UPDATED: I will do another post on the great wedding event. One of the highlights of the event was the boyfriend' unintended fashion statement: he forgot to pack his tux pants and had to wear kacki shorts at the ceremony. Later he borrowed pants and had a more relaxed time at the reception.*
So far the weekend has been busy - last night the boyfriend and I hosted the rehearsal dinner for the wedding of a friend's daughter who is like family to the boyfriend. The bride and groom are remarkable people and met in Liberia, Africa where both are involved in peace keeping work - she as a civilian contractor and he as career military. We had 50 guests at our house from all over the country and some from overseas. The wedding is this evening in the formal garden of the Founders Inn in Virginia Beach next door to Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. The Inn (pictured above) was originally developed by Robertson but is now under different management that allows alcohol - the lack of alcohol was killing the restaurants at the Inn financially. Moreover, the bride insisted that the Inn write into her contract that the numerous gay and lesbian couples who will be attending the wedding/reception can dance together. :)
*
The gardens behind the Inn are beautiful and have a gorgeous fountain that will be the backdrop for the couple as they take their vows. Naturally, the boyfriend is doing the entire wedding party's hair and we will be attending the reception and spending the night after the festivities. I must admit that the Inn is beautiful, but seeing the CBN broadcast towers next door, one does almost expect to hear some Twighlight Zone like music wafting through the air. It should be an interesting evening as the gays invade the Inn. I will report tomorrow on the experience.
3 comments:
You're literally the only gay person I can find who has commented on their stay at Founders Inn -- any chance you could give me more info on how your stay went/how you were treated? I booked it a few months ago for me and my girlfriend, and somehow missed any info about it being located next to Regents University, and all of Pat Robertson's involvement with it. Seriously, I'm the worst at planning things. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out if we should go ahead and stay there, or if it's going to be so terrible that I should try to find another place, ASAP. It's for her birthday, so I really don't want to have a bad experience.
Robertson's crowd doesn't operate the Founders Inn anymore and, as I noted, we had a very good experience and there were plenty of gays and lesbians at the wedding and reception.
My advice is be right up front with them and ask the question as to whether or not the two of you holding hands or whatever would be an issue. I know for the wedding, the bride had it written into the contract that there would be same sex couples dancing, etc. While we were there, not one batted an eye.
You are wrong about Robertson's crew does profit from and runs the Founder's Inn. It is horrific the way old Pat talks about Gays And why anyone in our community would ever spend one dime there.
Post a Comment