According to The Washington Post:
When Don Gillin put up a Craigslist ad for his same-sex wedding planning company a few months back, he was so overwhelmed with inquiries that he had to take the posting down after just 16 hours.
It wasn't only potential clients who got in touch, but other wedding vendors wanting to partner with his firm, and couples from across the country trying to understand how gay marriage legislation was proceeding in the District.
"Everyone is just in a whirlwind," says Gillin, founder of D.C.'s Gay Wedding Planners. No one knows for sure what the economic impact of last Wednesday's legalization of same-sex marriage will be in the District, but a 2009 report by UCLA's law school projected that the Washington region would see a $52.2 million revenue bump over the next three years. And there are plenty of entrepreneurs, including Gillin, positioning themselves to get a piece of the pie.
Getting into the business, he expected gay weddings to be less traditional than straight weddings and perhaps a bit more "over the top." Instead, he's finding that clients want "exactly what everyone else has had. . . . They want it to be really classic."
One difference Gillin has noticed is that in same-sex weddings, the couple themselves are driving the decision-making, rather than a parent, as he has sometimes seen happen with straight weddings. "It's more their own," he says. "The gays really know what they want, and honestly, they've been thinking about this just as much as a bride and groom." Gillin was shocked by how many inquiries he received from local florists, caterers and limo services. In deciding which vendors he would choose as affiliates, Gillin researched each company's history with the GLBT community.
"I tried to make a distinction between vendors who are just trying to jump on this bandwagon . . . and those who previously had an interest in the gay community," he says. "I wanted people who understood how important it was for our clients." Because for now, at least, these aren't just weddings, Gillin says.
"It's more important. It's about gaining a right that we never had. It's historic." Gillin, who is gay and now discussing marriage with his partner of eight years, says he had always "dreamt about a wedding but never thought that it would be possible. We've been waiting for this for a long time."
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