Under the light of a full moon, same-sex couples Thursday night became the first to take advantage of New Hampshire's new marriage equality law in an intimate ceremony on the State House steps.

Nearly a dozen couples shared or renewed their wedding vows in front of about 100 friends, family members and well-wishers who braved frigid temperatures to attend the event. The couples spoke of love, joy, and commitment to one another as they exchanged rings, shed tears and embraced.

"You are the center," Charles Burkhart of Salem told his husband, Olin, in a speech before the ceremony. "You are where I belong."

When the clock struck midnight, Claire Ebel, who presided over the ceremony, declared the weddings official.

The group cheered and sipped champagne from pink plastic cups, toasting to the new year and marriage equality. Through bulky winter jackets, a handful of couples held each other tightly as they danced to "Somewhere" by Barbra Streisand.

Ebel, executive director of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, praised the couples for persevering through an arduous struggle for equal recognition. The new law, she said, meant gay and lesbian couples would no longer be forced to live in the shadows.

"It's extraordinary that this day has finally come," Ebel said. "It was your stories that changed the hearts of some of the legislators who voted for this."

The Legislature legalized civil unions two years ago and the marriage law passed in June. New Hampshire is the fifth state in the nation to recognize same-sex marriages, joining Massachusetts,

Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa.

While the law does not grant new rights for same-sex couples, it dissolves separate civil union statuses.

Mo Baxley, executive director of the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition, said about 40 couples statewide had filed paperwork to convert their civil union statuses ahead of the new year, meaning their marriages became official at 12:01 a.m. yesterday.

Other couples can opt for marriage ceremonies, file paperwork with town clerks to convert their civil unions or wait until Jan. 1, 2011, when all unions automatically become marriages.

Many couples in attendance had previously obtained civil unions or wed in states that allow gay marriage. Thursday night, they said, was about making it official in New Hampshire.

Bill Gaudet, 24, and Ramon Miranda, 26, of Somersworth were married in a religious ceremony at a Dover church this summer but said they turned out to be a part of history.

"It's being able to know, and see, that we're now recognized equally, that we all have the same rights," Miranda said. "It's about time."

Congrats to All.