[6] Following extensive promotion of the video through social networking, Bloodworth-Thomason, who had once met the couple at a wedding in Palm Springs, California, contacted Crone about expanding it into a full-length film.

"The documentary 'Bridegroom,' written and directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (of Designing Women fame), is a poignant, powerful tale of first love and untimely death as well as a practical, frankly undeniable, plea for marriage equality....

Despite the pain, sadness and vast emotional upheaval depicted here, Bridegroom is also a movie filled with hope and passion, dignity and pride, and many stirring pockets of joy.

"[14] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Inspired by a viral YouTube video and deftly directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (Designing Women), Bridegroom is about an unmarried gay couple in their 20s and what happens when one of them dies.

[16] The reviewer went on to say, "In lieu of telling the story via simple white captions, the documentary relies on straightforward talking-head interviews with Crone's family and the couple's shared circle of friends, who describe how these two closeted small-town guys clicked when they met in Los Angeles, quickly forming the kind of relationship that romantics everywhere envy."