Gay-wedding planners waste no time

Don Gibble posted his Craigslist ad – “gay/lesbian wedding planner” – Friday morning and then the e-mails started arriving.

By late Friday, he had spoken with more than 40 couples hoping to sit down in his San Francisco office next week and plan one of the biggest days of their lives. And he’s got plenty of suggestions. Want some dinner? Try sushi. Looking for music? He’ll line up Broadway singers (on- and off-).

“Can I do that in a month?” Gibble quipped. “Of course.”

A day after the state Supreme Court cleared the way for same-sex marriages in California, planners like Gibble, along with photographers, cake bakers, clothiers and others, were revving up for June 16 – the soonest gay couples are expected to start tying the knot.

But, of course, June is the height of wedding season, meaning many of the most popular venues and four-star caterers are already booked. Plus, it’s too hot for Palm Springs.

That means couples may have to think small or get creative, planners say.

“It’s going to be very interesting for couples who want something right now,” wedding planner Heather Holliday said. “If I had been waiting over 20 years, I’d want it to happen right now, too!”

Like Gibble, she’s got a strategy. She’s pushing Sundays, for one. “Even some of the nicest wineries” are available then, she said. Heat aside, top outdoor spots are still available in July, a less popular wedding month.

“We’re ready,” she said, bringing on her pitch. “We want to plan the biggest, most extravagant weddings, even if it’s on a budget, even if it’s only in a few months.”

And if time is of the essence, planner Ana Mokri suggests couples pare down the guest list, to fewer than 100.

“If it’s a typical venue, you can do it pretty quickly,” she said. “I can usually get it together within a month. The quicker it is, though, the more expensive.”

All this is something new for what’s already become a multimillion-dollar industry in recent years, as wedding providers began catering to commitment ceremonies and other unofficial celebrations of marriage.

Mokri, however, says other friends of hers are wondering just how long that chapter will last. Talk of a measure in November to amend the state’s constitution against the marriages is weighing on some, she said.

“They’re more cautious about it than they were four years ago, ” she said. “They just don’t want to see it overruled again.”