzy and Tiffany’s desire to serve food that was delicious, compassionate, and deeply personal. It was vegan wedding food done right.

Sustainable Wedding Secrets

Lizzy and Tiffany made sustainability part of the plan from the start. One of their favorite low-waste ideas? A compost bin painted in rainbow colors, right in the Secret Garden.

Instead of hiding it, they made it part of the vibe—practical, colorful, and true to them. It was a small detail, but it reflected something bigger: a wedding that felt joyful without leaving a mess behind.

Hers & Hers First Dance

With full hearts—and bellies—the newlyweds took the floor for their first dance. Set to a playlist of songs that told their story, the moment was made even more meaningful thanks to lessons with a queer dance instructor who helped them feel confident, connected, and completely themselves.

It was a celebration of queer love, movement, and music—and a perfect start to the night.

A Kaleidoscope of Love

Lizzy and Tiffany’s rainbow wedding was more than a beautiful event—it was a living reflection of their shared values, creative vision, and deep, purposeful love. From the vegan food and inclusive vendors to the secret garden path they built by hand, every detail was infused with meaning.

“It was a really beautiful, joyful, and profound experience,” Lizzy said. And that’s exactly how it felt—like a celebration not just of a relationship, but of community, identity, and the kind of love that shows up boldly, unapologetically, and in full color.

Featured Vendors, Caterers, and Artisans

• Custom Frosted Sugar Cookies: Bee Loved Cookie Co
• Pre-Ceremony Catering (Comfort Cones): Squash The Beef
• Wedding Reception Catering: Spice Catering
• Vegan Rainbow Cake: Cleveland Vegan
• Tiffany’s Wedding Suit: Kirrin Finch Gender Defying Fashion
• Lizzy’s Custom Jumpsuit: Made by MB
• Vegan Wedding Shoes (Lizzy’s): Tomboy Toes
• Rainbow Wedding Hair: Amanda at Willow Room Salon
• Rainbow Wedding Flowers: Bleil’s Secret Garden
• LGBTQIA+ Photographer: Tara Beth Photography
• Screen Printing Shop: BSP Apparel Studio
• Venue: Graffiti HeArt
• Wedding Planners (came with the venue): Penthouse Events CLE
• Bachqueerette Pizza Place: Ohio Pie Co