Updated: July 24, 2011, 9:00 AM

NIAGARA FALLS -- At the very moment the state extended the right to marry to same-sex couples, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd -- surrounded by hundreds of friends and well-wishers in a historic ceremony against the backdrop of the rainbow-lit Falls -- said, "I do."

In doing so, the Buffalo couple claim to be the first gay New Yorkers to legally wed.

And with that groundbreaking celebration, many wedding planners and tourism officials in Niagara Falls are envisioning a new booming business.

They want to turn the down-and-out city back into the Wedding and Honeymoon Capital it once was.

"For all people," said John Percy, president and chief executive of the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. "Not just gay. People have been saying, 'You're going to be the great wedding destination.' We can be for all people."

Percy is keenly aware of the Falls' potential to be a "top gay-wedding destination."

Others agree.

"I just think it's a brilliant way of kind of rebranding Niagara Falls again as a honeymoon destination," said Michael DiCamillo of DiCamillo Bakery, which makes wedding cakes. "It's gotten lost in neglect; it's gotten lost in casinos and other things."

The city became a hub of activity for same-sex couples as anticipation grew for the Marriage Equality Act, which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law a month ago.

Lambert and Rudd timed their well-publicized wedding to begin as soon as the law went into effect at 12:01 this morning, but they aren't the only couples who are eager to wed.

Percy's agency has spearheaded planning for a group same-sex wedding at 10 a.m. Monday, when more than 40 gay and lesbian couples plan to tie the knot in a joint ceremony on a bluff overlooking the American and Bridal Veil falls.

It's expected to be the first ceremony of its kind in the state. Another is planned for noon Tuesday in Bethpage State Park on Long Island.

Dozens more same-sex weddings are believed to be in the works, with church secretaries and private wedding chapel planners in the Falls fielding dozens of calls in recent weeks from gay couples who want to get hitched.

Thirty-four same-sex couples had applied for marriage licenses as of Friday, according to Falls City Clerk Carol A. Antonucci.

Antonucci's office made arrangements to be open at 6 a.m. today to accommodate couples seeking licenses, which usually require a 24-hour waiting period, so that they can get married Monday morning in the group ceremony.

Other town and village clerks throughout the state also plan to be open today to issue licenses.

Buffalo City Clerk Gerald Chwalinski reported he had received 10 inquiries for licenses as of Friday.

Also, two judges in the Falls and two in Buffalo have agreed to consider waiving the 24-hour waiting rule between the time a marriage license is issued and a wedding may take place.

Among those who just couldn't wait to get married were Lambert and Rudd, who had their waiting rule waived by a State Supreme Court justice.

The couple began receiving guests early Saturday evening for two ceremonies: one religious, scheduled for

11 p.m., and the other civil, at 12:01 a.m. today.

The religious ceremony was to be overseen by clergy from three different faiths -- Baptist, Jewish and Episcopalian -- to highlight the various denominations that supported gay-marriage rights.

"At this exact moment in time, New Yorkers still stand without any protection," Lambert told reporters on Goat Island before the ceremonies. "But when that bell tolls for us at midnight tonight, and a new day dawns, literally a new day will dawn in New York."

As a wedding gift to the couple, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster, who was to oversee the civil ceremony, personally paid for the Falls to be lit after midnight with the colors of the rainbow.

The event, open to the public, was expected to draw hundreds, and most guests were dressed for a typical outdoor summer wedding.

A small group of reporters was on hand, and elected officials who support same-sex marriage were expected to arrive later in the evening. No protesters were seen as of 8:30 p.m.

Tourism officials are hoping Lambert and Rudd's nuptials are just the beginning of a rebirth for Niagara Falls.

Countless people in Western New York, across the country and even the world have parents or grandparents who got married or honeymooned in Niagara Falls.

No public relations campaign in the world could generate that kind of branding to a tourist destination, Percy said.

"We take that for granted," Percy said. "It has developed and been with us for 150 years. ... We need to build and strengthen that brand over the next five to 10 years."

Percy says he believes the Falls is already well-situated to attract gay couples for weddings and honeymoons.

"We're surrounded by rainbows," Percy said. "[We have] Rainbow Boulevard, the Rainbow Bridge. On the gay wedding side, we really have to play off of that."

Others see the opportunity, too.

The Empire State Development Corp. has added a new element to its "I Love New York" tourism slogan. The signature red heart has, in the words of officials, "gone rainbow."

Pastors of local churches, as well as nondenominational groups, say they already have noticed an uptick in wedding requests, and two pastors have already booked same-sex weddings into the fall.

Sally Fedell, president of the Falls Wedding Chapel, received the first call for such a wedding from two women at 9 a.m. the day after the law was passed.

"They were almost giggling over the phone," said Fedell, who already has booked 10 weddings, many for out-of-state couples. "They were just so excited and happy that they could finally get married."

Five weddings have been scheduled for First Congregational United Church of Christ in the city's northern section, and Pastor Marna Pritchard said she has detected a new acceptance of gay and lesbian couples in the community.

"I'm seeing an increase of desire to know how to interact with folks who are in the gay and lesbian community and not be offensive," Pritchard said. "And that's a huge step."

Acceptance is essential to any long-term tourism opportunities that might grow out of the new law, Percy said, noting that his tourism agency also will recommend acceptance training for future vendors at gay and lesbian weddings.

