"A Very Pink Wedding: A Gay Guide to Planning Your Perfect Day guides you through the initial stages of proposing through to choosing the venue, writing speeches and preparing yourself for the big day.

The book is packed with useful checklists, a countdown timetable and a budget planner. There are also plenty of money saving tips. When you are choosing suppliers, such as photographers, you can refer to key questions to ask to help you negotiate a good deal.

I wrote this book because I was fed up with reading other wedding guides that constantly refer to the bride and groom. I have a lot of experience to share from working in the wedding industry to planning my own wedding.

I also run a website which gives details of gay friendly venues (listed on this page) and several venues in mid-Wales have joined up including The Marine Hotel overlooking Cardigan Bay, Nanteos Mansion in Aberystwyth and the aptly named Over the Rainbow, a mansion house in Tanygroes, Ceredigion.

Over 20,000 gay and lesbian couples have held a civil partnership, since the law changed in December 2005, far exceeding the Government's estimates of 11,000-22,000 in the first four years."

Article written by Nicola Hill