Exactly one year ago, and on the five-year anniversary of the marriage equality vote, Tinder announced the Big Tinder Wedding and commenced a nationwide search for queer couples who found love on the app and wanted an all-expenses-paid dream wedding.
Tinder’s latest phase of the campaign aims to celebrate the colourful love stories unfolding on the app every day and focuses on the two lucky couples, Will & Monte and Kelly & Tara, who recently married in their own Big Tinder Weddings.
Tinder captured the couples’ journey in the lead-up to their big days in a campaign that will run across paid, social, influencer, owned, in-app, and feature in earned media. Content includes a funny, yet wholesome, reality TV-style YouTube series that shines a light on the couple’s beautiful stories, as well as the wedding planning journey, alongside the Big Tinder Wedding Planners.
The Big Tinder Wedding planners boasted a line-up of creators and experts from the LGBTQIA+ community and was led by Brooke Blurton as Chief Maid of Honour, as well as Jamie Azzopardi as personal stylist, Brendan de la Hay as event stylist and Conor Curran bringing the best in food and cocktails.
A series of Big Tinder Wedding sizzle reels and mini trailers will be rolled out across TikTok, YouTube, Nine Now, Vevo and Snapchat, supported by paid and driving traffic back to the YouTube series.
“For the past decade, Tinder has played a vital role in sparking new connections and we pride ourselves on being an inclusive app for anyone seeking a connection. The Big Tinder Wedding is just another example of this, and was our way of celebrating Tinder love stories and saying thank you to our users. It was so incredible to host the Big Tinder Wedding for the two couples and we wish them every happiness for the future. We’re honoured to be able to share these exceptional love stories with Australia,” said Kristen Hardeman, country director of Tinder Australia.
The campaign targets Tinder’s core audience and user base across Gen Z, of which, LGBTQIA+ users are the fastest growing group globally.
Successful love stories are unfolding on Tinder every day. In fact, a recent survey has revealed that 1 in 2* Aussies know someone that has married their Tinder, or other dating app, match. Of them 40%* say they’ve been to at least one dating app wedding – with 36% attending up to three!
Meet the couples
Kelly (30 she/her) and Tara (29 she/her), both from Sydney, matched on Tinder in 2021. Tara was initially drawn to Kelly through the warmth that radiated from her profile. They also found a connection through identifying as demisexual. “Our initial connection was purely emotional and mental, with the physical attraction coming later. We are a team in all aspects of life and can’t wait to continue our journey together, now that we are married,” said Tara.
Monte (30 he/him) and Will (32 he/him) are a pair of self described “lively and fun-loving characters” hailing from Queensland. The two proud First Nations men (Maori and Torres Strait Islander) formed a strong bond through Tinder in August 2020 and quickly found that they both shared similar values of tradition and culture. Monte and Will are both musicians and not afraid to burst into song at any moment, something that has livened up their love story – in fact Monte has even written a song for Will to celebrate their love!
“The wedding was incredible and we were in the present and enjoyed every single moment of it. It was so incredibly touching that our weddings represented us as a couple, particularly when it came to incorporating our respective traditions and cultures into the wedding ceremony and having all of our family and friends take part,” Monte said.
The Big Tinder Wedding celebrations!
On Saturday Feb 3, each of the couples received an extra special wedding for up to 100 guests. With a beautiful ceremony held at the Royal Botanical Gardens and an extravagant reception hosted on Sydney’s latest prestigious yacht, The Jackson, the weddings brought together the couples and their family and friends to celebrate their love. Tinder has also chipped in funds towards their honeymoons. Whilst Will and Monte are still deciding on their honeymoon destination, Kelly and Tara will be heading to the beautiful Whitsundays to relax and enjoy the sunshine together.
“What a beautiful and heart-warming journey it has been, not to mention a fun one. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know Will and Monte, as well as Kelly and Tara and having the opportunity to celebrate their individual love stories – from being brought together and matching with each other on Tinder, to standing in the picturesque Botanical Gardens and hearing them say ‘I do’. It’s not everyday that you get to be part of a special couple’s love story, and I am so grateful that they allowed me to be part of their dream wedding day! I cannot wait to see what adventures Will and Monte, and Kelly and Tara will embark on next as married couples,” said chief maid of honour, Brooke Blurton.
