Despite Laws, Gay Wedding Industry Booms

Veronica Hoff, right, and her partner, Forest Kairos of Mt. Laurel, N.J., smile during a ceremonial bill signing by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, of civil unions legislation in Trenton, N.J., Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. The new civil unions law giving gay couples all the rights and responsibilities, but not the title, of marriage, makes New Jersey the third in the nation to institute civil unions and the fifth to offer same-sex couples some version of marriage. (AP Photo/Mike Derer) (Mike Derer - AP)

Massachusetts is the only state to date to allow gay marriage, since the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 the state constitution guaranteed that right. According to the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, 8,764 same-sex couples tied the knot in Massachusetts since the first same-sex weddings began taking place May 17, 2004 through Nov. 9, 2006, the most recent figures available.

In November, Virginia was one of seven states that approved gay-marriage bans, joining 20 that had done so in previous elections. But other states are moving in the opposite direction: New Jersey's gay couples gained new rights last week when the state legalized same-sex civil unions there.

Sharmayne Wesler, a planner with New York's annual GLBT Expo, credited the hubbub and well-publicized gay weddings like that of lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge in 2003, with encouraging gays to formalize their relationships.

"They too want to be traditional," said Wesler, whose RDP Group has 70 wedding-specific vendors at its expo. "The trend ... is toward really large weddings, none of these simple affairs.

"They want to go to a ceremony with all the bells and whistles."

McKee and Woods invited 200 guests to their black-tie ceremony, followed by a cocktail hour and reception at the Ritz-Carlton, in Tysons Corner, Va.

Groomsmen received engraved pocket watches; a bagpiper, pianist and DJ serenaded guests, who dined on caviar and lobster.

McKee used gay wedding books, Web sites and a wedding coordinator to find things like gay-friendly photographers. The ceremony cost half their annual income.

In Virginia, the men were no more legally bound after the lavish wedding than before. Still, they considered it a good investment.

"For us, the essence of a marriage is our love," McKee said. "Whether the state honors it is the icing on the cake _ it's not the cake itself."

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