My new guilty pleasure...Wedding House

As part of my (cough) research (cough), I've been spending my days off consuming all the wedding blogs/ magazines/ photography sites/ and tv shows that I can. While most of it is very serious in nature, Channel 4 however, has created the most over-indulgent, hilarious wedding show ever, even topping Four Weddings, which pits four brides against eachother in a Come Dine With Me style wedding-off.

In Wedding House, the couples are allowed to indulge their ultimate wedding fantasies, and instead of the gorgeous, tastefully edited visions that came to mind when I had first heard of the show, I was gutted (and yet surprisingly delighted) to find that each wedding has a super tacky theme, and many of the couples are in costume! Tonights themes include: Alice in Wonderland, Turkish bathhouse, 101 Dalmations, and Moulin Rouge! HAHAHA! Why am I not shooting THESE weddings?!

Hey Gay People!

Are you engaged? Do you want free wedding photos, but not the kind that come from your creepy, elderly uncle Bob who just happens own a Nikon with a 300mm zoom lens? (Who needs that much zoom at a wedding anyway?!) Well now's your chance to tell uncle Bob to take a hike!

I want to photograph your gay wedding. For free. You'll get me for the whole day from the "getting ready" shots all the way up to the first few dances in the evening. I then spend the next few weeks in post production to digitally optimise colour, lighting, contrast, that cake smudge on your brother's lapel, etc. After you get back from your honeymoon, you'll receive a DVD of your photos in High Resolution for printing. You must be aware, however, that I may use one or several of my favourite shots from the day in the final exhibition.

What it's all about

The Big Gay Wedding Project is my way to do my bit for the gay rights movement. Unfortunately, I have no previous experience doing anything remotely non-profit, so not only is this going to be a project but a bit of an experiment as well.

The idea is that I spend the next year providing free photography services to gay and lesbian couples across Ireland on their wedding days. I use the word "wedding," of course, because despite the fact that gay marriage legislation still has yet to go through here in Ireland, that is, to me at least, what the ceremony is. A wedding. Also, the phrase "commitment ceremony" has too many syllables in it. At the end of 2011/ beginning of 2012, I'd like to hold an exhibition, with all proceeds going towards the Irish Marriage Equality Campaign and BeLonG To.

I intend to use this blog to document my progress and hopefully gain a few much needed contacts along the way. I'm currently in need of sponsers, funding, and LOTS of gay couples from across the country. Since I'm at the very beginning of all this, any input on how to make the Big Gay Wedding Project as big and gay as possible would be greatly appreciated. Or even if you just want to show your support, you can contact me at ShawnaScottPhotos@gmail.com.