Wedding Industry Love - Certified!

Welcome to Wednesday!

I am proud to announce that I have completed the Gay Wedding Institute certification course taught by Bernadette Coveney Smith, owner of 14 Stories in Boston. 14 Stories is America’s first gay wedding planning firm, and GWI is the first gay wedding planning certification course in the world. I participated with others in the wedding industry from across America and Canada and we learned about what makes gay wedding planning different than planning for straight couples. Same-sex couples have a few more issues to deal with (legally…), and planners need to know which vendors and venues are gay-friendly, plus, I needed to learn how to market and appeal to gay and lesbian couples.

I am sharing my journey into uncharted territory! At least for TDE and as a planner myself. I have yet to plan a wedding or party for a gay or lesbian couple, but now, I feel ready to dive right in! I’m excited to make some changes to our website and to make sure we use totally inclusive language in our forms and on the site. I am now prepared to help a gay or lesbian couple plan their event, but in some ways, I feel like I have always been ready for this job. My background, my family, my passions…everything leads to being a wedding planner and in some ways especially for gay couples. I love my job and I am very excited to be actively expanding my client base from a business standpoint and from a very personal place as well.

We believe in marriage equality for everyone!

xoxo
Christy

Wedding Industry Love - Gay Weddings Part 2!

Happy Wednesday, Adore-readers!

As many of you know, my brother is gay and I wrote a post last month about my personal plight to stand for gay marriage and to plan weddings for couples in the LGBT community. Today, I am excited to announce that I am enrolled in the first and only Gay Wedding Certification course, taught by Bernadette Coveney Smith of 14 Stories, owner of the first gay wedding planning company in America. I am taking the course in March and (barring any unforeseen circumstances), I will be certified by April! I am taking this step so that we can officially move forward in our support of marriage equality for everyone! Yes, this is absolutely personal to me, but it’s also about business. I am currently a certified wedding planner and feel that this will be a huge asset to my existing skill set.

Trisha and I are both attending Engage!11 in May and we are looking forward to learning even more about where the wedding industry overall is heading. I am proud to be a part of a company that supports gay marriage and I can’t wait to get certified and get started!

This is my little guy Joe, last May - he supports his gay uncle and so do we!

xoxo

Christy

Wedding Industry Love - Gay Weddings

An Open Love Letter to my Brother...
With Love, Christy

My dream career is to plan weddings for gay couples. I am a certified wedding planner, have been working in San Francisco for over 3 years, and got married myself in 2009. My brother, Alex, stood as a groomsman while our vows were exchanged and I know one day, I will stand up for my brother as he recites his own vows with his husband.

Here’s the thing: My brother is awesome. To know him is to love him. He is brilliant, ambitious, handsome, hilarious and loyal. He is the best person in the world to people–watch with. His sense of humor is wicked and no one makes me laugh more…or laughs with and at me more, which is a true delight in my life. I think he might rule the world one day. Thing #2: He is gay. So in most of America, by law, he is not allowed by to get married and he is stared at if he so much as walks down the street holding hands with another man. Not to mention the myriad of civil liberties he is not afforded. I don’t want to rant about politics here, but you can see where I stand and where I am going with this. I love this man. He deserves to be happy the same way that everyone else does. While I continue to love planning straight weddings, I need to put out there that I also love the gay and lesbian community, I support gay MARRIAGE, and I would be living a personal dream if I were working for gay couples right there along with my beloved straight couples.

So…here is my mission for 2011: I will work tirelessly (and happily!) to create beautiful, personal events for my clients. I believe weddings are a heightened experience and we have so few of these elevated moments in our lives. I also believe everyone deserves to feel loved and supported as they make the monumental life decision to get married. I hope one day planning gay weddings will be as "normal" as planning straight weddings, especially out here in California. But that day is not now, and this year I want to learn how to reach out to the gay community, market to the gay community and better support them through my career as a wedding planner. I truly look up to Bernadette of 14 Stories, who has created the first gay wedding planning firm. She is an inspiration to me and to the wedding industry overall.

I don’t just want to stand up next to my brother when he gets married one day. I want to plan the wedding. I want to plan the wedding in a country that recognizes, accepts, and embraces love and marriage for all.

So catch up with me, America!**

**you know who you are

xoxo Christy

Photo source: Shaughn Photography