For years, same-sex couples have chosen Savannah for their weddings despite the fact that those unions are not legally recognized in Georgia.
Now, with Florida officials issuing marriage licenses for the first time this week and the Supreme Court mulling the issue once again, members of the local wedding industry say it’s only a matter of time before Georgia’s ban is overturned, which will open the floodgates of this lucrative market.
“I don’t think the general population in Savannah understands what we’re sitting on here — we’re sitting on a gold mine in this town,” said Bruce Beaird, event planner at D. Vine Weddings & Events in Savannah.
Beaird has been in the industry for 28 years and said same-sex commitment ceremonies presently only make up 8-10 percent of his clientele, although he has seen a steady increase as it becomes more widely practiced.
Beaird attended Savannah’s first gay wedding expo last summer at The Mansion on Forsyth, which was organized by GaySavannah.com, and said he was overwhelmed by the number of people he spoke to that day.
“The power of the gay dollar is very, very strong,” he said.
Riley Sharpe, director of operations for GaySavannah and GayJacksonville.com, said they had more than 300 people turn out
and 50 vendors at the August event. Twelve couples exchanged vows in a mass commitment ceremony held in conjunction with the expo.
“Vendors actually reached out to us and wanted to identify themselves as gay-friendly,” Sharpe said. “We’re trying to be proactive and start the conversation.”
Rather than wait for Georgia’s gay marriage ban to be overturned, Sharpe said, this gives wedding vendors a leg up by establishing their business and reputation as accepting of both heterosexual and homosexual couples.
“Some of the vendors we invited hadn’t really even thought about it, really, which shows we have a good ways to go,” he said, adding that the local elected officials he invited declined to come by.
He’s now organizing a gay wedding expo for Jacksonville, Fla., on Feb. 15, where he expects a big turnout thanks to the court victory on Monday that allowed gay couples to get legally hitched.
Rev. Steven Schulte runs a Lutheran church in Thunderbolt and has officiated at commitment ceremonies for about 20 years, including the one in Savannah last August. He said Georgia will likely be last to get gay marriage overturned and that it will take a Supreme Court ruling to do so.
“It won’t necessarily be a wave but a natural progression,” he said. “I had a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple last fall who called me recently so I could legally marry them in their home state of South Carolina. … That’s what’s going to happen to Georgia.”
He said a survey conducted a few years ago by the Savannah Chamber of Commerce found that of the 49 wedding vendors polled, they brought in $26 million in revenue in one year. He said that number would be much higher if it included same-sex couples.
The Supreme Court passed on hearing the issue in October when 19 states had legalized it. Now, after a series of victories for gay rights advocates in states such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, gay unions are recognized in 36 states, covering about 70 percent of the population.
“I’m doing a gay wedding in North Carolina soon, so I’m excited about my first official gay wedding,” Schulte said.
On Friday, the Supreme Court met privately to review pending challenges in the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, Kentucky and Louisiana.
Beaird said he was pleased to see so many vendors participate in the summer expo. He added that for many couples, gaining the right to marry for the first time, the significance is much larger than a simple ceremony.
“We’re not talking about a little elopement ceremony here, these couples are proud and are making their weddings a festivity,” he said. “It’s an honest to god celebration.”
If a decision is made this term, Beaird believes Savannah will have no problem catching up to its neighbors to the north and south.
“Savannah is the no. 3 wedding destination for heterosexual couples,” Beaird said. “All indications point to the same response because this is an incredibly beautiful, romantic place for a wedding.”