Ultimate LGBT Wedding Expo A Smashing Success

SOUTHFIELD – It was a nice day for a white wedding at the fourth annual Ultimate LGBT Wedding and Anniversary Expo. More than 600 people attended the Expo, which took place Saturday at the Southfield Civic Pavilion.
Sponsored by Between The Lines and Pride Source Media Group, the event toppled all previous records for attendance and number of vendors.
"There were 90 vendors, up from 35 in 2013," said Jan Stevenson, BTL co-publisher. "And attendance was up 150 percent from last year."
One of the most exciting additions to this year's Expo was the fashion show.
"Brittany Blase, owner of B. Ella Bridal in Plymouth, and President Tuxedo, provided absolutely gorgeous clothes," said Stevenson. "The hair and makeup by Charmed Salon was beautiful."
The show featured as models local activists and dignitaries such as Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter, Southfield City Councilman and State House candidate Jeremy Moss, Flagstar Bank Senior Vice President Beth Correa, Kick President Antonio Johnson-Seals, attorney Alicia Skillman and BTL staffers Chris Azzopardi and Ben Jenkins.
"The models themselves added color of their own, especially when the Democratic candidate for governor of Michigan, Mark Schauer, hopped on stage and escorted one woman in a bridal gown down the runway," Stevenson said.
Attendees agreed that the fashion show was a definite highlight of the Expo.
"The Expo was bigger and better this year, and I loved the fashion show," said Paul Mattson. "It was probably the best addition they made."
Mattson and his partner Roland Smith were married outside the Oakland County Courthouse by Rev. Roland Stringfellow of Metropolitan Community Church-Detroit March 22, before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of the DeBoer v. Snyder ruling. The two plan on having a church wedding as soon as same-sex marriage is legal again at the state level.
So did the two pick up any ideas at the Expo?
"The photo booth and the pastry master," Smith said. "We'll probably use them both."
Jessie and Layla have set June 7, 2015 as the date for their big day. Both said the Expo was useful to them in their planning.
"We are looking for a florist, so we found a couple of options," said Jessie.
The couple said attending an Expo geared exclusively for same-sex couples was helpful.
"We went to a regular wedding expo and it was awkward, explaining that we were a couple," said Jessie. "But here it was comfortable. We didn't get any strange looks."
Anthony Williams and his partner William Bincomb haven't set a date yet, but they said they do plan to tie the knot "eventually."
So did the Expo give them any ideas?
"Are you kidding?" Williams asked. "We found a lot of possible places to hold the event and catering options. The best part of the Expo is the ability to network with so many different resources and it also gave us an opportunity to tell people who we are, because we are with Wings HIV Support Group."
Stevenson said it was gratifying to see the Expo be so successful.
"It was wonderful to see so many people having fun, planning their wedding day and enjoying the vendors and the entertainment," she said. "We were thrilled that April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, along with their whole family, came to the Expo. Their inspirational story is changing the world for the better, and we were proud to have them join in the fun and excitement of the Expo."
For his part, Schauer said meeting DeBoer and Rowse was an honor.
"I felt like I was in the presence of leaders," he said, before volunteering to marry them once he was governor.
Asked what plans they've made for their own wedding, DeBoer said the details are few. For legal reasons, the couple has decided to wait until their case has made its way through the legal system – even if that means it should be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court – before they wed.
"Right now we haven't been planning," DeBoer said. "We don't really know when this decision will come down, so it's hard to make plans when you don't know when you're going to be able to be married. But at this rate, it's going to be really big."