The Baltimore Sun covers the emerging trend of gay wedding shows, and the financial windfal same sex weddings can bring to the wedding industry:
The financial motivation was on display Sunday at the second annual Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expo at the Tremont Suites Hotel & Grand Historic Venue in downtown Baltimore, where dozens of vendors competed for the attention of dozens of couples whose weddings now carry the official blessing of the state of Maryland. The event was sponsored by RainbowWeddingNetwork.com.
The (literal) money quote from the article:
Over three years, the institute predicted, weddings by resident Maryland couples alone will generate between $40 million and $64 million for the state economy, and $2.5 million to $4 million in new sales and lodging tax revenues. Those figures didn’t factor in any out-of-state couples that might travel to Maryland to get hitched, the institute noted.
That’s a lot of money, especially for an economy recovering from a recession. Your thoughts, Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Hawaii?
Find more articles and gay wedding resources in Maryland.