Gay New York couples were whipped into a wedding-planning frenzy yesterday, shopping for engagement rings, ordering cakes and booking event halls in a mad rush to marry their partners just hours after it became legal.
The scramble to the altar came amid a wild weekend of celebration that hits a climax with today’s annual Gay Pride Parade, which is expected to draw record crowds for the march down Fifth Avenue from Midtown to Christopher Street.
PHOTOS: NEW YORKERS CELEBRATE HISTORIC GAY-MARRIAGE VOTE
“It’s going to be wild,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a powerful gay-rights activist. “I think it’s going to be electric and thrilling.”
The NYPD said it will have a beefed-up presence at the march.
“We have additional resources that will be deployed,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “The parade ends, but the celebration continues, and it continues into Monday morning, quite frankly.”
The historic approval of same-sex marriage by the state Legislature also quickly proved a wind fall for the city wedding industry.
Jason Mitchell, 30, and his partner, Michael Zahler, 27, booked the popular Angel Orensanz Center on the Lower East Side for a Memorial Day Weekend bash next year.
“We got engaged three weeks ago, and we were anxious to book the venue before the legislation passed because of the crowds,” said Mitchell, an event planner at the members-only Soho House. “We had it down as a commitment ceremony, and I can’t wait to call and tell them to change it.”
Bakeries and event planners were working overtime to keep up with the flood of overjoyed couples.
At City Cakes on West 18th Street, owner Marc Matthias received his first same-sex wedding-cake order during a busy afternoon yesterday.
“We’ve gotten calls and calls and e-mails flooding in,” he said. “People have just been waiting for this occasion.”
Wedding planner Sarah Pease, of Brilliant Event Planning, said her phone was ringing off the hook with requests to help engineer the picture-perfect proposal befitting the historic event. “It’s going to open a lot of new doors in the industry,” she said.
Some couples woke up early to go ring shopping after partying Friday night.
“I already know the ring I want,” said grad student Justin Daniels, 27, on his way to pick out the bauble with his fiancé, Wally Kramm, 26, a registered nurse. “We want white-gold David Yurman bands.”
Steps to legal gay marriage
* Same-sex couples can pre-apply for $35 marriage licenses starting July 5
* Licenses will be issued starting July 25
* Couples will be allowed to marry as early as the next day, and under special circumstances can obtain a waiver from a judge to let them wed immediately
* Depending on demand, the City Clerk’s Office may extend its hours, and more judges may be available to perform civil ceremonies
Additional reporting by Sabrina Ford