A gay couple created their own same-sex Barbie wedding set, and now Mattel wants to make one for real
Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio of Scottsdale, Arizona, are getting married in May, and their two nieces will act as their flower girls. For their 8-year-old niece Natalie’s birthday, they thought it would be sweet to get her a Barbie wedding set with a flower girl doll. Unfortunately, Barbie wedding sets only feature straight couples, so Jacobi bought a Barbie wedding pack complete with two flower girls, ditched the bride Barbie, and bought another Ken-doll groom.
"We had a difficult time finding a same sex wedding set to give to my niece for her 8th birthday," Jacobi wrote on Instagram in an open letter to Mattel. "She and her little sister are flower girls in our upcoming May wedding. We thought it would be special to give her something with a little meaning behind it. What a bummer you don’t make one with two grooms. Anyway, we had to get creative and make a couple purchases. I hope our custom gift inspires you to make a #GayWedding set!"
Jacobi told CNN that when they gave the gift to their niece, she shouted with excitement: “They look exactly like you!”
Even better? Mattel saw the Instagram post and reached out. Now Jacobi and Caprio have a meeting set with the toy company in January to talk about actually making a same-sex wedding set.
"[Mattel] got back to me and we are setting up a meeting to discuss more," Jacobi shared on social media. "We are meeting with their design team including the head of the [Barbie] design team!! Thank you everyone for all your support. I promise to keep you posted every step of the way. Let’s get a same sex wedding set made!"
Though it took them a while, Barbie has made efforts to be more inclusive in recent years, so we think Mattel is serious with its intent to create doll sets that represent more than the heteronormative family.
