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CNN's Fredericka Whitfield talks to the founders of a same-sex bridal magazine catering to a burgeoning new trend.
August 17, 2010



Same-sex bridal magazine born of frustration

When the Bride Takes a Bride, Businesses Respond
By Kevin Sack
Published: July 15, 2010

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Equally Wed!
Bridal Bubbly
April 15, 2010
http://bridalbubbly.blogspot.com/2010/04/equally-wed.html

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Blush Magazine, Weddings Issue
May 2010

The Atlantan Brides
Fall 2010

The Advocate
June 2010
Cover Story: http://www.advocate.com/printArticle.aspx?id=110662

AisleDash.com
http://www.aisledash.com/2010/04/08/equally-wed-new-wed-site-for-gay-and-lesbian-couples/

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Click on any publication to read what it had to say about Equally Wed.




FishbowlNY | Media Bistro
March 23, 2010
Same-Sex Wedding Magazine Equally Wed Launches
By Mike Taylor

Equally Wed, a new magazine geared toward same-sex couples who're getting married, has launched.

In addition to the wedding advice and features found in existing wedding magazines, Equally Wed will inform readers about same-sex marriages happening around the world, a directory of GLBT-friendly wedding vendors and reports on gay-friendly honeymoon destinations. It will also update readers on ongoing political debates over the legalization of gay marriage.

Equally Wed Editor in Chief Kirsten Palladino—who launched the magazine with her wife, Maria—says in an introductory blog post:

Did it cross my mind that gay marriage isn't legally recognized in Georgia, where we live? Of course. It's something we're fighting for every day. But did it stop me from dreaming about, planning and having our wedding? Not for one second.

But what did make my heart stop when Maria and I set out on this adventure of setting the date, choosing our venue and hiring our team of vendors was that there wasn't a wedding magazine where we could see ourselves in the articles and the photos, as well as search for gay- and lesbian-friendly wedding vendors. In short, we saw a gaping hole in our media-rich nation, and the motivational seed for Equally Wed was born.

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Gawker.com
March 23, 2010
New Anti-Family Magazine Debuts
By Richard Lawson

Just in time to make folks panic that the Commie-Nazi Welfare Fag Era really has descended, a new magazine about same sex weddings has launched. Look for copies of Equally Wed to start falling from the sky, crushing straight children.

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Jezebel.com
March 24, 2010
When You're "The Ellen," Where Do You Get The Tux?
By Sadie

With the rise in same-sex marriage - with a new wedding mag, less! - comes a rise in the question: Where to buy a suit? […] Not every menswear store is friendly to a woman shopping for a tux — or a same-sex wedding. Tailors are not, in my experience, exactly a progressive bunch (with notable exceptions, of course — and Nelson on Rivington is awesome). And a surly, hostile tailor feeling up one's inseam is the last thing you want to deal with while choosing what to wear.

Enter the web. (We're assuming the new mag, Equally Wed, will be a boon in this regard, too. I mean, wedding mags get half their advertising from designers!)

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Autostraddle
March 24, 2010
New Gay Wedding Mag EquallyWed Wants to Commitment Ceremony You
“Equally Wed” enters the untapped queer wedding magazine market, poised to get you ready for the big day even if it’s not legal yet.

EVEN BETTER THAN MODERN BRIDE:
 The best part about the launch of Equally Wed, a brand-new magazine for same-sex weddings, is that it’s already touting itself as “The Nation’s Premier Same-Sex Wedding Magazine,” which is like when my Mom says I’m her favorite daughter b/c I’m her only daughter.

But regardless! Spearheaded by Georgia natives Kirsten Palladino and her wife Maria (the two are not legally wed b/c America blows), the mag is already looking like one of the most carefully assembled, diverse-yet-honest representations of our community we’ve seen online, despite its niche-within-a-niche topic.

Equally Wed is the nation’s premier same-sex wedding magazine, providing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples with a modern, elegant and unique guide to wedding planning, from ring shopping and proposing to tying the knot and living happily ever after—and everything in between. Fresh and innovative, Equally Wed offers a closer look into Real Weddings around the world, as well as engagement stories, a socially interactive community and Local Resources, a vetted marketplace rich with GLBT-friendly wedding vendors.

