Event highlights LGBTQ, ally vendors
Discriminated against while planning their nuptials, couple create event planning business and city’s first same-sex wedding expo
Erik Jones and Anthony Johnson found themselves a little frustrated when planning their wedding in 2017, but it wasn’t a time crunch or seating charts that was making them sweat.
A venue told them that they would happily host the reception, but not a ceremony that would wed two men. They faced similar issues with officiants and other vendors who expressed hesitation about being involved in an LGBTQ wedding.
“They’ll say, ‘Yes we’re happy to do your wedding,’ ” Jones said, “And then two men show up and their faces just go pale.”
The couple decided it didn’t need that kind of help to plan or design their wedding — they could do it themselves. The men had a few business endeavors between them, including selling candles, running a graphic designed company and operating a photography business.
“When we were reaching out to people we were discriminated against but we’re business minded,” Jones said. “We said, ‘Let’s turn this into a business, so other people don’t have to deal with this.’ ”
The year they got married, the also couple created their own even design and rental business for weddings called a “A Dream To Remember.” They designed Houston’s first LGBTQ Wedding Expo at the Enchanted Cypress Ballroom on Sunday.
The event had 34 vendors who offer bar services, catering, photography, make up artists, among other services, that are either a part of the LGBTQ community or are allies.
They made a point of recruiting from the LGBTQ community so other couples wouldn’t have to face the same hurdles Jones and Johnson did while planning their wedding.
Raychele Gaines, who coowns Pass The Bar Event Services, which offers bar services, photo booths and doughnut walls, remembers facing the same hesitation from vendors when she planned her wedding in 2014. She also said she has seen far too often, couples who use her businesses tell her they were turned away from other vendors before finding her.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Gaines said. “That’s why we need to do more events like these.”
Some couples nationally have even decided to sue bakers, florists, photographers, calligraphers and other companies that refused to service same-sex wedding ceremonies. One prominent example was a Colorado bakery owner who refused to make a cake for a gay couple in 2012. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in favor of the baker.
In other cases, however, courts have typically sided with the plaintiffs, saying businesses that serve the public must offer their services to all.
At the end of the day, though, it’s most important that individuals feel comfortable with the vendors, since they have to work with them for such an extended period of time, said Lidice Ortiz, the Enchanted Cypress Ballroom venue manager.
“People are planning these events for a year,” Ortiz. “They’re people you’ll want to be comfortable with.”