Hallmark Starts Offering Same-Sex Wedding Cards
City News - Toronto, Canada
August 22, 2008
 

A popular greeting card company is tapping into a large and under-served market by offering products designed for same-sex weddings.

While homosexual couples have been legally allowed to marry in Canada since 2005, Hallmark only decided recently to start stocking shelves with same-sex wedding cards after California legalized gay and lesbian marriages earlier this year - the second state to do so after Massachusetts. A handful of American states currently recognize civil unions.

"It's our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can," Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell said.

The new wedding cards have been gradually released this summer and will be widely available next year. The products may very well be a hit in Toronto, which has one of the largest gay and lesbian communities in North America and has for years been a destination for foreign same sex couples planning to tie the knot.

"When I have shopped for situations like babies or weddings for gay friends I have good luck in quirky stores," said Kathryn Hamm, president of the website gayweddings.com.

"But if you are just in a generic store ... the bride and groom symbol or words are in most cards," she said. "It becomes difficult to find some that are neutral but have some style."

That neutral style is apparently working for Hallmark's main competitor American Greetings, which said it has no plans to offer same-sex specific wedding cards.

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates more than 85,000 American same-sex couples have entered into legal relationships since 1997 - that's when Hawaii started offering some legal benefits to gay and lesbian partners.

Hallmark's new line of cards will join the roster of the 200 different wedding greetings, including those geared toward interracial or inter-religious marriages and blended families, the company has on the market at any given time.

"The fact that you have someone like Hallmark going into that niche shows it's growing and signals a trend," said Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for The Greeting Card Association said.

The card-maker also offers messages for very specific and even awkward situations including cards for couples having difficulty conceiving a child and for those who are going through rehab.