Gay Weddings are Good for Business

Gay Wedding Glossary

Foundation Covenant:  This is a sacred text modeled off of the Jewish ketubah and the Quaker wedding certificate.  This document is typically signed by the couple during their wedding ceremony and is then signed by guests during the reception.  It can be a substitute for a guest book and is one way the guests validate and affirm the marriage.  The Foundation Covenant is typically framed as artwork after the wedding.

Foundation Covenants have become a gay wedding tradition.  They are often custom made but are also produced by artist Daniel Sroka of ModernKetubah.com.

Gay Wedding Glossary

Validation & Affirmation:  The part of the same-sex wedding ceremony where the officiant asks the guests to join in a community vow or toast of the couple using the champagne provided to the guests before the ceremony.  This is typically at the beginning of the ceremony, after the welcoming remarks, and makes use of the pre-ceremony champagne.

The term validation and affirmation came from the frequent comment by same-sex couples that seeing all of their guests supporting them felt very validating and affirming. 

Gay Wedding Glossary

Commitment Ceremony: an event that celebrates a relationship, generally without any legal implications.

Before same-sex marriage became legal in certain states and countries, many couples were having commitment ceremonies, very often casual backyard affairs, with no legal rights or benefits.  Couples in states where gay marriage is not legal still have commitment ceremonies but are more often referring to those events as weddings.

Gay Wedding Glossary

Two Aisles:  The way many same-sex couples enter their ceremony space to avoid one of them being the last one down, and therefore seen as "the bride".  Setup for two aisles brings additional complications for the florist (two aisle runners?) and the photographer in particular, especially if each partner enters simultaneously.  Nonetheless, entering the ceremony space simultaneously from two separate directions is very common for same-sex couples.  

These two aisles can be parallel with guests in between.  They could also enter the ceremony space from the left and the right, facing the guests.  Or depending on the number of guests, there can be a large section of guests with no central aisle, and the two aisles on either side.

A simpler alternative, when there is only one aisle, is that the couple processes down the aisle together, holding hands.  This also avoids someone feeling like the only "bride".