Finding an inclusive wedding venue in Kentucky (or anywhere) shouldn't feel like detective work. Your venue sets the tone for the entire experience and determines how you, your fiancé, your family, your vendors, and anyone else participating in your wedding will navigate the day.
For the average couple, finding the perfect wedding venue means finding a something that is within budget, as conveniently located as possible, available for their ideal wedding date, etc. For queer, interracial, non-monogamous or any kind of couple, throuple (you see where we’re going here) that lives outside of binary wedding industry expectations, there are SEVERAL added layers and factors to consider.
If you're looking for an inclusive wedding venue in Kentucky (or anywhere else in the U.S.), there are a few key questions you should keep in mind when touring potential venues:
1. Does this wedding venue make it explicitly clear that they are inclusive?
It shouldn’t take more than a glance to discern if a potential venue is a safe place for you and your loved ones. Whether it’s a pride flag in their social media bios, a Black Lives Matter statement somewhere in their content, photos of diverse couples on their feed, transparency about their policies, listing themselves on inclusive wedding vendor sites or anything in between, there are a million ways a venue can make their inclusivity known. As stated above, if identifying inclusivity feels like the level of social stalking you did on your ex from 5 years ago, you're doing too much. Venues should be doing that leg work for you and if they're not, chances are they are not a truly inclusive space.
Here are a few places you can find inclusive wedding vendors in Kentucky:
Inclusive Kentucky Weddings offers a directory of all kinds of LGBTQ+ inclusive wedding vendors across the state of Kentucky.
Equally Wed - For over 10 years, this robust directory has been providing info on LGBTQ+ inclusive wedding vendors nationwide!
The Knot and Wedding Wire (allows you to filter searches for LGBTQ+ owned, woman owned, black owned, etc.)
Slightly more affordable than The Knot, Zola offers similar search features and a massive directory of vendors across the country
2. Is the venue physically accessible?
In addition to environmental and emotional safety, it’s important to know how physically accessible venue spaces are for those who are wheelchair bound or who experience mobility issues. Historical wedding venues must especially take extra care to take these needs into consideration. Whether outlined on their social media, website or on tours, any wedding venue should be able to talk through how they can or can’t meet accessibility needs.
At The Stone House at Silver Creek, for example, we are a 51 acre expansive and historical property. Most of what makes this venue so magical ALSO makes it inaccessible. To mitigate this, we make sure to talk to each client about their family/guests needs and make adjustments where we can. For example, at every wedding, we make an effort to greet each vehicle as they pull into the property and ask if anyone in the vehicle needs assistance or transportation to the wedding ceremony site. If anyone DOES need assistance, we do our best to have our side-by-side available for quick, low hassle guest transportation.
The Stone House at Silver Creek is not only a wedding venue but a working farm, which means there’s often loads of rolling grass, a mild walk between wedding ceremonies and the reception area, and if the wedding is outside, there are weather elements to take into account (wet grass, freshly mowed grass, strong winds, hot sun). Although the side-by-side isn’t the perfect solution for every need, it’s something that we as a venue do to make our space as accessible as possible.
3. Does the online presence match up to the in person experience?
Once you've narrowed down your options, it's a good idea to visit potential wedding venues in person to get a feel for the space, meet the team and to ensure that the venue meets your needs. It's also a good idea to ask the venue staff about their policies on inclusivity and accessibility to ensure that they align with your values and needs. If you find the staff is unable to answer your questions or their answers don’t quite align with the inclusivity info you found on them online, chances are, they’re not a good fit.
4. Finally, don't be afraid to ask for references from other couples.
If you have friends, loved ones or heck… even distant acquaintances who have faced this challenge before you, reach out! Getting the inside scoop from folks who have been in your shoes before is a much quicker route to finding kind, inclusive and excellent wedding vendors.
Finding a safe and inclusive wedding venue for your dream Kentucky wedding can feel daunting and overwhelming but with these few tidbits, you’ll be well on your way to finding the right venue for you! By looking for venues that are actively inclusive/accessible, asking the right questions, and perhaps with a little help from your friends, you’ll find that dream venue in no time!
