They say love is a many-splendored thing. And for Chaya Milchtein and Jodyann Morgan, their love was so splendid, tens of thousands of strangers attended their wedding.
That’s right. On August 29, 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, the happy couple hosted their wedding entirely virtually, with more than 10,000 guests RSVP-ing. They quickly went virtual for their Zoom-friendly nuptials, garnering the attention of publications like The New York Times, Huffington Post, and even us–seeing as they’ve snagged a spot on the Pride50!
We decided to feature them today, June 26, because it also happens to be the sixth anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that granted same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages in all 50 U.S. states.
“I wanted a wedding, that was either a big queer party… because that was important to me,” Milchtein told LGBTQ Nation in August 2020, just days before the wedding, “and to be able to do something that wasn’t always possible: to be able to publicly demonstrate my love and publicly announce that this is what our life is.”
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But even cuter than the wedding is Milchtein and Morgan’s love story itself.
According to Milchtein, the couple are complete opposites. “We are two people from two different worlds… as far opposites as you could possibly imagine,” Milchtein told LGBTQ Nation.
Milchtein is white, Morgan is Black. Milchtein is extraverted and outgoing, Morgan is introverted and quiet. They both had completely different upbringings. Translation: Like some of the best rom-coms out there, Milchtein and Morgan prove opposites do attract and we are So. Here. For. It.
Now back to the wedding! The couple had been engaged for 11 months when they decided they should probably start making wedding plans. “While we had gone back and forth over and over again about the wedding itself, we had waffled on the details and kept setting the decision aside.” Milchtein revealed.
And then COVID-19 struck – forcing the couple to think fast. And thus, the idea to broadcast their wedding for the entire world to see was born.
“I thought I would feel pangs of loss ― that somehow my wedding dreams, even incredibly simplified, would not come true,” Milchtein told HuffPost. “Instead of wallowing, I threw myself into preparing for the wedding, a date that we set just one month out to prevent us from being stopped by the inevitable second wave of the pandemic.”
And good thing too. Looking back, Milchtein has no regrets.
“I realized I didn’t need a Kim K wedding to profess my love for my wife,” she said. “Our wedding brought people from all over the globe together for a moment of joy and peace, a brief reprieve from the tumultuous world outside. It was exactly what we needed, and though different from the dreams I once dreamed, it was truly a dream come true.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Cheers to the happy couple for their fearlessness, creativity, and willingness to share with the world a little LGBTQIA+ light and love (quite literally) amidst a dark time. Here’s to hoping no one left themselves on mute!
Welcome to Queerty’s Pride50. We’re celebrating the members from our community who are responsible for some of the most inspiring and extraordinary moments for LGBTQ people over the last year. See all the honorees
