With the rise of same-sex marriages in the UK, civil partnerships have fallen 85% since 2013. Same-sex marriages were legalised in 2014. In the first month of legalisation in the UK, 1,049 same-sex couples wed.
Is this changing the way that people shop for jewellery ahead of their wedding? We take a closer look with Angelic Diamonds, retailers of halo engagement rings.
Legalisation of same-sex marriage around the world
In the UK, the first same-sex marriage occurred on the 29th March 2014. From this point, 15,098 couples legally married under the new legislation up to 30th June 2015 — 55% of these were between women and 45% between men. In the first month alone of legalisation, 1,409 same-sex couples celebrated their love for each other with a wedding.
Same-sex couples can enjoy marriage in America now too. Researchers have already seen an effect of this — it was found that couples spend more on their weddings than they would on a civil partnership. Men were found to spend $15,580 more on average and women $9,116. Many wedding retailers are accommodating to the rise in same-sex marriages as well, by offering bespoke supplies such as his and his (and hers and hers) wedding toppers and signage. It is estimated that the same-sex wedding industry is worth $51 billion (£38.8 billion).
In some countries, legalisation has only occurred recently or not at all. In Germany, this was very recently — in October 2017. Amongst others, Northern Ireland, Australia and Italy still haven’t legalised same-sex marriage.
Changing the traditions
There are traditions that have been followed by heterosexual couples for hundreds of years. The man asks for approval from the woman’s parents, he purchases an engagement ring and proposes. At the wedding, the male has his groomsmen and women have their bridesmaids.
Recent research shows that 81% of gay men didn’t purchase engagement rings before popping the question. Instead, they purchased substitute gifts, such as expensive watches, and then purchased rings for the wedding ceremony.
Different to stag and hen dos, which many heterosexual couples take part in, studies show that gay couples also chose to enjoy a couple’s getaway or a group vacation with all of their friends.
When it comes to the people of the wedding party, same-sex couples did things differently again – many said that they had mixed sex bridesmaids and groomsmen. During the ceremony, the traditional vows cannot be written as they specify becoming ‘husband and wife’. Instead, the partners often write their own personal vows and the registrar marry the couple with the phrase ‘partners for life’.
Some traditions remain intact. For example, more than half of all women surveyed said that they did not see each other on the morning of their ceremony — keeping the surprise for seeing each other at the altar. When walking down the aisle was discussed, some couples reported that they walked down together and others said that they got a parent to walk with them.
Has the jewellery market changed?
To accommodate for different needs and wishes, the jewellery industry must change with the times. One thing that was picked up by research was that many gay couples chose to do their shopping online, as they found shopping in store for rings to be an awkward encounter. However, many businesses have embraced the changes by presenting gay couples in their advertising campaigns and welcoming couples to their store.
It appears that some same-sex couples skip the engagement rings and focus more on wedding bands. Only 66% of females and 19% of males purchased engagement rings.
Some same-sex couples are being more creative with their choice of wedding band. There are jewellers which offer metal that has multi-coloured features to it — representative of the flag that the LGBTQ community associate themselves with. One jeweller reported that often same-sex couples don’t request matching jewellery but instead want rings that have matching components, such as the same coloured metal or a similar stone.
Sources
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-lindner/how-samesex-marriage-make_b_8039940.html
https://www.theknot.com/content/lgbtq-weddings-study-the-knot
Collaboration