STORY | UTRECHT

A Same-Sex Wedding and Pool Party in Utrecht

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 28 October 2026

Two grooms kissing under a sand-colored tent as their guests clap and cheer at their same-sex wedding in Utrecht

This same-sex wedding in Utrecht came with one unusual dress code: bring your swimwear. Daan and Ruben first met at the outdoor pool next to this lawn. So after the vows, the whole party moved to the water.

I photographed their day from the first hugs at three in the afternoon until the last ones at half past eight. It is one of my photoshoots in Utrecht, and one of the happiest.

A Summer Wedding on a Lawn in Utrecht

Two big sand-colored tents stood on the grass, with a volleyball court and tall trees behind them. Under the canvas, the June sun turned soft and even. Because the afternoon was warm, paper fans came out in every row.

Sand-colored stretch tents on a sunny lawn in Utrecht, wedding guests seated in the shade and tall trees behind them — The tents on the lawn, mid-afternoon in June

While the guests found their seats, friends greeted each other with fans in the air. Meanwhile, a baby watched it all from a pram. A wedding newspaper made the rounds too, full of childhood photos and a playful interview with the grooms.

Laughing guest in a yellow gingham dress and sunglasses waving a pastel paper fan, a man in a red bow tie beside her

Baby in a spotted romper lying in a beige pram on the grass, looking up from under the hood just before the ceremony

Two Grooms Say Yes Under the Canvas

Friends spoke first, one of them in a jacket covered in tropical flowers. Then the grooms took the microphone themselves. Ruben read his words from a sheet of paper. In front of him, Daan sat in red socks and smiled up at him. After that, they swapped places.

Friend in a jacket printed with tropical flowers and flamingos speaking into a microphone, a bald friend smiling beside him

Groom in a gray suit reading his words into a microphone as the other groom, in a linen jacket and red socks, smiles up

Smiling groom signing the marriage register at a table with a dark red cloth, his new husband laughing beside him — Words read out loud, then two signatures

Next, they stood face to face before the registrar in his black robe. When they kissed, the whole tent clapped and cheered, and that frame opens this story. Both grooms smiled through the signing at a table with a dark red cloth. Finally, the registrar signed as well, and their same-sex wedding in Utrecht was official.

Registrar in a black robe signing the papers while both grooms stand beside him laughing, at their wedding in Utrecht

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples. I welcome every couple equally, and a queer wedding this full of joy is a gift to photograph.

Over drinks on the lawn, a few guests kicked a ball around. One boy climbed all the way to the top of a tent pole, while a friend kept a calm eye on him.

Boy perched at the top of a tall wooden tent pole beside the canvas, a guest in a striped shirt watching with folded arms

Soon after, family and friends gathered on the grass for the group photos, and of course they cheered with their arms in the air.

Wedding guests and family cheering with their arms in the air for a group photo on the grass in Utrecht, both grooms in the middle

Then I took the two grooms aside for a few quiet minutes on the grass. Daan pulled Ruben close, and they laughed with their foreheads together. On a day this busy, those minutes belonged to them alone.

Cheek to cheek and beaming, two grooms in a linen jacket and a gray suit pose on the grass just after their same-sex wedding

Newlywed grooms laughing with their foreheads together and their arms around each other on a green lawn in June

Then Everyone Went Swimming

Next door, the long pool waited under an open steel roof, with red and white Dom tower flags strung across the water. Within minutes, suits and summer dresses made way for swimsuits. Guests floated on orange mats, splashed each other and shrieked with laughter.

Wedding guests swimming in a long pool under an open steel roof frame in Utrecht, orange floats drifting on the water — The pool under its open roof, just after half past five

Four guests and an older woman splashing around a bright orange float in the blue pool, water drops flying through the air

Outside, a green crocodile spat water into a round pool, and one guest leaped right past it. After dinner from a food truck, others sat in a circle on the grass as the low sun came through the leaves. I moved between them quietly, so nobody had to stop playing.

Guest jumping into an outdoor pool with arms spread past a green crocodile fountain, another guest cheering in the water

Wedding guests in swimwear sitting in a circle on the grass in Utrecht, low sun shining through the leaves of a tree

The wide water slide drew the bravest guests again and again. Just before seven, two friends carried an orange mat across the terrace, their shadows stretching long behind them.

Guest splashing down at the foot of a wide water slide in front of tall dark green trees, others in swimwear watching

Two friends in swim shorts carrying an orange mat over their heads past a glass pool building, long shadows on the tiles — Long shadows by the pool, just before seven

Songs, Gifts and Hugs Indoors

In the evening, we moved into a hall with brick walls and warm globe lamps. By now, the grooms wore tank tops, one of them printed with a flamingo. Their family sang a song for them from printed sheets, with the eldest singer in bright orange.

Family singing for the grooms from printed song sheets in a brick hall, an older woman in orange holding a black folder

There were gifts as well, among them a painting of a blue iris. Through every speech, Daan and Ruben kept laughing, while a little boy in glasses sat right at their table.

Both grooms laughing in tank tops, one printed with a flamingo, at a table on the evening of their wedding in Utrecht

Then their grandmothers read to them from a black folder. Afterward, both grooms went straight in for a long hug. That is the last frame of their same-sex wedding in Utrecht: loud, loving and full of family.

The grooms hugging two older women after their reading, the last frame of a long and happy same-sex wedding day

Planning your own same-sex wedding in Utrecht, with or without a pool? Discover my photoshoots in Utrecht.