NY1.com

  76º

Updated 07/31/2011 04:36 PM

Central Park Holds "Marrython" For Same-Sex Couples

By: Tara Lynn Wagner

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Dozens of same-sex couples enjoyed storybook weddings in Central Park Sunday, as the group Rainbow Wedding Clergy hosted a 10-hour long "Marrython" in a number of scenic areas near Belvedere Castle.

All participating couples needed to bring were their city-issued marriage licenses, and photographers and bouquets were on hand.

Overseeing the nuptials was the Reverend Alison Caiola of the Rainbow Wedding Clergy. Her parents performed same-sex ceremonies back in the early days of the gay rights movement, when marriage equality seemed an impossible dream for many.

"My mom said, 'One day it will come, against all odds and adversity,' and she was right," said Caiola.

Newlyweds Tom Lockwood and Howard Wai were no strangers to tying the knot. Over the past 10 years they have had a civil union and two weddings in California. Sunday's ceremony was their fourth.

"We're really married now. We're really married," said Tom Lockwood.

"I'm a gardener, so being in Central Park and having a ceremony is my dream come true. It's fantastic," said Wai.

For many of the couples, the road to marriage was a long one. Together for 42 years, Elizabeth de Jesus and Luz Irizarry did not think they would ever be able to get married, so they leaped at the chance.

"We were going to do it last Sunday but it was too many people. This is more romantic," said De Jesus.

While Charlotte D'Costa Taylor, the owner of Floral Heights in Brooklyn, said her flower shop and the wedding industry as a whole stand to benefit from same-sex marriage, she said she enjoyed being a part of Sunday's event as she felt like a witness to history.

"There's a feeling of freedom, proud to be part of it. And it's so New York City. It's exciting," said Taylor.

On Saturday, two pop-up chapels were set up at Merchant's Gate near the Columbus Circle entrance, and the wedding website TheKnot.com provided flowers, stylists, cupcakes and officiants, free of charge.

For more information on the "Marrython," visit RainbowWeddingClergy.com.