This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jason Langlois and Will Bladh are in the early stages of making plans for their summer 2017 wedding, and they don't want their excitement pierced by the pain of being rejected by a venue, florist or photographer who have a legal right in Utah to refuse to serve a gay couple.
That's why they joined several hundred people Sunday at a gay- and lesbian-wedding expo in Salt Lake City aimed at connecting couples with businesses who want to make it known they're open to doing same-sex weddings.
"We don't have to worry about, 'Will they or won't they,'" said Langlois. "It's a group of businesses that are LGBT-friendly."
With a string quartet playing on one side of the Eventos Reception Center and pop music on the other side, gay and lesbian couples chatted with businesses showing off fancy wedding cakes, fun photo booths and elaborate floral arrangements.
Karl Jennings and Chris Marrano were looking for a cake baker and photographer for their June wedding. They said they've had a heterosexual friend helping them make wedding plans by calling ahead to businesses to make sure they'll do a gay wedding. That wasn't an issue Sunday.
"We know that whoever is here isn't going to turn us away because we're gay," Jennings said. "It's very relaxing and makes you want to give people business here."
Utah is one of 29 states where it is legal for businesses to refuse services to same-sex couples, according to the Human Rights Campaign. A proposal to change that law died last week in Utah's Republican-controlled legislation.
The Salt Lake City event was the first of kind since gay marriage became legal in Utah in 2013, said Michael Aaron, the show organizer and publisher of QSalt Lake, a magazine that caters to the LGBT community.
For wedding-related businesses, gay marriages represent a growth market. Gaining a toehold requires spreading the word you're open to LGBT weddings — and not just doing it for the money, said Annie Munk, who along with her wife, Nicole Broberg, rents photo booths for weddings.
"Couples need to feel comfortable with the person they're working with and know that's not going to be any judgment," said Munk, owner of Utah Party Pix.