Downtown Joins Vows Heard Around the State
Ed Fuentes
June Wedding: City council president and Acting Mayor for the City Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, stands with family, friends, CD 13 staff and staff alum, on the south lawn steps of City Hall after a wedding ceremony held Tuesday morning.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — When the wedding invitation arrives in the form of a press release, the vows declaring a commitment of love and partnership become a political statement. A similar scene was repeated around the state on Monday evening, as the first wave of legal same-sex marriages began at 5:01 pm.
On a warm Tuesday morning, Downtown had its first ceremony with Shane Goldsmith and Monica Granados, a couple who met while working for Council president Eric Garcetti.
A cynic would say that with the November elections promising opposition to same sex unions, treating vows as a media event is grandstanding. At the same time, with all the celebrations around California in the last 24 hours, the opening ceremonies for what many are calling the summer of love may have only just begun.
Politics aside, the moments seen between the couple, and their families and friends on the south lawn of City Hall were not staged, but very real.
Urban Bruin on June 18, 2008, at 02:24PM – #1
Great story...too bad they don’t open up City Hall for more public weddings. In San Francisco you can get married inside City Hall under its beautiful dome for only $67. To rent a similar location for photos would cost ten times that amount.
Imagine if they opened up City Hall, either the Bradley Room or under the rotunda for civil weddings once a month or weekly. That would open up the halls of government to more people and give back to the public an architectural icon.
p.s. Who wants to get married in Norwalk?
SF City Hall: http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedimages/countyclerk/Rotunda.jpg