纽约同性婚姻法生效 掀同性婚礼高潮

　　New York City's event planners are gearing up for a surge inbusiness after the Empire State embraced same-sex marriage and hundredsof couples rush to tie the knot。

　　In New York City alone, 800 couples were married within hours afterNew York became the sixth state to make same-sex unions legal on July24.

　　"We've been getting a lot of phone calls," said Harriette RoseKatz, a New York City events planner. "I think we're going to get moreand more and more out of this. I honestly think it will be a big surgefor our business."

　　Among the New York same-sex wedding events that Katz is planningfor the marriage of Bill White, the former president of the IntrepidSea, Air and Space Museum in New York, and commercial insurance brokerBryan Eure, on September 25 with a roster of high-profile guestsincluding Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barbara Walters, George W. Bush andGeneral David Petraeus。

　　In another sign of changing times, Katz is also planning the first bar mitzvah of the child of same-sex parents。

　　Bentley Meeker, a lighting specialist who most recently did thewedding event of New York City mayoral aides John Feinblatt and JonathanMintz, which was presided over by New York City Mayor MichaelBloomberg, also said he expects a swell in his business。

　　Both Katz and Meeker said that in terms of planning the actualnuptials, same-sex events are very much like any other wedding, with afew minor twists。

　　"In every single wedding, it doesn't matter who, you plan for eachone separately," Katz said. "Everyone has their own needs and desires."

　　But Katz noted that the role of the parents in a same-sex wedding ceremony is often different than heterosexual weddings。

　　"When a young man and a young woman get married, it's more aboutthe parents giving the bride away," she said. "In the people we haveinterviewed with so far, in same-sex marriages it's more a union of twopeople and less about the family."

　　He added that same-sex couples want their parents involved, butthey don't want them walking down the aisle. "For example, first oneman's parents will go down, then the others', and then the two peoplewho get married walk down."

　　纽约州同性婚姻近日正式合法化，几百对同性恋人迫不及待要喜结良缘。纽约市的婚庆策划者已准备好迎接结婚潮。

　　7月24日，纽约州成为美国第六个允许同性恋结婚的州。此后数小时内，仅纽约市就有800对同性新人结婚。

　　纽约市婚庆策划者哈里特?罗斯?卡茨说：“我们接到很多电话，我想我们的收入会越来越高。说真的，生意会火爆起来。”

　　卡茨在纽约策划的同性婚礼包括：纽约无畏号航空母舰海空博物馆前馆长比尔?怀特的婚礼、以及商业保险经纪人布莱恩?厄尔将于9月25日举行的婚礼，贵宾花名册里不乏克林顿夫妇、芭芭拉?沃尔特斯、小布什、以及大卫?彼得雷乌斯将军等名人。

　　卡茨还在为一对同性夫妇的孩子筹备受诫礼，这尚属首次，也象征着时代的发展。

　　灯光照明师宾利?米克也预计生意会火爆。他最近为纽约市长助理约翰?费恩布拉特和乔纳森?明兹筹备同性婚礼，纽约市长迈克尔?彭博担任主持。

　　卡茨和米克都表示，筹备同性婚庆与筹备普通婚礼相差无几，只是略有不同。

　　卡茨说：“在每场婚礼中，不管是哪位新人，你都要单独策划，因为每个人都有自己的需要和愿望。”

　　但卡茨也指出，同性婚礼中父母的角色通常有别于异性婚礼。

　　她说：“一对年轻男女结婚更像是父母把女儿从娘家送走了。根据我们目前的调查， 同性婚姻则更像是两个人的结合，和家庭关系更少。”

　　他还补充说，同性新人想要父母参加婚礼，但不想让父母走过红毯。他说：“举个例子，一方的父母先亮相，接着是另一方的父母，最后两位新人一起走过红毯。”