I Officiated a Big Gay Wedding—and I Liked It

By Mélanie Berliet

“I just want you to know you’ve won the lottery,” an unfamiliar voice announced when interior designer Kenneth Alpert answered his phone one afternoon this past July.

And indeed he had.

Mr. Alpert, who counts Mary Tyler Moore, Camille Grammer, Kelly Rippa and Mark Consuelos as clients, and his partner of eight years, Michael Stern, who founded his own a high-profile event production company before becoming creative director of the real estate management firm Stonehenge and a yoga instructor, were among 400 couples selected by the city’s Marriage Bureau to get hitched in Manhattan on July 24, the first day it was legal.

Just a few weeks ago, they were also the first gay couple to hold their wedding celebration party at the swanky 583 Park Avenue, the soaring space designed by Delano and Aldrich, which opened at the height of the Jazz Age.

I know this because I was present for both occasions. Minutes after meeting Kenneth and Michael for the first time at the City Clerk’s office that momentous midsummer day, I officiated their marriage.

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