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NYC Expands Gay Weddings On Day 1 To Include All

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City is expanding its same-sex marriage plans for Sunday so all 823 couples who entered the city's nuptial lottery will have the chance to wed on the first day gay marriage is legal.

Officials instituted the lottery after projecting that about 2,500 couples might show up at the city clerk's offices hoping to get married on Sunday.

Mayor's spokesman Marc LaVorgna said that when the 48-hour lottery closed Thursday, 823 couples had signed up -- about 60 more than the city had planned to accommodate.

Seventy-four couples who requested Manhattan weddings are being asked to go to one of the other four boroughs instead.

The city said its clerk's offices will stay open until each couple has been served, but would-be brides and grooms must arrive by 3:45 p.m.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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