Port Jeff's (Third) Gay Wedding

Peter Naigraw and Jonathan Rushford did something on Saturday that was impossible just a few short weeks ago; they were married at after almost a decade of being together but they were not the first to do so.

They were not even the second. Turns out they're the third gay couple to get married at Village Hall since the new law passed.

Justice John F. Reilly presided over the ceremony held on the wooden bridge over behind . After the vows were completed the couple kissed for the first time as husband and husband.

Reilly said after the ceremony that he thought it was going to be the first gay marriage ceremony he performed but another couple came to Village Hall to get married on Friday

“They surprised me with one last night,” he said.

But even that wasn't the first same-sex marriage performed at Village Hall. Mayor Margot Garant said that she officiated the first one for friends on July 29 but they wished to remain anonymous.

The best man at Saturday's wedding was Paul Johnson who said he was from the area and had known the couple for five years. The matron of honor was Karla Mignogna who said she 's known Naigraw for more than 40 year.

Naigraw and Rushford, who were wearing matching tan suits, blue ties and pink roses for the affair, said after the ceremony that they met at a club over nine years ago. They live together in Port Jefferson but are building a house in Charleston, South Carolina where they hope to move soon. It was important for them to be married in Port Jefferson because Rushford, who is retiring from Verizon, lived in the village his entire life.

When they first heard about the proposed law coming up for a vote, the couple was in South Carolina overseeing the construction of a new home. Naigraw, who works for Home Depot and plans to transfer his job when he moves south, said that they both went to bed that night thinking that the bill wouldn’t pass. They woke up to hear the news that same-sex marriages in New York were now legal.

“We were very excited,” Naigraw said. “We weren’t expecting it.”

When wedding photos in front of Village Hall were all taken, the celebration moved on to for a reception. Matron of honor Mignogna said that Tara’s is “one of their hangouts” and they usually spend Friday nights there with friends.

Mary Lehrer, from who attended the wedding called it the "total Port Jefferson package."

Rushford’s mother was emotional about seeing her son finally able to marry in his hometown.

“I’m thrilled,” she said afterwards. “They’ve been together for nine years and we didn’t think it ever would happen. It’s wonderful.”