LI gay group to launch wedding website

When Deb Viola of Levittown went to a catering hall to make plans for her August wedding to her longtime partner, she said she sensed a certain amount of discomfort.

The caterers gave food options you would normally see for a birthday party, said Viola. "They were second-rate choices." She said she wasn't even offered the top-of-the-line wedding reception choices.

It didn't seem, Viola said, that she was being taken seriously. She is an interfaith minister and owner of Ceremonies of the Heart, a company in North Bellmore that consults on a host of personal issues, including weddings.

As the first anniversary of New York State's Marriage Equality Act approaches — the law took effect July 24, 2011 — the Long Island Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Services Network is planning to launch a new website that will provide businesses the opportunity to market their services to the gay community and offer gays the chance to talk with one another, and vendors, about their wedding plans and review the vendors.

"We heard from people that some things are lacking in the Long Island wedding industry," said David Kilmnick, chief executive of the GLBT network.

The free website, ligayweddings.org, will be operational in a few weeks. Vendors will pay $500 a year to be on the site, and all proceeds will go toward supporting anti-bullying programs at schools on Long Island. The GLBT network has purchased another website, empiregayweddings.org, which will promote Long Island as a place to hold gay weddings, Kilmnick said.

Viola said the new site should be a help to gay couples.

"I think we've made major strides, and there are so many people who are supportive," Viola said. "But there are some people who are just not aware."

Kilmnick said the idea to start the sites came out of his own personal experience as well. He is also planning to marry, in two weeks, and he and his partner visited a caterer. "They said, 'Where's the bride?,' " Kilmnick said.