GayWeddings.com

Back in 1999, my partner and I got (as I like to say now) "married" on the Eastern Shore, about an hour from Washington, DC.

We invited our loved ones and spent three days of playing and dodging (unsuccessfully) Hurricane Dennis, which had hovered off North Carolina for several days, headed out to sea and then back again to our wedding. Uninvited, of course.

It was the occasion of our wedding which inspired my mom, Gretchen, to start TwoBrides.com & TwoGrooms.com back in Y2K, making her the first web site retailer of her kind and making me awfully proud.

We are so thrilled that our wedding could lead to so much love and community -- not only amongst those we know personally, but also amongst those of you out there who we have worked with in the past years.

Here's to the spread of Gay Wedding Fever and the encouragement for all couples -- regardless of sexual orientation -- to have the opportunity to stand up and publicly and declare their love for one another and, eventually, enjoy equal marriage rights.