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UCLA: Gay Marriage Will Be Marketing Boon To State

  • Ad Age, Monday, June 16, 2008 10:17 AM
California will see $683.6 million in direct spending for weddings over the next three years, thanks to couples flocking there to seek same-sex marriages, according to a study conducted by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. The study also projects that 2,178 jobs will be created in the state to service the industry. The average price of a wedding now tallies $28,704, according to the Wedding Report.

"With luck, the parties will get as big, if not bigger, than heterosexual weddings, which would be great for the economy," says Richard Markel, association director of the San Francisco-based Association for Wedding Professionals International. He estimates that the average same-sex wedding costs about $15,000 and includes 40 guests, based on figures from 2004, when San Francisco allowed gay couples to marry.

Macy's, for one, has run a full-page ad for its wedding registry in the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle, which read, in part: "First comes love. Then comes marriage. And now it's a milestone every couple in California can celebrate. Let Macy's Wedding Gift & Registry help you start your new life together."

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