Gay Wedding Wednesdays

I'd like to announce a really incredible event that I'll be photographing in a couple of weeks. In honor of the recent CA supreme court ruling legalizing same sex marriage, the East Bay Express is putting on an event called Wedding Wednesdays, in which they are throwing a wedding for 6 separate gay couples on two seperate Wednesdays this summer. The Express is covering the costs of the wedding and reception at Periscope Cellars in Emeryville, and sending all the couples on a honeymoon at the beautiful Stevenswood Spa and Resort in Mendocino.

The ceremonies will take place on June 25 and July 2, with 3 couples being married each day. Right after photographing the ceremony I will take each couple for a post-wedding portrait session, followed by the reception. Pictures from the shoot will be published in two issues of the Express newspaper and on their website, and hopefully be picked up by some other papers and/or online resources as well.

This is a very exciting time for many reasons, both for humanity in general and the wedding business in particular. The biggest thing is, of course, the ruling itself; what it means for this country and the future of equal rights. I am usually pretty pessimistic about this kind of thing, with little expectation of seeing the good guys win or experiencing the changes I wish for during my lifetime...but the result in CA (as well as similar news in New York and elsewhere) gives me hope.

Then there is the fact that an estimated 30,000 gay couples will be married in CA during this first year alone. I can't wait! The gay weddings I've shot in the past have been so much fun; the atmosphere of pure joy there is really something to experience. It is as much about family and personal celebration as it is about universal humanity and triumph at the end of a long, hard road.

In honor of the ruling and my desire to do more of these weddings, I am planning something special; both to celebrate the victory of the ruling and to honor the couples who have been waiting for it for so long. Stay tuned for more on that in the next week or two!

For now, the Express still has some space open for couples for their event, so if you know any gay couples who might want to participate, pass it on. You can read more about it and find the link to contact them here.

*picture above is of Robyn and LG, right after their first dance, from one of my very first gay weddings.