On 29th March the first same-sex marriages will take place in England and Wales. Any couple wishing to marry on that date will need to have given formal notice of their intention to marry by 13th March.
Same-sex couples in Scotland will be able to marry in October 2014.
To mark the occasion, greeting card company TheDogsDoodahs.com has today issued a ‘Save the Date’ card for 29th March to the press, along with a world map highlighting global differences in attitudes to homosexual relationships and marriage.
The United Kingdom becomes the 16th country to allow same-sex marriages, while some other countries recognise same-sex relationships in law although they do not have the status of marriage.
By contrast, there are still many countries (highlighted in green and black) where homosexuality is punished by imprisonment and even death.
TheDogsDoodahs.com (challenger brand to Moonpig in the personalised cards sector) has extended their range of Civil Partnership cards with Gay Wedding designs. Many of the existing wedding cards are also suitable for either heterosexual or same-sex couples. Jennie Rutterworth, Creative Director at TheDogsDoodahs.com, who celebrated her union with partner Emma in 2012, said:
“We’ve been helping to celebrate marriage for a long time. A lot of our wedding cards are already suitable for both heterosexual and homosexual couples and to be honest we’ve always had Wedding cards in the Civil Partnership section online (we’re a little before our time here!). We try to use gender neutral names in the examples on the website too - the designs are for everyone.”
*Note you may remove the reference to TheDogsDoodahs.com if using for non-commercial purposes.
Interesting notes:
- Civil Partnerships have been available to gay couples in the UK since 5th December 2005. Although the Government initially estimated there would be between 11,000 and 22,000 civil partners in Great Britain by 2010, the actual figures are over 79,000 people in civil partnerships by the start of 2010. (Data source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob2/civil-partnership-statistics--united-kingdom/2012/sty-trends-in-civil-partnerships.html)
- Couples in civil partnerships will be able to convert to marriages if they wish. However, the Government is still making the changes necessary to allow this so it is anticipated this will not be possible until the end of 2014.
- The Netherlands was the first country to extend marriage laws to include same-sex couples. Four couples were married at Amsterdam’s City Hall by mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen at midnight on 1st April 2001, when the bill came into effect.
- Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and her partner become one of the first married same-sex couples in Iceland when the country legalised same-sex marriage in 2010.
- Denmark was the first country to recognise same-sex relationships in law in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2012 that same-sex marriage was legalised.
TheDogsDoodahs.com focuses primarily on humour, with the site owning and producing their own greeting cards. The company has a loyal fan-base who appreciate the ‘funnier and easier’ approach to cards that the site promises. Cards and gifts ordered before 2pm are sent the same day (Monday-Friday) from the UK mainland.
For more information or samples please contact:
ThoseNicePeople@TheDogsDoodahs.com / alex@hyperworldcontrol.com
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