Lynette McLean and her husband, Ken, have catered to gay visitors at their Guerneville resort for more than a decade, but never thought to offer honeymoon packages.
But now that gay and lesbian couples in the state can legally wed beginning June 17, the Highlands Resort is prepared.
Her Russian River resort is one of at least a dozen North Coast hotels, inns and spas that have quickly created wedding and honeymoon specials in hopes of cashing in on the nuptials.
"Most business owners up here are really hoping it brings in more offseason business," McLean said. "This is something we could promote all year, which is really what the river needs."
A few couples have already booked weddings at the Rio Villa Beach Resort in Monte Rio, said owner Ron Moore, 49.
The county's tourism industry had promoted the region as a friendly destination for gay and lesbian visitors long before the state Supreme Court's historic May 14 ruling redefining marriage.
McLean is the chairwoman for the Russian River LGBT Tourism Guild, which received a $125,000 grant in 2006 for niche market advertising to help the area recover from the previous year's floods.
The group bought print ads, started a Web site, Gayrussianriver.com, and lucked into a deal for a billboard in San Francisco's gay Castro District, McLean said.
"It's working out for us just fabulously. For once, we're ahead of the ball," she said.
Gay and lesbian visitors have long been drawn to tourist offerings along the Russian River, and now areas less known for being gay-friendly are working to attract same-sex couples.
Sonoma County has already launched such an effort, advertising in gay magazines, publishing online gay guides and signing up hotels including the Hyatt in Santa Rosa and the Doubletree in Rohnert Park as officially gay-friendly, said Tim Zahner, marketing director of the county tourism bureau.
The historic Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa is even promoting a romance spa package for same-sex newlyweds.
Gays and lesbians are an ideal market: Research shows such couples, especially gay men, tend to have no children and dual incomes, Zahner said.
"The acceptance is growing," he said. "More and more people see it as a normal thing."
While same-sex marriage has been banned in 26 states, a Field Poll released Wednesday found a majority of Californians support gay marriage. McLean, 50, views its acceptance as a natural progression.
"Middle America used to see only drag queens and party boys," she said. "Then it started to see 'normal' looking people -- like their neighbors and family in long relationships -- that are now getting married."
And those marriages promise good returns for local business, said Cosette Trautman-Scheiber, 72, who runs The Hope-Merrill House bed-and-breakfast in Geyserville with her husband, Ron. She was "totally delighted" to hear about the state court's ruling.
"It's going to be a new type of business," she said.
The B&B has tailored its elopement wedding package for same-sex couples and is also offering a honeymoon package.
Trautman-Scheiber supports same-sex marriages but was surprised to hear a majority of Californians appear to support them.
"People see California as being extremely liberal when in fact the whole state is pretty conservative," she said.
More than 1.1 million signatures have been collected to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot, which if passed would trump the state court's ruling.
The politics of same-sex marriage may be affecting bookings, said Lynn Crescione, 66, owner of Creekside Inn and Resort in Guerneville. There's no influx of honeymooners booking yet, she said.
Crescione is putting together an eco-friendly adventure honeymoon package for same-sex couples and said she is expecting more fall nuptials as couples wait to see the outcome of the recent backlash.
Four years ago, when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decreed that same-sex couples should be issued marriage licenses, it took only six months before a Supreme Court ruling invalidated about 4,000 nuptials.
"People might be waiting until November to see if the marriages will be invalidated," she said. "I think the big celebration will be if it's defeated."
You can reach Staff Writer Shadi Rahimi at 521-5280 or shadi.rahimi@pressdemocrat.com.
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