It's going to be a party in Minneapolis.
With gay marriages becoming legal in Minnesota on Thursday, courthouses in major cities across the state will be open after midnight to accommodate dozens of same-sex couples eager to tie the knot.
"It's good for our business," says Ron Stein, a jeweler in Minneapolis, where the mayor plans to conduct weddings for approximately 40 couples. "We've had orders already."
In recent days, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has published articles about the coming "boon" to the state's wedding industry, as well as the phenomenon of same-sex couples facing the same sort of pre-wedding "jitters" long known to straights.
But many people in the state are still shocked by the whole idea. When a gay marriage ban was on the ballot last fall, only a dozen among Minnesota's 87 counties opposed it.
Most rural counties supported the idea of banning gay marriage by margins of 3-to-2, or even 3-to-1. They were outvoted statewide by the urban centers.
In May, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill allowing gay weddings to go forward. Some parts of the state aren't ready for it.
"Away from the cities, you're going to see a lot of legislators voted out," says Dean Walters, a teacher in Owatonna. "People in rural areas are unhappy."
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