The Booming Business of Gay Marriage

By Maura Ewing
Many same-sex couples in New York have waited years, or even decades, to have their partnerships legally recognized. And now that it's possible, they are pulling out the stops for their big day -- which means big dollars for the wedding industry. Yes, the tidal wave of marriage celebrations will pass, but the expanded market is here to stay.

Here's how three forward-thinking small business owners are handling the boom and keeping the revenue coming in:

Enhance your existing services
Road Concierge Inc., a New York City-based travel agency, is known in the Broadway community for its expertise in arranging accommodations for theatrical crews on the road. Though it specializes in entertainment travel, it has seen a large uptick in wedding requests, mostly from existing clients. But, Road Concierge, which makes about $750,000 in annual revenue, isn't champing at the bit. "I don't particularly want to go after the wedding industry as a whole, it's fairly labor intensive," says company president Lisa Morris.

To embrace the market of same-sex married couples without jumping into a new field, Morris plans to leverage the tools she already has in place. For example, a travel advisory to better inform same-sex spouses which states and cities will recognize their legal status, and the implications -- such as hospital visitation rights -- in states that don't. "I want my business to be a great resource for the gay community, and of course to reach as many customers as possible."

Know your assets
An order for a wedding party is great news for any men's dress shirt vendor -- particularly a wedding with two grooms. "We don't ask if an order is for a gay marriage, but it's safe to assume there are two grooms when we get an order for 10 or 12 groomsmen's shirts," says Tailor Threads co-founder, Allen Wei. The New York City-based company offers customized men's dress shirts, and in its first four months of business has already grossed over $150,000 in revenue. It has started to see an increase of demand for male-dominated wedding parties, and is working to keep those numbers rising.

The company owners are pitching their product as a perfect one-stop-option for an all-male wedding party: Grooms can choose from more than 100 types of high-quality fabric, and create a unique or traditional look by mixing and matching collar, placket, and cuff styles. The website allows each groom and groomsmen to order a custom fit. To make the product even more enticing for grooms-to-be, Wei is making plans for special bulk wedding packages, and is working with a "Groupon-style" company to promote special deals such as a suit, shirt, and tie for a fixed price.

Keep the ball rolling
For seventeen years Elegant Affairs has been producing high-end weddings-and other celebratory events-across Long Island, Manhattan, and the Hamptons. "As soon as the legislation was passed I got a flurry of phone calls," says company president, Andrea Correale. "It's a shot in the arm for the catering and event industry to think about the new market that's just opened." Correale expects her wedding party business to increase by about 25% over the next year.

While Correale is enjoying the initial boom of extravagant affairs, she wants to remain the go-to person for the new market for years to come. "We're taking this very seriously, and are increasing our marketing dollars for same-sex weddings, putting pictures of the events on our website, and blogging about it," she says.

Rings Flickr photo courtesy of firemedic58 CC 2.0