Day of weddings planned @ West Seattle’s Sanctuary at Admiral to celebrate marriage equality

It’s not quite a group ceremony – but December 15, six days after the first legal same-sex weddings in our state, will bring the first West Seattle multiple-wedding, marriage-equality-celebrating event in West Seattle that we’ve heard of. Just announced by the Universal Life Church:

The Universal Life Church and other sponsors will provide 20 gay and straight couples with free weddings in a historic West Seattle landmark on Dec. 15.

The Universal Life Church Monastery announces that it will host “December to Remember,” a wedding event which will celebrate the legalization of same sex marriage in Washington state, on Saturday, Dec. 15, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The December to Remember celebration will be held at The Sanctuary at Admiral, a historic landmark in West Seattle. This free event will include individual luxury wedding ceremonies for 20 gay and straight couples, as well as flowers, cake, photographers, and music – all provided for the couples at no charge. A no host bar and meal options by Foodz Catering will also be available.

Between the couples, their guests, and members of the public, over 200 people are expected to attend this event.

We asked ULC spokesperson Andy Fulton if the 20 couples already were signed up. He says, “11 couples have confirmed that they are going to attend. 10 couples are gay (mostly lesbians), one is straight. They are old, young, have been together for decades, have only been dating for a couple of years, and everything in between. At least several couples have young children. We’re still trying to find additional couples. Interested couples can e-mail us at weddings@themonastery.org or fill out the form found on this page. Couples that expressed interest in participating based on their desire to share their love and their support for marriage equality were chosen. Couples who were merely interested in getting a free wedding were not.”

14 Replies to "Day of weddings planned @ West Seattle's Sanctuary at Admiral to celebrate marriage equality"

  • JanS November 29, 2012 (6:54 pm)

    I live 1/2 block from the Sanctuary…I’d love to know where the 200 people are going to park !

  • LongTimer WS November 29, 2012 (10:21 pm)

    Good question, JanS. Good question!

    • WSB November 29, 2012 (11:11 pm)

      The ex-church has been an event venue for several years now. Certainly this won’t be the first event of that size – though the “individual weddings” aspect has me thinking this is a daylong, people coming and going event – so where do they park NOW?

  • JanS November 30, 2012 (7:58 am)

    TR, that’s true. But past events there have created a parking nightmare for the rest of the neighborhood. Once, the bridal party hired a huge bus to bring the guests in, and it blocked traffic at 42nd and Lander.And there have been limos illegally parked blocking fire hydrants. This is a busy street anyway because of Safeway, and now we have the new apartments, Element 42, and some of the renters there park on the street instead of paying for parking in the building. I’m guessing that this will be very busy.

  • keden November 30, 2012 (8:40 am)

    I think it’s wonderful that so many people are coming together to celebrate! This is a civil rights milestone for same sex couples and our entire state. Mazel tov!

  • Universal Life Church World Headquarters November 30, 2012 (8:43 am)

    This event is being offered by the Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse. It is not being offered, nor is this organization in anyway connected and/or affiliated with the Universal Life Church World Headquarters

    • WSB November 30, 2012 (8:54 am)

      So – is this an unauthorized use of your organization’s name?

  • Universal Life Church World Headquarters November 30, 2012 (10:46 am)

    It is not unauthorized used, but I believe the Secretary of State in Washington State and all 50 states requires of an organization to utilize its name of incorporation in its entirety. Using a portion thereof could cause confusion with other organization with similar names. This organization in Seattle, WA. is the Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse.

    There is Universal Life Church Monastery in Tucson, AZ. a Universal Life Church in Modesto, CA. and than of course the Universal Life Church World Headquarters in Florida.

    We certainly do not want to infringe upon George Freeman and the ULC Monastery Storehouse on their day of celebration regarding this historic event in Washington State of the legalization of same sex marriage. It is something George Freeman has fought for, for so many years and we are thrilled for the LGBT community.

  • Peaches November 30, 2012 (12:09 pm)

    not to be a debbie downer, but I agree with JANS the parking will be a problem….

  • KJ November 30, 2012 (12:38 pm)

    This is awesome! I wanna go. I live around Admiral and 1 day of people celebrating equal rights and love is way more important than the parking issue so I agree with keden. Plus the high school is right there :)

  • JanS November 30, 2012 (4:22 pm)

    the high school is not across the street…it’s south of Hiawatha Field and Community Center…I don’t believe it has to do anything with this. Let me make this clear. I have no objection to the weddings…I think this is a wonderful thing, that LGBT couples can finally come together in marriage. It’s far past time this should be happening.

    Sorry my objection to the parking problems was brought up..I suppose you have to live here to “get” it..

  • Jan Jarrell November 30, 2012 (7:18 pm)

    @Jans I totally ‘get’ it. I, too, rejoice that LGBT couples can now marry in our wonderful state. But you shouldn’t apologize for bringing up the parking problem because your observation is totally valid. Parking here can be a nightmare when the Sanctuary does ANY kind of wedding. This one is going to bring even more people to our already crowded streets. Where ARE they all going to park?

    Jan

  • Yardvark December 3, 2012 (10:09 am)

    Such a beautiful day for civil rights in our state and our community! So glad to see it finally come to pass!

    On a more common note, from the sounds of it, it looks like after this beautiful day we’ll all need to get back to our everyday issues such as carpooling, walking, biking, and public transit.

    With that in mind, what bus line(s) serve this neighborhood?

  • A. J. Heil December 17, 2012 (9:34 am)

    It was, indeed, a beautiful day for civil rights and I was thrilled and honored to be asked to be part of this event! It was beautiful to see so many happy couples get married with the support of family and friends!

    Congratulations to all of them!!

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