Pink Wedding Days | Gay Marriage and Civil Partnerships Blog

We've always been big fans of summer weddings , and it seems we're not alone.  Online wedding planner Bride Book has revealed that two-thirds of nuptials for 2017 & 2018 will take place during the summer months. And it's easy to see why weddings in June, July and August are so popular: the warmer weather, the lighter evenings, and the gorgeous flowers in bloom.  And whilst we love seeing seasonal flowers at weddings, our floristry knowledge is zero. 'That blue one, please...and    *pointing*    the red one, oh what's the one next to it? Yeah, I'll have six of those.' ^ literally us at the florist. So we thought we'd put some pictures to petals and list a few of our favourites that are sure to look ideal in bouquets, boutonnieres and on top of tables over the coming months. We'd love to hear what your favourite blooms are, too.  Snapdragon    These make for excellent centre pieces but can also be use

It’s no secret that we love Gilwell Park . This gorgeous wedding venue is set in an estate of 108 acres  and includes The White House: a 17 th century Grade II listed building with superb signature rooms. Gilwell Park is a venue for all seasons.  Outdoor weddings are available, and there's the option to enjoy drinks outside, too. And even better, the venue has some fantastic offers on late availability dates for 2017. Late Availability Offer Exclusive to 2017 remaining dates 50% off Room Hire for Weddings with Our Catering Packages – code: 50OFFRHOC 10% off Room Hire for Weddings with Dry hire Packages – code: 10OFFRHDH 10% off Room Hire for Private Events – code: 10OFFGPES (valid until 30th July 2017 for dates ONLY in 2017) Remaining Dates: Sunday 6th August Friday 11th August (no ceremony) Sunday 13th August Sunday 20th August Sunday 10th September Sunday 17th September Sunday 1st Oct

With the average wedding guest spending £432 to attend someone else’s nuptials , it’s time we all started looking at ways to reduce the spiralling cost of returning RSVPs with yes. ^ (£432!? Good Lord, we hope you're not spending quite that much...) New outfits are expensive and wearing something you already own isn’t always possible or desirable.  So we’re excited and relieved to hear that there’s now a clothing dye that’s as easy to use as a detergent. B ecause we suck at dying. ^ Unless you mean dying over breakfast the next morning with a red wine hangover and a pocket full of wedding favours… Dylon’s fabric dyes are a useful weapon to have in your wardrobe’s arsenal for occasions when all an outfit needs is a change of colour. Upcycling is bang on trend at the moment, too, and it's a great way to save money whilst still looking fab.  Here's what they had to say...   DYLON Fabric Dyes’ pioneering new Pod burs

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of same-sex marriage. Under the country's present law, marriage is only lawful between a man and a woman, but the Courts have declared this unconstitutional.   The Government now has two years either to amend the existing marriage law or to create a new one. Taiwan is set to become the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage. This is HUGE news for Taiwan’s LGBTI community .  It’s big news, too, for LGBTI communities throughout the region. We’ll keep you updated.

Taiwan could be the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. A court will announce on Wednesday as to whether its current marriage law is unconstitutional or not. Marriage in Taiwan is defined as solely being between a man and a woman , but campaigners argue that this is discriminative and untenable in law. If the court agrees with them, it would make a same-sex marriage bill almost impossible to defeat in Parliament.   Keep following the blog , and we'll keep you updated.

After a court in Bermuda ruled that a ban on gay marriage was discriminatory, the island’s Royal Gazette newspaper was ready with a superb response to critics. Many locals had opposed the ruling believing that a great and terrible disaster might now be visited upon the island. *Spoiler Alert* Nothing happened. But the Royal Gazette used an editorial to remind everyone of just that. “At not long after lunchtime yesterday, a casual look outdoors revealed the sky was not falling; nor was it red.   Upon further inspection, a saunter towards the coastlines revealed there was no tsunami hurtling towards Bermuda to send us whence we came.   In fact, it was a most spectacular Bermuda day; beach weather on Cinco de Mayo. And an expensively priced bag of crisps was still expensively priced.   In short, the Supreme Court provided the foundation for a same-sex marriage to take place in Bermuda in the future and no one died. Nothing changed.   But for

The Guest book is hardly the highlight of the wedding reception. There's the pressure of writing something thoughtful, something touching, lightly humorous or insightful in the space of a couple of minutes and all  without the luxury of a first draft.  Unless you're some kind of ad hoc Shakespeare , then it's hardly ideal. There's the risk, too, of scribbling some insipid message that's as generic as the  verse  in the Hallmark card you've already deposited in the  wedding  postbox.  But o f course, you don't want to write something too personal. Those penning later entries can't help but flick through previous pages to see what's already been said. Nobody wants what they've written to become a template for what not to write.  That's why we thought we'd share with you something that could spice up your guest book:  the wedding guessing game and guest book – Guest who? (Scroll to the bottom of the page for a li

Most of us have relatives who will remember when homosexuality was a criminal offence. Fifty years is really no time at all, and yet LGBTI rights have come a long way since the Sexual Offences Act of 1967. Over the coming months, the British Film Institute will commemerate the 50th anniversary, and they have quite the lineup.    You can find out more on the BFI website BFI Announces Full Programme to Mark 50th Anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act The BFI today announces its full programme marking the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967 from June onwards. This includes a major two month film and TV season  GROSS INDECENCY  and a   one month  JOE ORTON  season at BFI Southbank, a new online  BFI Player  collection  LGBT BRITAIN ON FILM ,  a UK-wide touring programme of archive film  kicking off at  Pride in London , an  international touring programme of classic LGBT shorts  from directors including Derek Jarman, Isaac Julien and Terence Davies

When this landed in our inbox, we were a little surprised . We've read so much lately about how expensive weddings are for guests, how people are frustrated and angry, even, at the cost of attending someone else's nuptials, but according to a survey by the One4All card , it appears that people may be more willing to travel further and spend more than you might think.  WE WOULD WALK 500 MILES, AND WE WOULD WALK 500 MORE – FOR LOVE Brits are willing to travel 1,163 miles to a loved one’s wedding Brits are happy to invest on average £827.45 on being a wedding guest 31% welcome the idea of a wedding abroad ENGAGED BRITS should expect a bumper guest list, as new research has revealed wedding guests are more than happy to go the extra mile for loved ones’ nuptials, both in distance and financially. A survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out by  One4all , the Post Office gift card, revealed guests would be willing to travel an astonishing 1,16