During her own childhood, even in relatively tolerant Minneapolis, Ms. Vitt was once asked about her darker-skinned mother, “Is that your nanny?” A customer in a pie shop, correctly recognizing Adrienne as biracial, informed the girl that she was going to hell.

“The constant theme was that it was unnatural,” said Ms. Vitt, who now works as a social media specialist for an interfaith organization. “People would say to interracial couples, ‘Are you going to have kids?’ ”

So when Ms. Vitt, in her young adulthood, increasingly heard gay marriage and gay families disparaged in nearly identical ways, her solidarity was stirred. She found a kindred spirit in Mr. Vitt, a high school classmate who had been raised in a liberal Roman Catholic home. By the time they rediscovered each other on Facebook three years ago, the issue of same-sex marriage was volatile and ever-present in Minnesota, in part because of Representative Michele Bachmann, who had built her political career in large measure on antigay positions.

“I was so thrilled to be engaged and so in love with Austin,” Ms. Vitt said. “But at the same time, I was completely conscious of the fact that there were people who can’t be excited about being engaged and waving around their ring. And we need to acknowledge that inequality.”

Inspiration struck in May 2011, when she and Mr. Vitt attended the wedding of a friend, who handed out white-knot pins. They wanted to be even more assertive, to harness what Ms. Vitt termed “the power of the pulpit.” Doing a Google search on the subject of gay marriage, she came upon the Massachusetts ruling, which Ms. Maxwell, the divinity student, was only too happy to incorporate into the wedding ceremony.

“I constantly strive to let people know that there are so many current and future religious leaders out there who feel incredibly passionate about not only accepting gays but including them in the beloved community we were all meant to be a part of,” Ms. Maxwell wrote in an e-mail. “I don’t believe Jesus would have ostracized people because of who they choose to love.”

And so, on the Saturday evening of Aug. 11, Pamela Baker put a white wristband on Adrienne, and Adrienne put a white wristband on Austin, and Austin thought about one of his groomsmen who had been raised by lesbian parents.