California set for summer of love as court reverses gay marriage ban

Four years ago nearly 4,000 gay couples were married in San Francisco, only to find their unions annulled by the state's supreme court within months. But from yesterday many of those same couples, and thousands more, were expected to take advantage of the court's latest ruling permitting gay partners to become "spouses for life".

The ruling was due to come into force at 5.01pm yesterday, barring further legal challenges. Several counties and cities planned to keep their clerk's offices open late to hold the first ceremonies.

The mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, who jumped the gun four years ago by issuing marriage licences to same-sex couples, will again officiate at a ceremony at the city hall. His first act will be to marry the couple he first joined together four years ago, Phyllis Lyon, 84, and Del Martin, 87, a lesbian couple who have been partners for 55 years.

More than 600 same-sex couples have booked ceremonies at the city hall in the next 10 days, with 165 scheduled for today.

Palm Springs has a marriage festival set for June 21, with the city's gay mayor officiating. In anticipation of a rush of ceremonies, 100 people have been deputised in Los Angeles in the past two weeks to allow them to officiate, as have 50 in San Diego and 200 in San Francisco. "We're expecting a crush of newlyweds," said Jeffrey Prang of West Hollywood, which plans to deputise five city council members. The ceremonies place California at the forefront of a move that is expected to attract thousands of couples from across the country. Gay marriage has been legal in Massachusetts for the past four years, but only for residents of the state. California promises to honour gay brides and grooms from anywhere.

The numbers are impressive. A study by the University of Southern California's Williams Institute predicts that around half of the state's 102,000 registered same-sex couples will marry in California in the next three years, and that more than 60,000 same-sex couples will come from other states to marry. They will spend some $683m, helping to create more than 2,000 jobs and generating $55m in state and local taxes. Marriage licence fees alone will bring in $8.8m.

Accordingly, hoteliers, wedding planners, florists and jewellers are preparing for what some have dubbed the "new summer of love". California's state tourism commission lists hotels and estates from the vineyards of the Napa Valley in northern California to the scorched desert of Palm Springs offering gay marriage packages.

A Travel Industry Association survey found that California hosts four of the top 15 travel destinations in the US for gay couples. The fabled pink dollar - gay men spend an average $800 a trip, compared with single straight men's $540 - means that businesses are looking forward to an influx of "dinks" (double income no kids).

But if the experience in Massachusetts is a guide, after the euphoria of legalisation gay couples in California could well settle down to be very similar to straight marriage. More than half of the 10,500 gay marriages in Massachusetts in the past four years took place in the first six months after legalisation. In the first eight months of 2007 just 867 same-sex couples were married in the state.

Those couples that do get married find that they face many of the same pressures familiar to heterosexual couples, with separations, divorces and disputes over child custody and prenuptial agreements abounding. The lesbian couple who were the lead plaintiffs in the case that brought about the change of law in Massachusetts have since split up.