Royal Oak Vendors Show Support at LGBT Wedding Expo

Several Royal Oak businesses will be attending the 3rd Annual Same-Sex Wedding Expo at the Detroit Marriot Livonia this Sunday, supporting the LGBT community.

The expo, sponsored by Pride Source Media Group, will be bringing in vendors offering anything and everything to do with weddings. 

“Same-sex couples need gowns, tuxedos, caterers, wedding cakes, banquet halls, limos, invitations—everything that goes into creating a special wedding event,” said Jan Stevenson, co-publisher of Between the Lines.

Some of the vendors hail from Royal Oak, including Shelton & Deon Law Group, Infinity Jewlers, The Miner's Den, Shutterbooth and C & N Party Rentals.

"When you go into a business, say a bakery, you don't know how they are going to react to a same-sex wedding. They might refuse to work with you," said Brent Brozek of Royal Oak. "That's the great thing about the same-sex wedding expo; you know that the vendors are businesses that don't have a problem with it. They support the LBGT community or maybe they just don't care—but they want your business."

Brozek and his partner, David Abler, shopped the expo prior to their civil union in Chicago in 2011 and ended up hiring a wedding planner they met to organize a backyard reception at their Royal Oak home.

"It was nice to work with someone we knew would be supportive, someone who could help us make it a stress-free occasion," Brozek said. "It was a really great event."

In addition to providing a one-stop resource for anyone planning a wedding, the expo features fabulous food, free wine, fantastic giveaways and door prizes. 

The wedding expo will be held at Detroit Marriot Livonia, 17100 Laurel Park North, Livonia on Sunday, April 7 from 1-4 p.m.