May 2012
I love being a part of the wedding industry, but every now and then I get a pang in my heart that some clever idea or new décor trend came about after my wife and I tied the knot in 2009. I wish we had done assigned tables, not because anyone sat in the wrong place, but because it would have given us a chance to have one more fun personalized token on our Big Day. But one regret that I never have is the way we did our after party. We lived it up, and our very best friends devoted their night to making it a fantastic night we’d never forget. We had a dedicated VIP section all to ourselves at one of the most posh hotel nightclubs in Atlanta—the W-Atlanta Midtown’s Whiskey Park and the bottles of Champagne just kept coming, from friends and from staffers wanting to share in our happiness. All day and all night, I was flush with idyllic romance—first with my wife, but also with the outpouring of love from my friends and family.
One very nice part about planning your wedding with Equally Wed—a luxury we didn’t have when planning our own nuptials—is the constant inspiration from couples such as you and yours, people who happen to love someone of the same gender. This month, we introduce you to couples who make my heart sing, such as Cynthia and Dana in New York, Nick and Paul who dreamily wed in Palm Springs, and Anna and Hannah, Chicago brides who pay homage to one of the bride’s heritage in Hawaii.
Also moving are the bi-coastal same-sex wedding pictorials photographed by Molly Fitzgerald and Holly Steen. The collaborative concept was motivated by the numerous states on the East Coast which are passing bills allowing gay couples to legally wed, as well as a celebration of recent West Coast states which are finally also legally recognizing gay marriage, such as Washington State and California, for its lengthy-with-some-victories road to getting Prop 8 overturned.
To help you plan out the details from “I will” to “I do,” we researched new trends, including how colorful birthstones are replacing traditional diamonds in engagement and wedding ring sets. And because our work is never done helping butch lesbians plan their attire for weddings, we turned to Duchess Clothier to give us the scoop on the latest information for ordering a custom suit. Though a suit might be well worth shelling out the wads of cash, some beauty treatments most definitely are not, especially when you’re trying to watch every penny that seems to wildly leave your bank account during this process. Don’t miss our beauty and grooming feature on which beauty treatments are worth the splurge (and which ones to avoid).
I hope you enjoy the many more features throughout our latest issue. As always, feel free to reach out to me or our talented editorial team if there’s anything we can help you with as you plan the wedding of your dreams. We love hearing from our readers!
