Rocky Galloway, left, and Reginald Stanley hold their twin daughters after they were married by Rev. Sylvia Sumter, centre, on Tuesday, the first day that gay marriage was legal in Washington, D.C. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)

It's a day of wedding bells for some gay couples in Washington, D.C.

Tuesday is the first day same-sex couples can pick up marriage licences and tie the knot in the U.S. capital, and about 15 licences were picked up in the first hour the marriage bureau was open.

Two couples quickly got married and returned to pick up their certificates, courthouse spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz said.

About 150 couples began picking up their marriage licences at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Those are the couples that applied on the first day the licences were made available. Many of them stood in line for four or more hours last Wednesday.

Washington, D.C., is now the sixth place in the United States permitting same-sex marriages. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont also issue same-sex couples licences. Once couples pick up their licence, they have to have the person who performs their marriage sign it and return it to the marriage bureau to be recorded.

Three morning weddings were planned at the office of the Human Rights Campaign, which does advocacy work on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. In the afternoon, a couple had a ceremony planned at All Souls Church — the same place where Mayor Adrian Fenty in December signed the bill legalizing the unions.

10 to 12 marriages a day at courthouse

Another couple, district residents Eva Townsend and Shana McDavis-Conway, said they were planning a wedding by their plot in a community garden, where they have grown carrots and potatoes.

Other couples said they already had ceremonies and would simply wed at the courthouse, which has space for about 15 people in a ceremony room. Most of those celebrations will take place during the weeks of March 22 and March 29, courthouse spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz.

Normally, the courthouse has four to six weddings a day, but over the next several weeks they are expecting 10 to 12 per day. Some courtrooms and judge's chambers may be used for the ceremonies, with the couple's approval.

The court's official marriage booklet has been updated so that the ceremony will end by pronouncing the couple "legally married" as opposed to "husband and wife."

More than 300 people applied for marriage licences from Wednesday to Friday, almost all same-sex couples, Gurowitz said.