Married in Spandex follows a young lesbian couple, Rachel Turanski and Amanda Kole, from West Philadelphia as they travel across the United States to get hitched among the cornfields of Ames, Iowa.

Along the way, this documentary asks friends, family members, and some denizens of Iowa to consider Amanda and Rachel’s marriage as a political act, as a civil institution, and as a celebration of their love. Whatever their marriage could be characterised as, Amanda and Rachel’s wedding is certainly their own celebration.

In the film, Rachel explains:

This isn’t a dress occasion. This is a jumpsuit occasion.

Like every couple, Amanda and Rachel want their wedding day to be a unique and memorable event. Unlike most other couples, Amanda and Rachel are getting married in the US Midwest with a gold spandex dress theme in a ceremony officiated by internet sensation and rapper of self-styled ‘ladyjams’, Leslie Hall.

In Married in Spandex, friends and family of the couple are asked to reflect on some of the challenges posed by the couple’s wedding such as the non-recognition of their marriage in their home state of Pennsylvania, the fact that many of the couple’s friends are against marriage generally, and the dress code for attendees.

The subjects discussed with interviewees are well-chosen and the viewer gains intimacy with the couple, and insight into what their marriage will mean for them and those close to them with honesty and plenty of humour. Married in Spandex avoids over-sentimentality and ensures that its only corny feature is the Iowan fields on the way to the wedding venue.

In sum, Married in Spandex is a funny and romantic journal of one couple’s custom-made ceremony that is, notwithstanding the glitter and ruche, both honest and thoughtful.

Married in Spandex screens this Monday, August 6th at 5:30pm in the Lighthouse Cinema as part of the Gaze Film Festival with the short film And I am Me.