PrideFest opening celebrates one year of same-sex marriage becoming legal

Hang the disco ball and play the music loud, it's a special night for married couples like Erik Koepnick and Ryan Reichard.

\"We're excited because it's our one-year anniversary coming up,\" said Koepnick.

The two tied the knot just hours after the same-sex marriage ruling last year. They were together for nearly nine years as they waited for Wisconsin to legally allow them to put a ring on it.

\"We're excited so many people have joined in in getting married and celebrating their love that way,\" he added.

People like Nicole Knutson and Jackie Mayberry, who got engaged almost one year ago.

\"Just knowing that we're going to have the same rights as everybody else, it's exciting, very exciting,\" said Knutson.

The two are planning an April 2016 wedding to make it official and, \"we still don't have a cake, so we need that,\" she added.

Luckily, wedding vendors were on hand to help couples who are ready to take that next big step.

It's a battle won not lost on the thousands who come here to freely be who they are.

\"It definitely brightened up that rainbow, the colors of our community,\" said PrideFest visitor Dalillrah Goodwin.

But Koepnick said there's still work to be done.

\"Now that we have marriage equality, we can focus on things like equality within the LGBT community on issues of race, sexism and trans-phobia,\" he said. \"Things we really need to do our own work on, so we can be the diverse community that we are.\"

The 28th year of PrideFest through Sunday at the Summerfest grounds. You can see the complete entertainment lineup here.