Gay and Lesbian Wedding Photography

There can be little dispute that one of the greatest love stories if not the greats love story is that of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It is from this classic play that we get the phase "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet...'

Love and the need for Companionship, transcend barriers; barriers of class wealth, age and nationality, politics and religion; but also the barrier of social conformity. Because, love is a gift that we give to those we care for and the gift we receive from those who care for us. Yet for some there is a difference in the outworking of that love. Marriage in Great Britain at this time is the exclusive right of heterosexual couples, but for those who are in same sex relationships marriage is not available. Some people say that the Civil Partnership is simply “a rose by another name” if that is true then why can same sex couples not have a full Civil Marriage?

There are similarities between both Civil Partnership and Civil Marriage. In both a civil partnership and a civil marriage, the couples are required to give public notice of the intentions. The records of both are kept as official and public documents with the registry offices. Couples are required to wait a total of 15 days prior to registration but after giving notice of the partnership. After the waiting period of 15 day's the registration is given, it is then valid for one year after the date of registration.

On a technical level there are differences. A partnership is formed when the second of the two parties signs the partnership papers. This is not necessarily a public ceremony or even an event that happens at the same time as the first signature.  This flexibility means that couples can essentially become partnered in private, if they wish. In contrast, a marriage happens when the partners exchange spoken words and also sign the register. There are also the implications with the religious overtones of the word marriage, and although I fully respect the points of view from both sides of the divide it I do feel that there needs to be a harmonisation of the two.

I have been asked what are the main differences when it comes to the photography at Gay and Lesbian Weddings. Short of re-quoting “a rose by another name” all I can say is that when you have a couple who love each other then there is no difference. I have never said "I am photographing a heterosexual wedding" so why would I see any difference between a 'same sex partnership' to a 'different sex partnership'. Beautiful people deserve beautiful wedding photography.