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Ooh Yes I Do!
is a newwedding planning guide for
same-sex couples by Richard Gough-Buijs. He tells
PinkWeddings Magazine about the exciting experience
of having his first book launch party in Brighton
WORDS OF
WISDOM
AFTER MY BOOKWAS PUBLISHED ONLINE
through CreateSpace/Amazon in November
2013, people started asking me whether I
would like to organise a book launch event.
My husband Michael recommended that I
get in touch with a bookstore to investigate
whether they would be able to hold it, so in
January this year I contacted the
Waterstones bookstore in Brighton. The
lovely event coordinator Kasey Barnes was
more than happy to host it in their store, so
my first book launch party was going to take place on
Thursday 17 April – I was so excited about it!
Before the party we went out for dinner with a small
group of close family and friends in a restaurant in the
picturesque Lanes. Kasey had ordered copies of the book
and when we arrived they were all on display – guests
were already there and the pink bubbly was flowing.
The atmosphere was great, with everybody talking
to each other. More guests were arriving, including Angi
Mariani fromThe Latest TV, poet Isabel White, senior
registrar Trevor Love (accompanied by his husband Josh)
and Vicky Lynch from the Brighton and Hove register
office. Trevor married the first gay couple in the Royal
Pavilion in Brighton just after midnight on 29 March
this year, when equal civil marriage became legal. Vicky
was telling me how impressed she was with the media
attention that the wedding got – the Brighton couple
featured on almost every TV channel in the world.
‘Kasey had ordered
copies of the book and
when we arrived they
were all on display –
guests were already
there and the pink
bubbly was flowing.’
78 » pink weddings magazine
Book Launch
My husband Michael made a beautiful speech in
which he highlighted that the book was born out of a
desire to help same-sex couples who are planning a
wedding, followed by our friend David reading an excerpt.
After we raised our glasses I was more than thrilled to sign
copies of the book for my family and friends. We also
surprised our guests with baskets full of Easter treats!
It was a very successful evening and I would like to
give credit to Kasey fromWaterstones who did an
outstanding job, as she unexpectedly had to do the
whole event by herself – as a thank you we gave her a
bottle of pink bubbly and a basket of flowers.
Photography by Hannah Brackenbury
Ooh Yes I Do! is available on www.amazon.co.uk