I am just so freaking excited about the developments in Vermont and Iowa! When Ginger e-mailed me about Iowa, I was positively giddy about the news! And, then to hear about Vermont, well, it’s been a great week or so for the movement toward marriage equality.
My own take on the legality of our lesbian wedding has really been shaped by the current climate of ever changing laws. If same-sex marriage was legal here in Louisiana, where we currently live, or in Maryland, there would be no question about whether we would be having a legal ceremony. Unfortunately, for now we can’t assume that our Maryland ceremony will be legal
For us, it just doesn’t seem practical to have a destination wedding because of the added expense to our guests. For most of our friends and family, Baltimore/DC is the easiest place to gather. My philosophy right now is that whether or not it’s legal, it will be our wedding, and we are only planning on doing this once. A ceremony in Maryland will be special for loads of other reasons; we will exchange wedding rings, make name changes official, say our vows in front of our community, and have our marriage religiously recognized. And from our wedding day on out (if not before), we will collect every marriage benefit we can/need through legal documents and filing for whatever version of civil union/domestic partnership/marriage we can get where we live. Ultimately, we want all our family and friends to be able to celebrate with us, so I am hesitant to plan a destination wedding that may be harder for our guests to attend.
Having said all that, indulge me for a minute as I dream up a LEGAL winter wedding in Vermont. If you haven’t caught onto this yet, Ginger and I are big ski bums. Though we are currently living in the south, we both used to ski in VT when we were in college. And we even celebrated our first year anniversary with a weekend in Burlington, so Vermont would be a perfect wedding locale for us. And I am just SOOO excited about the change from civil unions to legal same-sex marriages!
We could start the weekend off by replacing the traditional rehearsal dinner with a ski day at Stowe Mountain followed by Après ski at the Rusty Nail where we can indulge in some of our favorite Vermont micro-brews (mmm…I miss Magic Hat! Dating Ginger has turned me into a full fledge beer snob). This would be such a fun way to welcome guests!
via www.stowe.com
I can imagine us exchanging vows in the snow…
via www.theknot.com
…Followed by a rocking reception in the lodge complete with the Horah!
via www.dariabishop.com
Then, Ginger and I could stay put in Stowe for our honeymoon and spend it skiing and relaxing at the spa. Ahhh…sounds so amazing.
Ok, thanks for indulging me in my Vermont wedding fantasy du jour. Back to reality…
But, this Saturday we are off to Canada for some skiing and maybe a little wedding planning talk with Ginger’s parents! So I won’t just be dreaming about snow for long. When we get back, I will be sure to share some pictures of our trip and a wedding planning update. If this great news from Iowa and Vermont has inspired you to dream of a destination wedding, leave a comment about how you would plan it! If you are from or live in Iowa or Vermont, let us know what venues ideas and tips you have for same-sex couples considering marrying there.
