RuPaul’s Drag Race star Denali has married longtime partner Alexander Montgomery in a joyful Chicago wedding celebrating chosen family, queer culture and plenty of dancing.
Denali, whose real name is Cordero Zuckerman, tied the knot with Montgomery on 29 August at The Joinery in front of 125 friends and family.
Among the guests were Drag Race favourites Shea Couleé, Willow Pill, Kandy Muse, Utica Queen and Kahmora Hall.
“This wedding is a huge mile marker in both of our lives,” the couple said, describing the celebration as an embodiment of “chosen family, dancing, queer culture, music and love”.
From The Dance Floor To The Altar
Zuckerman and Montgomery first met at Chicago’s Berlin Nightclub in May 2017.
At the time, Zuckerman was transitioning away from touring as a professional figure skater and looking to build a new life in Chicago centred more around queer community and drag.
That first meeting on the dance floor ended up setting the tone for their relationship.
Dancing and queer nightlife remained central to the wedding, with Chicago DJ VITIGRRL keeping guests moving throughout the reception.
Drag Race Family Was Everywhere
The ceremony itself was deeply personal.
Chicago drag performer Aunty Chan officiated, while Zuckerman’s 90-year-old grandmother served as flower girl and walked alongside both grooms’ mothers.
The couple wore classic tuxedos for the ceremony before changing into custom reception looks created by Utica Queen, also known as designer Ethan Mundt.
Their first dance was to Lorde’s “400 Lux”, with lyrics from the song also inscribed inside their custom wedding rings.
Those details helped make the event feel unmistakably theirs rather than simply following traditional wedding expectations.
Celebrating Chosen Family
For Montgomery, the wedding was also an opportunity to reflect on the importance of chosen family within queer communities.
He said marriage may traditionally have been seen as a straight institution, but argued that choosing and honouring the people who become family fits naturally with queer life.
“We have been each other’s family for a long time now and don’t need paperwork or a party to prove it,” he said, while adding that he was grateful to belong to a generation of gay people able to legally marry.
Zuckerman said the moment carried particular significance after growing up in a religious family.
For him, marrying Montgomery represented the life he had built by trusting himself and following his heart.
“I am so proud to honour the man that I love and the family we have created,” he said.
A Very Queer Happily Ever After
The celebration ultimately brought together people from different parts of the couple’s lives who had never previously been in the same room.
From drag queens and chosen family to parents, grandparents and old friends, the couple wanted the day to feel less like a formal production and more like one enormous party.
Considering their relationship began on a Chicago nightclub dance floor, it feels entirely appropriate that they celebrated marriage the same way.
