According to the Associated Press, the same-sex wedding business is exploding like never before. Though itís difficult to say exactly how much itís worth, ìsome estimates place its value at up to $1 billion,î the Associated Press said.
The controversy over same-sex marriage seems to be the major fuel for this growth. ìVendors say attention to the marriage issue has encouraged more gay couples to recognize their relationships....î the AP says.
Rainbow Wedding Network, a same-sex wedding web site and expo company, told the AP that in 2005, $7.2 million was spent by customers on services advertised on their site. That figure is more than $5 million higher than the amount spent in 2002, the service quoted RWN co-owner Cindy Sproul as saying.
Some of the items gays and lesbians are buying are the same ones heterosexual couples are. But others have what the AP calls ìa same-sex twist: rainbow bejeweled rings, double-bride thank you cards and ëHis and Hisí towel sets.î The news service spoke to one gay man named Phillip McKee who spent $60,000 on his wedding, which had a Scottish theme to it. He lives in Virginia where same-sex marriage is still illegal. "For us,î he told the AP, ìthe essence of a marriage is our love. Whether the state honors it is the icing on the cake ó it's not the cake itself." The price tag for an average same-sex wedding is a little lower than what McKee spent on his wedding, ranging from $15,000, in places where same-sex marriage is illegal, to $20,000 in places where it is not, as Sproul told the AP.
RWNís wedding expo in Georgia, one of the states where same-sex marriage is still illegal, attracts around 500 participants, Sproul told the AP.
Sharmayne Wesler, who works with New York's GLBT Expo, told the AP that "the trend ... is toward really large weddings, none of these simple affairs. [Gays and lesbians] want to go to a ceremony with all the bells and whistles."
