By Stephanie Myles
Same-sex marriages haven’t been legal in Ontario for long, but some businesses are already tapping into a new market by providing the distinctive wedding-planning services they say gay couples are looking for.
“The bridal industry here is going to be knocked off its feet,” says Reg Dennis, co-owner and founder of Wedding By Design. Dennis has just launched a clothing line for gay and lesbian weddings.
The vests, ties and wedding gowns sport rainbows of gay pride, says Dennis. They’re part of his plan to establish traditions, like a same-sex wedding march, and turn same-sex ceremonies into more of a celebration.
“Our focus right now is on the gay weddings, especially the clothing line. We’re trying to set standards in our type of services,” he says.
“We can stand ourselves apart from heterosexuals.”
Dennis jumped at the chance to start planning same-sex weddings in June, after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that prohibiting same-sex weddings violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The decision forced the province to register same-sex marriages.
“When I heard of the courts opening, right away I knew this was a big can of worms they’ve opened up, but I also said, ‘Okay, this is giving me the niche I’ve been looking for,'” he says.
His isn’t the only business to tap into this new market.
The Inn on Somerset, a well known, gay-owned Centretown business, has planned and hosted six same-sex weddings since June, says owner Richard Brouse.
Their services are necessary because same-sex couples are more comfortable with a wedding planner who is part of the gay community, say Brouse and Dennis.
“We are a gay-friendly, a gay-owned establishment. Whereas, you go to the Westin or the Sheraton, they’re not, and they’re looking at it purely as a way to make some money,” says Brouse. “I don’t think any old planner will do.”
Mainstream wedding planners may not be helpful to same-sex couples either, says Dennis.
“A regular wedding planner, they’re not very keen on helping at this point,” he says. “I had a couple that called a wedding consulting place, and as soon as they mentioned that they were a gay couple, [the consultant] said, ‘Well, we’re booked up at this point.”
But the sexual orientation of the planner doesn’t matter, says Serge Dionne, who started planning his wedding with his partner before the law changed.
“It wouldn’t make a difference, I’d pick the best one, the one that has the best offer,” he says. “I have that much belief in me that, hey, no one’s going to stand in my way of making my plan.”
Brouse says the choice to hire a gay wedding planner rather than a mainstream one runs deeper than keeping dollars in the gay community.
He says same-sex weddings are typically planned faster and are simpler and more casual than heterosexual weddings, but keep most of the same traditions.
“It’s nothing flashy and elaborate, it’s just basically a show of their commitment towards each other, and to their closest friends,” says Brouse.
Robert Giacobbi, who married his partner of 21 years on the spur of the moment a day after the law changed, says he liked his simple ceremony and is glad it wasn’t planned.
“It was really, truly exciting,” says Giacobbi, co-owner of Wilde’s, a gay and lesbian boutique on Bank Street.
Ceremonies should be kept simple, says Dionne, who doesn’t approve of Dennis’ pride-coloured clothing.
“I think it’s just more commercial, I don’t see it necessary,” Dionne says. “Why? They already know I’m gay.”
But tuxedos emblazoned with rainbow stripes could be a huge sell. The designs have already grabbed the interest of some potential customers, especially women, says Dennis, but he will change them based on client requests.
Dennis is working on a deal to display his clothing in a men’s formal wear store, and says he hopes to someday expand his business across Canada and in the United States.
“We’re starting with gay weddings,” he says. “We want to say, ‘This is us! Boom!'”