Wedding bells are ringing—for you?

According to a recent Gawker article, same-sex couples are being left out in the cold from the bridal magazine party. Excited LGBT brides and grooms-to-be are finding that the magazines are just not catering to their needs. Editors tend to assume that the details of a same-sex marriage are no different from any other. However, one bride-to-be speaks to the uncomfortable reality that she cannot pick up a bridal magazine expecting to find any advice on how to match her wedding dress to her partner’s, or how to find businesses welcoming to the LGBT community.

So while straight couples pore over an endless array of magazines promising them the perfect wedding, where do same-sex couples turn for advice? The revised and updated third edition of The Essential Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings, just publishing today, aims to be just the answer. Tess Ayers and Paul Brown first published their guide in 1994, and we have updated it to include new and up-to-date information, tips on everything from where to get married to how to tell the world, and more beautiful photos from real-life LGBT wedding ceremonies.

When Tess and Paul first wrote their guide in 1994, gay marriage was little more than a dream. It was 10 years later in 2004 that Massachusetts started granting marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Since then, though, legal recognition of same-sex marriage has been steadily growing. By the end of 2011, six states had legalized same-sex marriage: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. On February 13, 2012, Washington State signed off on a bill that grants marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And then three weeks later, on March 1, 2012, Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill that added Maryland to the fast-growing list of states that have now legalized same-sex marriage. We hope that momentum will continue to propel legalization efforts across the nation, and in the meantime we’re excited to be offering this guide for all grooms and brides, whether or not their wedding will be legally recognized.

In celebration of the book’s release today, we would like to give away three free copies of the book! Just write a comment below to enter the giveaway.