How The Fab Five Planned Their First 'Queer Eye' Wedding in Just 3 Days

For nine seasons, fans have watched Queer Eye deliver life-changing transformations to deserving folks all around the world. Conversations about weddings have occasionally appeared in the Netflix smash-hit series, and back in 2005, the original cast actually helped facilitate a proposal and the subsequent vow swap—but now, we finally get to see another Queer Eye wedding! In the ninth season of the feel-good reality show, which dropped on December 11, 2024, stars Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown, and newcomer Jeremiah Brent joined forces to plan a wedding for one very special couple.

Despite their two-year engagement, Kevin and Alexis' nuptials were put on pause when they welcomed their daughter, Olive. Following her father's Parkinson's Disease diagnosis, they wanted to tie the knot quickly so he could walk her down the aisle and share a dance at the reception. Of course, any to-be-wed knows how overwhelming planning a wedding can be, and these two had no idea where to start. Enter, the Fab Five. In just three days, the Queer Eye cast pulled together a bohemian "music fest"-inspired wedding in the middle of the Las Vegas (Yasss Vegas?) desert—and we have an exclusive look inside the entire celebration.

Inside the Season 9 Queer Eye Wedding

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Amid the season nine premiere of Queer Eye, we sat down with the cast to get the scoop on exactly how they planned a wedding in less than a week. (Spoiler alert: They relied on a lot of wedding vendors to help!) Read on to discover our favorite fun facts from the "Five Gays and a Wedding" Queer Eye episode, including a few moments you didn't see on TV.

The Fab Five Had Just Three Days to Plan

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According to The Knot's data, the average couple spends about 15 months planning their wedding—but the Fab Five had just three days to create Kevin and Alexis' special event. "The pressure was really intense," says Brent, who took the lead on design coordination. "Your wedding is one of the most important days. It's this declaration of who you've chosen to love in front of the people you love."

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While the interior designer doesn't have formal wedding planning experience, he notes that his 2014 nuptials to Nate Berkus helped guide him during the process. "Through my own wedding, I've seen how important that was," he continues. "We all felt like the stakes were really high. We wanted it to feel personal and special and really memorable."

The Couple Wanted a Music Festival Theme

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One of the biggest wedding trends of the moment is the wedding vibe—a more elusive take on a specific theme or aesthetic. From the start, Kevin and Alexis were adamant that they didn't want a traditional wedding, giving Brent the opportunity to push the boundaries with their boho vision. "They told me they wanted a music festival vibe, which was not something I was prepared for," he says with a laugh. "It was about transporting people and making it feel elevated but really casual. The bride and groom did not want something that didn't feel like them."

The fact that they wholeheartedly welcomed the Fab Five's guidance, Porowski says, was one of his favorite memories from filming the episode. "It was nice that Alexis and Kevin were so willing to have us be part of that experience," he tells us. "I'm constantly in awe of how these people—most of whom have never really been on camera before— are open to having complete strangers enter their personal lives like this."

The Final Venue Wasn't Jeremiah's First Choice

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While clusters of disco balls, layered rugs, fairy lights and mirrored accents helped curate the free-spirited feeling Brent was after, he says that getting the actual setting right took precedence above every other design tactic. "Finding the right venue was the most important thing," Brent explains. In fact, one of our favorite parts of the episode was when they used The Knot Vendor Marketplace to secure their team of pros. The group landed on an olive grove in the middle of the Las Vegas desert, but actually changed the specific location right before the vow swap. "The venue I picked originally was for a different spot on the property, but I walked around and saw the olive trees, and I knew that was where it was going to be," Brent continues.

Although Alexis and Kevin's wedding was highly personalized, the Fab Five agree that viewers will be able to take plenty of inspiration from it. "This one was something I can see so many people imitating their wedding after," Brown muses. "It was free, fun, inclusive, beautiful, and it also felt affordable and approachable."

The Bride's Hair Was Inspired By Gigi Hadid's Met Gala Look

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As per usual, JVN took the lead on glam—and Alexis' wedding day vision was inspired by one very specific A-lister. "I felt a lot of pressure in this episode, but I was really proud of what we came up with," they say. "Her inspiration was Gigi Hadid from the Met Gala in 2018. When I got to see the episode I was like, 'Nailed it!' It was gorgeous, I loved it. We slayed really hard."

Photo: Frazer Harrison | FilmMagic

France took the bride to Zimmermann, where she found a whimsical floral dress with a high-low skirt and a strapless neckline. While the style expert says his job was "easy," Brent emphasizes the importance of the attire she selected, saying, "The dress helped her see herself in a different way. That's heavy, and it had a tremendous amount of value in it. That's not something you can walk somebody through easily."

They Followed Their Own Tried-and-True Wedding Advice

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It's no secret that a few members of the Fab Five have had their own incredible weddings over the years. France wed his husband Rob in London in 2007 and again in the US when same-sex marriage was legalized; Brent married Berkus at the New York Public Library in 2014; and Van Ness and Mark Peacock tied the knot in their backyard in 2020. So while they might not have been official wedding vendors, they had plenty of sage advice to share with Alexis and Kevin—and viewers at home.

"Something I'm really glad we did was forget all the expectations," France tells us. "Do the wedding that makes sense for you. For me, I wanted to look out at that room and see the people that I love. I didn't want to think, 'Who are you? How are you related to me?' Forget that. I wanted to love everyone in that room and know them intimately."

Photo: Courtesy of Genevieve de Manio

Brent's takeaway from his own wedding is to specifically carve out time to be with your spouse, which he helped Alexis and Kevin do. "With a wedding, so quickly it becomes about everybody else and it's really overwhelming," he says. "If you can find five minutes to look at each other and tether yourselves to the experience, it's gonna change the entire wedding for you."

Perhaps our favorite wedding tidbit, though, is JVN's: "Eat something," they say. "My brother was once a waiter at a wedding and the groom didn't eat anything, and when they announced the newlyweds, he passed out face first and had to go to the hospital because he had no electrolytes in his system. So have a snack!"