We wanted to take this opportunity to talk about Pride and our inclusivity and diversity pledge in a little more detail, particularly the elements of that pledge that pertain to the LGBTQI+ community.

We are aware that for many of you (and as it is for us) Pride is more than just a month in the year. Sharing love found within the LGBTQI+ community is something that is important to us all year round. Last June when we made our inclusivity and diversity pledge and included a specific marker for the LGBTQI+ community to make sure that we furthered our consciousness and could be held accountable by you, our incredible community.

Our pledge to the LGBTQI+ community

Our pledge states that we will aim to make 1 in 10 articles you see on Rock My Wedding feature members of the LGBTQI+ community. This could include real wedding features, editorial shoots, images within roundup articles, inclusion in social media imagery and written contributions from the LGBTQI+ community.

Unfortunately, we are falling short of this pledge. We release a review every quarter and for the last two quarters, we haven't hit our aim of having 1 in 10 articles featuring members of the LGBTQI+. We continue to actively reach out to suppliers and photographers all the time but still aren't quite hitting the numbers. And we know how much representation matters. We're hopeful that a review scheduled for the start of July, will show that representation has improved this last quarter. We look forward to sharing that with you. Either way, we continue to be accountable and strive to make improvements.

What's next?

We are hopeful that we will be able to continue sharing increased numbers of LGBTQI+ real weddings and editorial shoots. We're thrilled to have Steph, a photographer from the community, share an article with you next week about an LGBTQI+ specific workshop she hosts and share some images from one of those workshops which we know you will love. Steph was responsible for shooting this LGBTQ+ inspiration shoot with bridal jumpsuit, so you can look forward to more from her.

We will also continue to actively seek out weddings and shoots so that we can hopefully get back to maintaining a level of representation that feels, well, more representative. We are really enjoying the amount of LGBTQI+ couples being used in editorial shoots and that the models used are real-life couples. This is so important when it comes to authentic representation. We are also supporters of UK Black Pride and are very aware of the nuance of having representation within representation. We hope to continue to be able to bring a diverse mix of LGBTQI+ couples.

Diversity Filters

Next month we will be releasing diversity filters on the website. That means that you will be able to filter specifically for LGBTQI+, gay weddings and lesbian weddings - should you want to be able to see just that content. We're in the process of refining the filters and adding them to our submissions platform so that you can let us know how you identify, in order for us to be able to represent you fully; should you wish to be a part of the filtered search.

Once the new filters are launched we would welcome your feedback. We want to be sure that they are working for you in the best possible way and that everyone feels represented. We will be adding this information to our editorial shoot submissions form too.

Submit your LGBTQI+ weddings and shoots

If you're a photographer or a supplier and have any LGBTQI+ weddings you'd like to share with us then please do so by visiting our submissions platform. If you're a couple getting married and would like to share your story with us, please ask your photographer to submit it via the same link.

And if you're a Recommended supplier of ours who is part of the LGBTQI+ community, please let us know as we'd love to highlight your work and share your business with our audience.

We hope you enjoyed the love shared throughout this article. These are all shots from just some of the weddings and shoots we've shared over the last 12 months. Here's to much more of it going forward too.

Happy Pride xx