PrideBride
in Nashville City Papers
Same
sex, individualized parties
By Deanna Larson, dlarson@nashvillecitypaper.com
April 27, 2004
If the Fab Five
did weddings, we doubt that they'd include one bar of Bach or one
yard of tulle. But they just might arrange for commitment bands,
a cake and an offbeat celebration customized to the couple themselves.
"Gay men
have been involved in traditional wedding planning for years,"
but when it comes to civil unions, they don't feel constricted by
society or family traditions," said Mike Smith, a gay individual
who has often assisted with weddings and grew up working alongside
his caterer mother.
"It's a
celebration of their commitment, rather than what their mom or dad
wants," Smith said.
New gay bridal
fairs peddle some of the same hollow fantasies and tacky merchandise
that haunt heterosexual couples. But same-sex couples are used to
doing things differently, "blazing the trails" and trends
that eventually turn up in heterosexual weddings, according to Smith.
Brief ceremonies
on the courthouse steps are being followed by big parties back home,
some of which include traditional elements such as engraved invitations,
cakes, formal wear and honeymoons.
"I would
imagine [that] a lot of Southern gay men would want to do a twist
on tradition," Smith said.
OutLoud, the
gay and lesbian department store at 1709 Church St. (340-0034) has
books on civil-union legal issues and wedding planning, such as
The Essential Guide to Lesbian and Gay Weddings, plus a wide range
of commitment bands and rainbow rings.
Stephanie Felts
of The Sweetest Day makes custom celebration cakes in flavors such
as white citrus, almond, red velvet and carrot, with any inscription
or decoration, 833-2965; thesweetestday.com.
Pridebride.com,
based in Canada, features gay wedding software and same-sex marriage
news along with gifts and wedding accessories, and purpleunions.com
steers gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transsexual (GLBT) couples to
rainbow-friendly vendors and honeymoon locations around the world.
Twogrooms.com
and Twobrides.com offer civil union wedding invitations, proclamation
certificates ($75), paired grooms and paired brides cake toppers
($17.98/pair) and photo albums with handmade paper pages and two
grooms on the cover ($59.95).
There are lots
of gift possibilities, but pride and disco are rolled into one with
the rainbow mirror ball, $14.95, kleptomaniac.com. And "because
it's too dark to write poetry in the closet," the Magnetic
Poetry people offer the Queer Poetry Kit (magneticpoetry.com) which
just might help families accept the situation, one word at a time.
orginal
article appeared at: http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/
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