Not all in the region see the law's passage as a benefit.

A protest is scheduled for 3 p.m. today at Buffalo City Hall, and one Falls same-sex marriage activist reported receiving hate mail but said the response has been generally positive.

A Niagara Falls pastor plans a protest rally 10 a.m. Monday on Goat Island.

But any worries Percy had were "diminished greatly" as vendors volunteered their services at the group wedding.

Nearly a dozen local vendors have volunteered to provide free flowers, photography, beverages, staging, tables, music and tents for the group wedding, he said.

Two decorative wedding cakes will be crafted by the pastry chefs at DiCamillo Bakery and adorned with a special touch -- figurines of two brides to top one cake, and two grooms to top the other.

More dollars, more tourism and a growing acceptance of gays all added to the anticipation for this weekend, said Rick Crogan, who plans to marry his partner this evening at the brink of the American Falls.

But he envisions even more for the Falls in the future.

Crogan, president of the Main Street Business & Professional Association, has touted the area west of Main Street -- or "WoMa" -- as an emerging arts and cultural district that he said would be "hip, trendy, the place to be [and] new and cutting edge."

Development of that area, faded since many of the city's department stores closed or moved, has centered around events that have included the Main Street Music & Art Festival in June and a recent garden walk.

In addition, a vacant Main Street storefront soon will be converted into an art gallery, and Crogan helped secure funds for a farmers market set to debut next month.

"Gay people are so used to going into underdeveloped areas and redeveloping them, and they're going to see the potential of Niagara Falls," Crogan said.

Many of the gay couples flocking to the Falls have been together for years, Crogan said, and are in general a stable, professional group with money to invest.

"It's not just gonna be Niagara Falls," he predicted. "It'll be the whole community, Western New York, that will see a positive on it."

News Staff Reporter Kevin J. Bargnes contributed to this report.
cspecht@buffnews.com

Updated: July 24, 2011, 8:43 AM

NIAGARA FALLS — New York State ushered in same-sex marriage at 12:01 a.m. with the wedding of a Buffalo couple, punctuating the end of a long fight for gay-rights activists.

Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd were wed in Niagara Falls just after midnight.

"By the power vested in me by the laws of the State of New York, I now pronounce you legally married," said Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who performed the ceremony, with the Bridal Veil Falls thundering behind him.

After exchanging rings and sending out wishes to 44 states that don't recognize same-sex marriage, the couple danced in the grass near the falls.

Hundreds began gathering on Goat Island earlier in the night, waiting for the two to become among the first gay couples to legally marry in New York State following this morning’s enactment of the Marriage Equality Act.

"We’re so proud of everybody who crawled up this hill with us," a teary-eyed Lambert, 54, said in an interview Saturday evening. "This wasn’t done with just the two of us. Every single person here played a part in getting this law passed.”

Rudd wore a white tuxedo and Lambert wore an aqua blue dress — and both brides made the outfits themselves, at their kitchen table, the same place they started OUTspoken for Equality, the Buffalo-based advocacy group that fights for gay rights.

That fight has been difficult on a personal level for Lambert and Rudd, who have been together for 12 years. Rudd has battled cervical and thyroid cancer, and Lambert has suffered three heart attacks. Each time one was in the hospital, the other struggled through red tape that failed to recognize their relationship.

"By law, because I had my last heart attack in Arizona, if I had died, they wouldn’t have notified her, they couldn’t have notified her," Lambert said. "And those are critical issues, those are critical things that people have to consider."

The couple began receiving guests Saturday evening for two ceremonies. The first was religious and began shortly before 11 p.m.

As a way of showing the different faiths that have actively supported same-sex marriage, clergy from three different faiths oversaw it: Baptist, Jewish and Episcopalian.

It featured a Celtic “hand fasting” ceremony and was capped by the couple dancing to Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory,” after Lambert declared to the crowd “I need Gaga!”

"At this exact moment in time, New Yorkers still stand without any protection,” Lambert told reporters as the sun came down Saturday on Goat Island. "But when that bell tolls with us at midnight tonight, and a new day dawns, literally a new day will dawn in New York. In not just the physical sense, but in that grand romantic sense that things are changing and life is good.”

At the religious ceremony, following a brief reading from Genesis, former Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, gave an impromptu address to a loud, cheering crowd. Hoyt was one of the main sponsors of the act, and pointed to Lambert’s “passion and enthusiasm and dedication” as one of the driving forces behind his actions.

“About seven years ago, I met this incredible dynamo named Kitty Lambert. And she, in a lot of ways, changed my life,” said Hoyt, who resigned from the Assembly three weeks ago to take a position in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration. “She and Cheryle and a few hours got me focused on the importance of marriage equality, on equal rights for all people.”

As a wedding present to the couple, Dyster personally paid for the falls to be lit the colors of the rainbow past midnight, and presented them with a framed photograph of the falls lit up with those colors.

The event was open to the public and the media. No protesters were seen, something one park ranger said was unexpected but welcome.

Lambert said she and her wife will continue to fight for their rights on a federal level, and encouraged gays, lesbians and LGBT allies in other states to continue forward with her.

“Organize. Speak out. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Don’t go away. Don’t be disheartened. Don’t buy into the nonsense. Organize, organize, organize,” she said. “The arc of history bends in the direction of equality, it always has, and this will change.”
kbargnes@buffnews.com and jpopiolkowski@buffnews.com