A New Zealander and her partner working at London's Islington Town Hall will become the first gay couple to be "married" in the borough later this month.
Viktoria Kingsley and Australian Fiona Dunning -- who both work in the registry office for the trendy suburb in north London -- will step aroundthe other side of the counter for their civil union ceremony four days before Christmas.
Britain's Civil Partnership Act came into force on Monday. It allows the first civil partnerships to be formed on December 21. The act gives same-sex couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples who enter into a civil marriage.
Ms Kingsley and Ms Dunning will tie the knot at 8.30am so they can go back to work. Later the same day, in another registry, Elton John will tie the knot with filmmaker David Furnish. Ms Kingsley, 39, has been involved with more than 100 weddings at the town hall, but told the Islington Gazette that she was starting to feel nervous as her own big day drew near.
"Now I know what everyone has been going through," she said.
But she said the ceremony was less important than what it meant and conveyed: "Being seen as equal and having the same rights. It's momentous -- and lovely.
"It's like a triumph. It's an opportunity for people to see that we're just like everybody else. We deserve this."
Ms Dunning, also 39, a senior planner and part-time registrar at the council, said: "It's going to be funny. I'm used to dealing with these things from the other side."
Ms Kingsley and Ms Dunning have been together for seven years.
Ms Kingsley said: "At the beginning of the year, when the Government announced the dates, I asked Fiona - and she said yes."
Ms Dunning said: "It's important that if anything happens to me then Viktoria is the next of kin. It's also about celebrating our commitment to one another."
