Despite the November 4th passage of Proposition 8 in California and the bans on gay marriage in Florida and Arizona,” says co-founder Marianne Puechl, “the services through RainbowWeddingNetwork are thriving.”

The national web resource, RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, announces a vast update to its website as of December1, 2008. An array of interactive features are now available to site users, including social networking for couples in the planning stages, engagement announcements, and a zip code search for screened gay-friendly businesses within an active online Directory of over 5000 members. High graphic appeal and fresh content focused on GLBTQ wedding trends and legislative highlights will polish the new look. Most features will be free for site users.

RainbowWeddingNetwork.com was originally launched in 2000 and offered the nation’s first-ever Wedding Gift Registry targeted specifically for the LGBTQ community. By June 2001, the lesbian-owned company had achieved over 1 million hits to its website and had expanded its resources to include an online Directory of screened, gay-friendly wedding, travel and home-related businesses. The website has been upgraded once previously in its eight-year history; the fresh look was unveiled on December 1st highlights an addition of diverse resources newly available through the site.

“Despite the November 4th passage of Proposition 8 in California and the bans on gay marriage in Florida and Arizona,” says co-founder Marianne Puechl, “the services through RainbowWeddingNetwork are thriving. This speaks to the fact that our resources are needed now more than ever: we are a bridge for couples and advocates to find screened businesses they can trust… and likewise we provide direct opportunities for gay-friendly businesses to reach this booming target market.” She and her partner Cindy Sproul designed their business plan in 1999, and this year estimate a downstream revenue through their website of well over $7 million to their advertisers. “The fresh look of our site will be interactive, convenient and a lot of fun for our website users and for the businesses who are part of our Network. Moreover, the updated RainbowWeddingNetwork.com will continue to provide a degree of legitimization for the gay minority in America, concerning our fight for equality with regard to marriage.”

RainbowWeddingNetwork also produces many of the nation’s first Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expos and in recent years has presented twenty-five events in twelve states throughout America. The company plans to expand its Expo Calendar to ten additional events in 2009. In 2003 the company began publication of RainbowWeddingNetwork Magazine, the first full-color glossy dedicated to gay and lesbian weddings. The magazine is circulated throughout the nation.

For more information please visit http://www.gayweddings.us.com or http://www.RainbowWeddingNetwork.com. For information concerning national LGBTQ Wedding Expos, visit http://www.SameLoveSameRights.com and for additional same-sex wedding and marriage resources, visit http://www.RainbowWeddingNetworkMagazine.com.

SHELTON - When Cindy Sproul and her partner decided to get married nine years ago, they noticed that there were no openly gay-friendly resources online to help them plan the occasion.
So they created their own.
RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, a national gay and lesbian wedding resource, provides access to a database with the names of hundreds of companies and organizations screened for their willingness to help same-sex couples plan their weddings.
In a month, the site received a million hits, and the two women knew they had found their niche.
They also began organizing wedding and family expos nationwide, bringing together business professionals, advocates, community leaders, and allies. They put on the second “Same Love, Same Rights” wedding Expo in the state Sunday at the Courtyard by Marriott.
About 35 vendors and organizations gathered, catering to a crowd of 200 area residents.
“You can’t imagine how happy we are that there are events like this,” said Jim Cassidy, a Seymour resident who stopped by with his partner, Louis O’Leary.
“We are planning a big wedding, and to walk through here and know that everybody is OK with the fact that two guys are getting married, it’s just such a relief.”
The couple can now tie the knot thanks to the state Supreme Court’s October ruling allowing gay couples in the state to marry.   See Wedding expo targets same-sex couples
Shelton Weekly, CT -