The black tuxedo had been rented. The blue dress had been bought. The red tape had been cleared.
At 12:01 this morning, dozens of gay couples were joined in matrimony as New Jersey became the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage.
From city hall in Newark to the boardwalk in Asbury Park, pairs of brides and grooms tied the knot in joyous ceremonies that celebrated love while mindful of their newly granted legal status.
"It’s a historic day," said Amy Quinn, an attorney and councilwoman in Asbury Park who married her partner, Heather Jensen, on the boardwalk just after midnight. "To be able to get married in my home state, in a town that I adore, to be able to get married by friends, with friends, around friends, it’s such an amazing experience."
Quinn and Jensen, who have been together 10 years, were married in New York in June. At the time, Quinn said, she wasn’t certain she’d ever have a chance to wed in her home state.
But on Friday, their path was cleared when the state Supreme Court denied an attempt to delay a lower court’s order that New Jersey begin allowing same-sex couples to wed Oct. 21.
That decision, however, does not settle the issue. The state’s top court only ruled that weddings could take place while an appeal of the lower court’s order is considered. The state Supreme Court could prohibit gay marriage after it hears oral arguments on the case in January, though legal experts say last week’s decision makes that outcome unlikely.
Around 9 last night, another legal hurdle was cleared for many couples when Essex County Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello signed waivers that allowed them to skip the mandatory 72-hour waiting period between obtaining a marriage license and getting married. Couples who had been married in another state did not have to wait because they already had a license, said Troy Stevenson, executive director of Garden State Equality, a group that campaigns for gay rights.
Gabriela Celeiro and Elizabeth Salerno said they sought a waiver because they did not want to wait one moment longer than absolutely necessary.
"I want to get something in paper that this actually happened," Salerno said before heading to Newark’s city hall with her partner where they were to be married by Mayor Cory Booker.
Booker was marrying the first of several couples when someone attempted to disrupt the ceremony.
The mayor had asked if anyone had reason to object to the marriage and a protester screamed: "This is unlawful in the eyes of God and Jesus Christ."
Booker, who was elected to the U.S. Senate last week, called for the person to be removed and police dragged him out.
As Booker continued speaking, "...not hearing any substantive and worthy objections," thunderous applause erupted.
David Gibson and Rich Kiamco, who have been together for 10 years, attended the rally earlier in the day and were among the first Jersey City couples to be married. Their City Hall ceremony was officiated by Mayor Steve Fulop.
Earlier in the day, the two men — who have been married in New York state — marveled at how fast gay marriage had turned from being a political liability into a benefit — at least in New Jersey, where polls show strong support.
"If you dial the talk back for a decade, gays and lesbians were used as an issue in the Bush campaign in 2004. I think gay issues — and maybe it was gay marriage — became a wedge issue that helped get him victory," Gibson said.
Last-minute preparations
About four hours before their wedding ceremony, Marsha Shapiro and Louise Walpin, two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit at the center of the Supreme Court ruling, were in the kitchen of their Monmouth Junction home eating simple meals before they got dressed, doing their best to remain calm.
"We are absolutely crazed," Shapiro said, giggling with her partner of 24 years.
On Saturday, they did "the impossible," Shapiro said: In one afternoon, each bought a dress, stockings, shoes and accessories at Lord & Taylor department store at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville.
"We performed a miracle," she said. "For me, it would normally take three weeks to pick out a blouse."
Shapiro picked out a "gorgeous black dress, a little above the knee, with a silver floral pattern … a scallop neckline, sheer from the chest up," she said. "It’s so sexy!"
Walpin went with a "very slinky" midnight blue cocktail dress with a scalloped neckline that reminded her of 1940s fashion.
"As soon as we told all the salespeople, we are getting married — they had heard about (the ruling) on the news — they were so excited for us," Walpin said. "It was like having personal shoppers."
The key was using the word "marriage," she added. "If we had gone in there saying we were getting a civil union, they would have asked us, ‘What’s a civil union?’ That word — it’s amazing to see the difference."
The couple have raised four children and have one grandchild, but it wasn’t until Oct. 12 that Walprin gave Shapiro a sapphire and diamond ring.
"I just about fell off the bed," Shapiro said.
Their ceremony began at 11 p.m. at the Elizabeth home of Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a sponsor of the gay marriage legislation. The ceremony was officiated by Roselle Mayor Jamel Holley.
"Marriage is not a 50 percent sharing, but rather a 100 percent giving," Holley said. "If each partner will contribute a full share, then each will receive a full measure in return."
The couple exchanged vows shortly before midnight.
"We didn’t want to wait. This is the entrance to the promised land. We want to be there at 12:01," Walpin said. "This is something we want to share with the community. All those little kids and teenagers out there, we want them to know they can grow up and fall in love and get married. It’s about them, too."
The big moment
At the Lambertville home of Beth Asaro and Joanne Schailey, who were among the first to join in a civil union in New Jersey in 2007, flowers rested on a dining room table in front of a picture of that civil union.
Their family sat in the living room sharing stories and laughing while hair and makeup were done in the kitchen.
"You know I think we are going to completely burst at the seams," Asaro said. "At the civil union, it was almost too many to fit and I think it’s going to be twice that tonight. What’s going through our minds is to not faint when it all comes down because we really don’t know how we are going to feel at that moment. It’s so huge, you know it really is. It’s almost like the first time I looked at my daughter."
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