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Gays and lesbians put their own stamp on the wedding industry

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 15, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. - He's no celebrity, but when Phillip McKee III tied the knot in September, he did it with all the pomp and circumstance of an A-lister: Custom-designed gold rings, a $2,000 kilt and a caviar-and-crepe reception at a five-star hotel.

McKee, 34, sank about $60,000 into his Scottish-themed nuptials, worth it he says for the chance to stand before a minister and be pronounced husband - and husband.

Even as lawmakers across the nation debate legislation banning same-sex marriage, couples are uniting in weddings, fueling a growing industry peddling everything from pink triangle invitations to same-sex cake toppers.

Vendors say attention to the marriage issue has encouraged more gay couples to recognize their relationships, though in most states, the ceremonies are purely sentimental.

"For the longest time, there was so much shame and privacy around it that people didn't really give themselves permission to have ceremonies like this," said Kathryn Hamm, an Arlington wedding consultant who planned McKee's marriage to partner Nopadon Woods. "(Now) the market is growing as the headlines remain out there."

Unlike the multibillion-dollar traditional wedding industry, experts say the gay wedding business is harder to track. Some estimates place its value at up to $1-billion.

In 2005, gays spent $7.2-million with vendors found at the Rainbow Wedding Network Web site, according to data collected by the site, which publishes a national magazine and hosts wedding expos. That's up from $2.1-million in 2002, said Cindy Sproul, who co-owns the North Carolina firm.

Marriage-minded gays and lesbians are buying basics like flowers and limousines. But vendors say couples also are spending on items with a same-sex twist: rainbow-bejeweled rings, double-bride thank-you cards and "His and His" towel sets.

"We almost completely parallel what heterosexual couples are doing," Sproul said. "The only difference is there may be two grooms, or two brides."

Sproul estimated gay couples spend about $20,000 on ceremonies in states offering some form of recognition, like Massachusetts and Vermont. But couples elsewhere are investing: Sproul said couples average $15,000 on ceremonies in states that have banned gay marriage such as Georgia, where an annual wedding expo her company hosts draws about 500 gays and lesbians.

Emerging in gay communities largely in the past decade, same-sex marriages - and weddings - recently have been drawn into the national spotlight by attempts to make the unions illegal.

[Last modified January 14, 2007, 19:52:13]