Wow, that must be one of the most used titles in blogs. But it fits the story, so please forgive the unspectacular headline.
When we saw the news on May 15, it did not take 20 minutes, our phone rang and we had two excited voices on the other end. G and G, our very dear friends, shouting and laughing, relieved, exhilarated. Finally they can get married. Finally, after 10 years, they can be as much a couple as anybody else. Just some weeks ago, G, who works in a Tuxedo shop, complained about how he helps all these weddings come true, but can not legally be married himself!
We were all talking at the same time. Went back to check the news and it was clear that they were getting married before November and we were going to help to plan the wedding. After all we just got married ourselves and still had vivid memories of what needs to be done and what could go wrong (no, let’s not go into that).
Armed with a bottle of wine for creativity purposes, we sat down and discussed the next steps. Soon we realized that this was not going as smoothly as it was with our wedding. Although the type of the event was quickly classified as ‘elegant’ and ‘classy’, questions like what to wear and where to wed were more difficult.
What do you wear to a same sex wedding? Who is going to officiate? What will we put on the invitation? And who’s invited?
The rebel in me rejoices in the prospect of helping planning something that is unfairly denied to so many others and condemned by people who have no business judging. But all of a sudden, this has become personal, affecting our two close friends and it’s not about a political statement anymore. I felt genuinely and newly amazed at the walls that are still standing strong, preventing a same sex couple from being equal to a heterosexual couple.
Realizing that every other same sex couple who wants to get married will go or has gone through the same issues, we decided that we will create a platform where all these problems, ideas and experiences can be shared to make the whole process easier and to give support. So, this is how Celebrate Gay Weddings started.
We added a directory for local businesses to make it easier for gay couples to find a service who will treat them with the same respect as other couples. And we also created several planning tools like a customizable checklist, a reminder service which sends out emails and a registry list. If you haven’t already, check it out: http://www.celebrateourgaywedding.com
A complete list of city halls of California is available and includes contact information, marriage requirements, opening hours and special information.
We hope, that we will soon have some interesting stories from our members on there. Meanwhile, I will keep you up to date here about the progress of the website and the walls we hit during its creation.
