Photo credit Godofredo Astudillo
As a gay man, there are certain things that you obligated to talk about with all of your best girlfriends:
Hair (Should she cut it, or color it)
Television Shows (Who do you want to sleep with on the CW)
Sex (giving her advice on how to use a penis properly)
And last but not least…. Weddings.
You see, a straight girl can chat about all her crazy wedding fantasies to her gay best friend and not feel like…. she is being crazy.
She can say things like
“I want a 10 foot tall chocolate fountain”
and her GBF will say
“Of course you can- and we will dip strawberries in it”
She can also say
“ I want to wear a big princess dress that will be three shades of pink!”
And her GBF will say
“And all the guys will wear pink bow ties and socks!”
Any of these topics would normally send a guy running for the hills if a girl brought any of them up- but with a GBF… we allow our girls to indulge!
I have spent hours up on hours talking to my best gal pals about what their dream weddings would look like and never once thought about mine. I mean, for many decades it seemed like gay men were destined to be serial daters for eternity!
Then, this past summer something amazing happened… Gay Marriage Fever spread across the United States. As of today, there are officially 15 States that recognize Gay Marriage.
On Facebook, I was able to see many of my favorite gay and lesbian couples announce their engagements and post updates on their big day.
As I scoured each one of their pages for every juicy detail from locations to pics of the invites, I got to wondering….
“In a world full of GBF’s giving advice and support to girlfriends on their big day… who was going to listen to me as I fumbled though planning a wedding for two guys!?”
Sure there will be some cross over on things like on venue, flowers and cake flavor – but there are so many other details that I am not prepared for- like name changes, rings, who walks who down the aisle.
As my head began to spin, I turned to Google for all the answers.
I began searching for facts like I was doing a research paper. I searched for things like “gay friendly wedding destinations, gay churches, gay-this, gay-that….”
The amount of information was staggering. There were so many little details that I did not realize existed until my research- that’s on top of what I thought I already knew!
I began to feel the cold sweat beading up on my forehead…
Did all these little details start to actually scare me away from planning the wedding of my dreams, or was I over thinking the whole thing from the beginning?
Thankfully there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
This Sunday, I have been invited to attend the Los Angeles Lesbian & Gay Wedding Expo. Before being invited I had it marked on my calendar like it was a national holiday! (Picture a crazy scribble with two groomsmen on a wedding cake!) The event is presented by FRONTIERS Magazine and is sure to satisfy all who attend.
The expo will provide a carefully curated selection of resources for the LGBT Community as we venture into the unexplored world of Gay Marriage! There will be everything from Wedding Planners, Bakers, wine tastings and Dj’s to advice on how to handle immigration visas.
The lack of information about the details is the very thing that clouds our ability to focus on the core of everyone’s nuptials… the love.
So as we all head into the great unchartered territory of Gay Weddings and we plan out the seating charts and first dance- remember, weddings are not only about the details of the day- but the love we have in our hearts for that special someone we want to be with forever.
For the rest of you crazy romance enthusiasts, especially those in Southern California, come join me this Sunday in Downtown Los Angeles as we explore the Lesbian and Gay Wedding Expo.
For more information head to Frontiersla.com/weddingexpo for all the details!
Until next blog,
David (aka Cupid)
