Marriage Equality Signals Time to Change the Wedding Business
EquallyWed.com Launches Business Education Program to Transform Wedding Industry’s Understanding and Acceptance of LGBTQ Couples.
Atlanta, GA, February 27, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Equally Wed Launches Business Education Program to Transform Wedding Industry’s Understanding and Acceptance of LGBTQ Couples.
Since its inception five years ago, Equally Wed magazine has witnessed tremendous growth in the U.S. When the award-winning online wedding magazine for lesbian, gay, queer, trans and bi couples launched in March 2010, only six states offered full marriage equality. Now, the country has 37 states that legally recognize same-sex marriages, and we're anxiously awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court in June 2015 that could make marriage equality effective nationwide.
It’s time for businesses to prepare.
“Equally Wed’s mission all along has to been to help LBGTQ couples feel safe and to validate their love and commitment to each other,” says editorial director and cofounder Kirsten Ott Palladino. “We’re thrilled to offer this new instructional component with conferences, classes and credentialing and do our part to transform the wedding industry into a safer, more understanding place for our community to get married.”
Equally Wed Business Education’s core mission is to elevate the wedding industry’s understanding of the LGBTQ+ community while helping equality-minded wedding professionals get more out of their business.
Launched in 2010 to New York Times acclaim, Equally Wed is an award-winning digital magazine and social community for LGBTQ couples planning their weddings, discussing romance, marriage, family matters, travel, relationships, fashion and equality. Since its inception, Equally Wed’s mission has been to value its readers’ relationships and level of commitment, to offer their marriages the validation that society and the government and traditional wedding publications were turning a blind eye to.
Equally Wed’s Business Education program offers four components: the Equally Wed Master Class, conferences around the country with experts in the wedding industry sharing their knowledge with wedding professionals interested in working with LGBTQ couples; onsite business training; credentialing to certify businesses as equality-minded; and reviewing and editing marketing materials to rid them of heteronormative terms that are offensive to the LGBTQ community and instruct the business on how to focus more on the couple, and less on gender.
Because of the magazine’s unique and respected position in the LGBTQ community, Equally Wed’s cofounder and editorial director Kirsten Ott Palladino has an established insider’s perspective to offer to businesses wishing to extend their hospitality to the LGBTQ community.
A seasoned speaker at wedding conferences and frequent CNN studio guest, Palladino offers businesses a strategic edge to become more fluent and sensitive to the LGBTQ+ market by personally training staff, reviewing the company’s marketing materials, testing the staff, answering delicate questions, leaving behind training materials for new hires, certifying your company with Equally Wed’s seal as an equality-minded wedding vendor, and offering a marriage equality overview to what’s happening in today’s laws for your area, as well as the country.
Marriage equality will be an economic boost for businesses that are ready, but it could also be an economic bust for businesses if anyone on your staff discriminates against LGBTQ people or a couple. With social media holding so much power in 2015, it’s important that not just marketing people know how to attract the LGBTQ community to the property, but also that the entire staff is trained to be sensitive and appropriate to the special needs to the LGBTQ community. It is deeper and more nuanced than just respect and nice manners.
“Even the nicest wedding vendors who fully support marriage equality are nervous about same-sex weddings,” says Palladino. “I’ve traveled the globe speaking to wedding pros, and they approach me all the time. These are wonderful, educated, well-meaning people who are simply wanting an expert to guide them through the process so they can make sure they take care of their clients properly. I realized we needed to take care of our wedding industry and our couples in a different way that I hadn’t thought of in the past.”
Kirsten Ott Palladino and her team will guide clients through the ins and outs of what the LGBTQ couple needs and expects from vendors and venues.
To learn more about the business education options for your wedding business, email edu@equallywed.com.
High-res images and interviews available. Please email Whitney King wking@equallywed.com to arrange or call 678.528.2000.
Since its inception five years ago, Equally Wed magazine has witnessed tremendous growth in the U.S. When the award-winning online wedding magazine for lesbian, gay, queer, trans and bi couples launched in March 2010, only six states offered full marriage equality. Now, the country has 37 states that legally recognize same-sex marriages, and we're anxiously awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court in June 2015 that could make marriage equality effective nationwide.
It’s time for businesses to prepare.
“Equally Wed’s mission all along has to been to help LBGTQ couples feel safe and to validate their love and commitment to each other,” says editorial director and cofounder Kirsten Ott Palladino. “We’re thrilled to offer this new instructional component with conferences, classes and credentialing and do our part to transform the wedding industry into a safer, more understanding place for our community to get married.”
Equally Wed Business Education’s core mission is to elevate the wedding industry’s understanding of the LGBTQ+ community while helping equality-minded wedding professionals get more out of their business.
Launched in 2010 to New York Times acclaim, Equally Wed is an award-winning digital magazine and social community for LGBTQ couples planning their weddings, discussing romance, marriage, family matters, travel, relationships, fashion and equality. Since its inception, Equally Wed’s mission has been to value its readers’ relationships and level of commitment, to offer their marriages the validation that society and the government and traditional wedding publications were turning a blind eye to.
Equally Wed’s Business Education program offers four components: the Equally Wed Master Class, conferences around the country with experts in the wedding industry sharing their knowledge with wedding professionals interested in working with LGBTQ couples; onsite business training; credentialing to certify businesses as equality-minded; and reviewing and editing marketing materials to rid them of heteronormative terms that are offensive to the LGBTQ community and instruct the business on how to focus more on the couple, and less on gender.
Because of the magazine’s unique and respected position in the LGBTQ community, Equally Wed’s cofounder and editorial director Kirsten Ott Palladino has an established insider’s perspective to offer to businesses wishing to extend their hospitality to the LGBTQ community.
A seasoned speaker at wedding conferences and frequent CNN studio guest, Palladino offers businesses a strategic edge to become more fluent and sensitive to the LGBTQ+ market by personally training staff, reviewing the company’s marketing materials, testing the staff, answering delicate questions, leaving behind training materials for new hires, certifying your company with Equally Wed’s seal as an equality-minded wedding vendor, and offering a marriage equality overview to what’s happening in today’s laws for your area, as well as the country.
Marriage equality will be an economic boost for businesses that are ready, but it could also be an economic bust for businesses if anyone on your staff discriminates against LGBTQ people or a couple. With social media holding so much power in 2015, it’s important that not just marketing people know how to attract the LGBTQ community to the property, but also that the entire staff is trained to be sensitive and appropriate to the special needs to the LGBTQ community. It is deeper and more nuanced than just respect and nice manners.
“Even the nicest wedding vendors who fully support marriage equality are nervous about same-sex weddings,” says Palladino. “I’ve traveled the globe speaking to wedding pros, and they approach me all the time. These are wonderful, educated, well-meaning people who are simply wanting an expert to guide them through the process so they can make sure they take care of their clients properly. I realized we needed to take care of our wedding industry and our couples in a different way that I hadn’t thought of in the past.”
Kirsten Ott Palladino and her team will guide clients through the ins and outs of what the LGBTQ couple needs and expects from vendors and venues.
To learn more about the business education options for your wedding business, email edu@equallywed.com.
High-res images and interviews available. Please email Whitney King wking@equallywed.com to arrange or call 678.528.2000.
Contact
Equally Wed
Whitney King
678.528.2000
http://equallywed.com
Whitney King
678.528.2000
http://equallywed.com
Contact
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