The second-best part about this magazine is that whereas Bridal Magazines literally consume an entire rack at the mag-stand, the “groom” market has never exactly caught on. Based on a few episodes of Bridezilla, we conclude this is because grooms are all overweight cheez-doodle-huffing slobs with bad taste who just want to get the bru-ha-ha over with so they can go have drunk-sex in Aruba with their over-manicured princess-of-the-pea wives, right?

In conclusion, Equally Wed might have its finger on the pulse of two burgeoning wedding-related markets: here’s a way to reach not only unreachable queers, but the previously untappable male wedding-prep market as well.

When there’s money to be made, laws change quickly, yes? So we say hurrah! The premier issue features articles like the Top 10 Wedding Style Trends of 2010 from Kleinfeld Bridal’s Fashion Director Randy Fenoli of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” a state-by-state guide to same-sex marriage laws, cute proposal stories sent in by readers, “real weddings” like supercuties Aly & Elroi (as photographed by Labour of Love) and Cheryl & Monica (below) and how to buy the right suit for your bod, “masculine or feminine.”

The Bridal Magazine market, once a mainstay for the publishing industry, has been crashing in recent years as women have gone online for tips and found traditional magazines too mainstream for their tastes. Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and InStyle Weddings have all shuttered over the past few years. This places Equally Wed in a key position to shake up the industry with a new take on an old genre.

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TheFrisky.com
March 24, 2010
Gays Get Their Flash Of Wedding Mag Fever In “Equally Wed”
By Jessica Wakeman

Gays should be allowed to marry because it is their civil right to do so. But also because they, too, should have to deal with the dreaded wedding magazine onslaught that comes each spring. (Trim your tummy before the big day!, 10 ways to get him involved! Kill me now, please?) Introducing Equally Wed, a same-sex wedding mag for both gay and lesbian couples. There are articles about gay-friendly honeymoon destinations, how to buy a masculine or feminine tux, and, of course, tons of gown/bridesmaid/ring stuff. There’s even a state-by-state guide to places where same-sex marriage is legally recognized! Not only are we psyched gays now have to suffer the same bridesmaid dress foolishness that we have to, we’re psyched so many vendors in the wedding biz are embracing our lesbian and gay loved ones, too. Maybe where retail goes the law will follow?

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AfterEllen.com
March 24, 2010
Morning Brew
By Trish Bendix

Planning on getting married in the near future? There's finally a magazine for you/us. Equally Wed has launched as "the nation's same-sex wedding magazine." The website is up, too, with some great features on planning, honeymoons and more.

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AfterElton.com
March 24, 2010
Briefs
By Snicks

Planning on tying the knot soon? Equally Wed, "The Nation's Premier Same-Sex Wedding Magazine" can offer advice.

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Queerty.com
March 24, 2010
The Gay Wedding Magazine for the Gay Wedding Your State Might Let You Have

Kirsten Palladino and her partner Maria live in Georgia, where same-sex marriage is prohibited. It didn't stop her from creating the just-launched online gay wedding magazine Equally Wed, carving out a niche market that Conde Nast's entire bridal unit has ignored. And if it can survive the usual plagues hurting the ad-supported content industry, this book has all the markings of a home run.

Quick: When you pick up the Sunday Times, what's the first section you flip to? The Weddings & Celebrations section, of course. Sociologists have spent thousands of interviews explaining the appeal of hearing about other people — complete strangers! — getting engaged and hosting their dream wedding. Which is why Equally Wed, which is devoting plenty of space to fairy wedding tales, should also generate interest.

But no wedding magazine is complete without its service journalism: Caterers, wedding halls, photographers, cake wizards, and tuxedo and gown designers must all be represented. The magazine offers a directory for all the finest accouterments for your day of bliss. And it arrives as more states continue marching toward marriage equality, opening up an entire new market every few months; in its debut issue, the magazine breaks down for readers the current legal standing across the country.

And then, of course, there's travel. Whether it's a destination wedding or your standard honeymoon, Equally Wed can attract lucrative travel industry advertisers hoping to woo cash-flush gays.

Do the gays need their own wedding magazine? Not exactly. There's already Brides, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride (each of which usually devote a quarter- to a half-page for men's attire), and gays planning their special day have made do with them. (There's also Bond Magazine, launched in 2007 "to include unions of all loving couples, gay and not-gay," though its latest news udpate is from May 2009.) But the luxury aspects of weddings have never been about needs; they've been about wants. And Equally Wed is definitely a publication for wants. Why else would they have an entire photo gallery devoted to simple sugars?

