Dynamist Blog

THE DALLAS APPROACH TO GAY WEDDINGS

This decidedly non-edgy Dallas Morning News feature on gay unions has a very Dallas feel, including the concluding section on a mother's entrepreneurial venture:

Until recently, there were few wedding resources for same-sex couples--but that is beginning to change, says Gretchen Hamm of Dallas, founder of the Internet sites TwoBrides.com and TwoGrooms.com. Her slogan is: "A mother-approved shopping site for alternative weddings."

Mrs. Hamm began her business three years ago, when daughter Katherine Hamm (a Greenhill graduate and women's soccer standout at Princeton) began planning her own commitment ceremony with her partner.

"I couldn't find things that were appropriate for them, such as photo albums or wedding-cake toppers," Mrs. Hamm says. So she began tracking down resources and reference materials, such as planning guides and decorative accessories, that would be useful for same-sex couples....

Mrs. Hamm even managed to find one manufacturer who made cake toppers portraying lesbian couples in "butch"; or "femme" wedding mode. Aside from such unconventional touches, however, Mrs. Hamm says, "Most of the gay or lesbian ceremonies I hear about are pretty conservative and traditional, actually."...

[M]ost of Mrs. Hamm's advice, she says, would be no different if her clients were a straight couple. "I always tell them," she says, "to get their reception site nailed down right away."

Ultimately, this sort of standard-issue "women's pages" feature will have a greater effect on public attitudes than whatever appears on the op-ed page--which isn't to say that some DMN readers won't raise a ruckus. When the paper announced that it would include gay couples in its wedding and engagement announcements, the letters page included plenty of angry subscription cancellations. (One thing I hadn't noticed, because I don't read the DMN wedding pages, is that these announcements are all paid advertising.)

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