Posts Tagged ‘weddings’
Same-sex bridal magazine a response to conventional ignorance
Kirsten Ott walked down the aisle in a white strapless gown with an embroidered bodice and cascading ruffles. Maria Palladino, dressed in a white suit, waited for her at the end of the aisle with a minister. Surrounded by their family and close friends, the women committed to each other for the rest of their lives.
A beautiful reception followed. It had all the makings of a traditional wedding, but instead of calling themselves bride and groom, the couple used the terms bride and “broom.”
“Broom is a combination of bride and groom,” said Kirsten, who took Maria’s last name when they wed…
Both were relieved the special day they had planned for so long finally arrived.
Organizing a wedding can be challenging, what with finding the right photographer, the perfect cake, the prettiest flowers and, most importantly, the venue. It was even harder for Kirsten, because she had to find vendors who accepted same-sex marriage in Atlanta, Georgia, where the union isn’t legally recognized…
Kirsten and Maria turned to wedding magazines for inspiration while planning their 2008 wedding. But Kirsten said something important was missing. “There are tons of wedding magazines when you go into a wedding section at a bookstore, but we weren’t in any of them. Not one single gay couple. It was disheartening…”
Planning their wedding inspired the newlyweds to start their own wedding magazine geared toward engaged same-sex couples. Kirsten, a journalist, and Maria, a graphic designer, used their career backgrounds and personal experience to launch the online magazine Equally Wed…
The Palladinos discovered that more wedding vendors across the United States are now offering their services for two brides or two grooms. The magazine has a staff that spans the country. Employees find companies that cater to same-sex weddings and welcome couples to their honeymoon destinations. They list gay-friendly vendors that will make the cake, design the flowers or take pictures of the ceremony…
“It’s a ceremony in front of your friends and family, committing to this other person for the rest of your life … it doesn’t matter what sex you are or who, the sex or gender of the person you’re marrying.”
It’s a sound business in my neck of the prairie. There are just as many bible-thumping bigots as most places; but, the community as a whole recognizes the borderline criminality of such behavior. Same-sex marriages would be a daily occurrence in Santa Fe if our state government was endowed with either courage or common sense.
Yesterday was a lucky day to get married, and you blew it!
Too late now…
“There are 50,000 weddings happening today” in Mumbai alone, said wedding planner Jarret D’Abreo of Marry Me….
There are only a few lucky dates per year in the Hindu calendar. Sunday’s is called Akshaya Tritiya.
“All the stars are aligned during this day. Whatever offerings and work you do on this day will go right. It’s one day of the year which will bring immense good luck,” Indian astrologer R.K. Sharma said.
The exact date of the festival is based on the alignment of the moon, the stars and the planets….
“Whatever is celebrated during this day — be it purchasing a car or a house or gold or even getting married — brings good luck and that effect is multiplied. It’s the most auspicious day of the year,” Sharma told CNN by phone.
I’ve sat at the same table with Christians lamenting the poor, lost, superstitious Hindus. A few months from now, they’ll be sitting in church to hear how astrologers from the east (whom they call wise) followed a star to locate somebody to save the world. But that’s different!
Brit politicians apologise for Pope ‘condom’ memo
The Foreign Office has apologised for a “foolish” document which suggested the Pope’s UK visit could be marked by the launch of “Benedict-branded” condoms.
The junior civil servant responsible had been put on other duties, it said.
Called “The ideal visit would see…”, the paper suggested the Pope be invited to open an abortion clinic and bless a gay marriage during September’s visit…
The UK’s ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, has met senior officials of the Holy See to express regret on behalf of the government.
The paper was attached as one of three “background documents” to a memo dated 5 March 2010 inviting officials in Whitehall and Downing Street to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit…
But it has, nevertheless, the potential to cause considerable damage. Whether fairly or not, it will leave some Catholics with the impression of a culture within official circles in which their Church’s teaching is not taken seriously.
We can only hope.
Some will suspect prejudice against faith groups. Perhaps most damaging of all, it could leave an impression that the Pope might be regarded as a figure of fun less than five months before his state visit to Britain.
It went on to propose the Pope could apologise for the Spanish Armada or sing a song with the Queen for charity.
Bet the Queen can carry a tune better than the Pope. Actually, I can’t think of anything the Pope does really well. He’s not succeeding at retaining his flock, is he, eh?
