HISTORY was made in a small register office in Newark as the first Nottinghamshire same-sex couple converted their civil partnership to marriage.
But for Deborah Storey and Carla Bradbury, it was a case of "dotting the 'I's and crossing the 'T's" – as well as being able to call each other "wifey".
Same sex couples have been able to marry since March 29 this year, but yesterday10/12 was the first day those already in civil partnerships could get hitched.
The pair, from Staythorpe, entered into a civil partnership last March and only opted to change it to a marriage late last week.
Deborah, a pet minder, said: "We've been together for 21 years now so a lot of this is just paperwork, but it feels good to be married.
"It means more. We can say to friends that she is my wife, rather than she's my partner."
The couple wore the same white jackets they wore to their wedding.
Deborah said: "We decided to do it today – come down, spend 45 minutes filling in paperwork.
"I guess other couples will come down and do it or not for their own reasons. For some people a civil partnership might be enough, but we wanted to be married."
But the confusion of their anniversary date has been cleared up by the registrar.
"She said that because it was a conversion, it's as if we had been married since March 20 – so that's when our anniversary will be," Deborah added.
Wife Carla Bradbury, 43, said: "Or we could have two parties – one for each date.
"It's a great feeling to be married – it's a thing we both wanted to do.
"We could be having conversion parties every year now too."
The couple said they were pleased the law had changed, but said the decision to get married was personal "rather than doing it for same-sex rights".
Deborah's mum Olive Storey, of Mansfield, said she was "really pleased" at being part of the couple's day.
"I've been the driver, but it's been really exciting to be part of their day. I'm very pleased for them."
