By Jennifer Weiss
Special to DNAinfo
DOWNTOWN — For Dominic Pisciotta, making sure everybody else's day was perfect came before he and his partner could say their own vows.
Pisciotta, who works with the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, spent all day at the Manhattan clerk's office, working to ensure everything ran smoothly for same-sex couples tying the knot — from making sure applications were gender-neutral to dealing with technical issues.
Only after that could he call his partner Andy Berg, and ask him to meet him at the altar. The couple's Sunday nuptials were the day's last.
Berg and the couple's eight-year-old twins piled into the car and got to the clerk's office just in time to pick up a form that waived the usual 24-hour wait for couples. They filled out forms, discussed last names and prepared to say their laid-back, lighthearted vows.
"Someone said, 'Are you registered?'" said Berg, who works for the A&E television network. "I laughed, because we have everything we could possibly need this far into our relationship."
Pisciotta and Berg already share a mortgage, a car loan and the responsibility of caring for their children.
Together, they had hosted a party in Vermont for 150 friends and relatives to celebrate their civil union, mourned the loss of Berg's father to cancer, and made decisions in their daily lives ranging from life-changing to insignificant.
They were like a lot of couples. But they could not legally marry, a fact that especially bothered their kids.
That changed yesterday, when they wed at the clerk's office, with twins Olivia and Spencer looking on. They were the last of 484 couples wed at city offices Sunday.
The couple's wedding comes a decade after their civil union ceremony in Vermont, accompanied by a large party complete with hot-air balloon rides for guests. Two years later, in 2003, they were photographed for the cover of Newsweek under the headline "Is Gay Marriage Next?"
Pisciotta was volunteering with Marriage Equality New York, and he also joined his local community board, at least partly hoping to advance same-sex marriage in New York.
"There's a lot of meaning in being able to be married, in being able to refer to a significant other as a husband, instead of 'my partner,' which leads to questions," said PIsciotta, now chairman of Community Board 3 covering the Lower East Side and East Village.
"It's nice to be able to say, 'I am equal.'"
They had thought about leaving town to marry in Connecticut, but in the end were happy they waited.
For Olivia and Spencer, who picked out two rings each for their dads — one in a solid neon color, the other with a rainbow stripe — the ceremony was a long time coming.
"They wanted to know their parents were married," Berg said. "It was important to them that we do it the first day, and that says more to me than almost anything else."
When it was over, the room packed with family and friends filled with cheers.
"Did I think 25 years ago when I came out that there would be gay marriage? No," Berg added.
"I think it's important. I deserve the same rights as everyone else."