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Change.org
March 24, 2010
Equally Wed: Your Online Guide to the (Gay) Wedding of Your Dreams
By Maia Spotts

Bridal. Brides. Modern Bride. World Bride. Elegant Bride. Attire Bride. Martha Stewart Weddings. These are the bibles of the modern bride. Chock full of advice about honeymoons and garters and cakes and first dances and all that ... wedding stuff that happens between bride and groom. And except for Martha Stewart, who boldly went where no wedding magazine has gone before and featured a gay wedding in its pages, these magazines are page after page of advice for the soon-to-be-wife of a soon-to-be-husband.
Enter equallywed.com, "the country's premier same-sex wedding magazine, providing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples with a modern, elegant and unique guide to wedding planning." The site officially launched on March 22, and, from what I can tell, it's full of all the things those other wedding rags have—invitation etiquette and romantic engagement stories and destination weddings and the best waterproof mascara—and a few things they don't. Namely, gay people.

Equally Wed wants to give you, affianced LGBT folks of America, the non-traditional wedding of your dreams, without your having to cram it into the mold of the Traditional Dream Wedding. Because Modern Bride won't tell you what to do when both brides want to wear a wedding gown? Or what if one of them doesn't want a gown, but doesn't want a tux either? (For those folks, check out the "Broom Closet" for those not quite a bride, but not quite a groom.) And do you invite your Uncle Joe, even though he's against gay marriage?

An argument I've heard time and time again is that legalizing gay marriage could do wonders for a state's economy. With the average wedding costing around $20,000—with a yearly total hovering somewhere around $86 BILLION a year on the wedding alone, not counting honeymoons and registries—it doesn't take a math whiz or a Queer Eye to understand the monetary impact that gay marriage could have. (Unless the National Organization for Marriage is right, and society implodes, but then we'll have bigger problems than state economies.) Engaged gays have the power to put some serious duckets in the hands of wedding purveyors. Equally Wed has vetted businesses across the country and compiled a pretty awesome list of gay friendly vendors for everything from cakes to invitations to officiants. Wouldn't you rather give them your money?

And it's not just bouquets and signature cocktails. The ladies behind Equally Wed, married couple Maria and Kirsten Palladino, have links to Freedom to Marry, and legal advice about marriage in your state. They've worked hard to create an atmosphere of joy and celebration, without ever losing sight of the significance of each and every couple who is a part of the story.

I didn't have a wedding, much to the chagrin of my mother-in-law. It's not because I don't believe in them, trust me, I love a good wedding, but I'd rather spend the money on a family trip to Greece or a down payment on a home. That's just me. For those of you planning the blowout gala of the century, there's a great new party planner in town.

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Renwl.org
March 24, 2010
Splashy Same-Sex Wedding Magazine Launches For Gay Folks
By Derrick Mathis

What will these children come up with next?!

Our buddy Raymond R. (our straight friends are so eeefing cool and in the know) dropped us a tip about this brand new same-sex marriage magazine that just launched called Equally Wed. What a darling name. It’s for same-sex couples who are about to get married. Now isn’t that a clever idea.

Here’s a description of Equally Wed in a nutshell:
In addition to the wedding advice and features found in existing wedding magazines, Equally Wed will inform readers about same-sex marriages happening around the world, a directory of GLBT-friendly wedding vendors and reports on gay-friendly honeymoon destinations. It will also update readers on ongoing political debates over the legalization of gay marriage.

The magazine was launched by Atlanta, GA resident Kirsten Palladino, the editor-in-chief, along with her wife Maria. Nice. Palladino [continues to] edit the Life & Food section for the Atlanta Sunday Paper.  We’re not quite clear but it appears that the magazine will be seasonal–we’re assuming that means published quarterly. If you’re photo freak you’re gonna love this magazine. It’s also got some cool and practical article departments and feature columns like where to buy rings, fashion trends for wedding attire, latest wedding invitation designs, honeymoon locations and ideas—there’s even a “local resource” section that lists several major cities for your localized wedding planning and research convenience.

And yes—the mag showcases a plethora of beautiful just to-die-for photo rich stories about couples getting married, proposal stories and mouth dropping fabulous weddings—weddings that clearly a good majority of you wouldn’t be able to afford not even in your wildest dreams—but hey—at least you get to look at gorgeous pictures of someone else’s fairytale wedding.

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