Interviews with local caterers, restaurateurs, and same-sex couples resulted in a near-unanimous truism: Catering for a same-sex ceremony is no different than catering for an opposite-sex one. While venues tend to be less traditional and sometimes more creative, and the events themselves less constrained by convention, at the core of the matter is the personal taste of the couple, which is hardly a function of sexuality and stereotype. This being Portland (and not Dog Stab, Alabama) there are, of course, myriad gay-friendly resources for catering your event.

"The menus [for straight vs. gay weddings] tend to be pretty much the same," says Eric Sandstrom of Art of Catering, though he does note that same-sex customers often request more vegetarian and vegan options. Anja Spence of Miss Zumstein Wedding Cake and Dessert Arrangements, who fields a quarter of her business from the LGBT community, notices zero distinction in customer requests.

Tanuki's Janis Martin, an outspoken gem in the restaurant industry, as well as former hotel event caterer, rounds out a panel that considers this a non-issue. She simply offers these orientation-blind words of generalized wisdom—useful for any couple planning a nuptial event:

"If you are firm in what you want but behave in a drama-free manner in trying to get it, the people working for you will be so grateful they'll go out of their way to make sure you have the best."

Primarily, the concern should be ensuring that you spend your money with a same-sex-friendly outfit. Catering will likely be the event's single largest expenditure: Shouldn't your thousands of hard-earned dollars go into the hands of someone who's going to vote with you the next time the great unwashed try to legally codify your humanity? Forty dollars per guest can print a lot of anti-same-sex marriage fliers while you're off on your honeymoon.

So, whether you want your friends and family to get good and nasty on Sevruga sturgeon blini and mango-tinis, or simply quaff local brew that tastes of freshly felled hops while scarfing down a base of devils on horseback, keep in mind that the issue here isn't whom or how you love. It's where you spend your money.