NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Less than two weeks after New Jersey adopted civil unions for same-sex couples, a niche industry catering to celebrations for same-sex couples is poised for its collective phone to ring.

But those wedding planners and other vendors may be in for a long wait. That’s due in part to the state’s approval of a law that may have gone too far for critics of same-sex unions, but which did not grant the recognition sought by advocates of full-fledged same-sex marriage.

“People who can get married usually tend to associate that event with [a] big celebratory party like a reception,” said David Buckel, an attorney whose lawsuit pushing for same-sex marriage led to the civil unions. “We’re finding that in large measure, that’s not how people are viewing a civil union or a civil unionization. It just doesn’t feel too celebratory to not be able to call it a ‘marriage.’”

Signed into law Dec. 21 by Gov. Jon Corzine, the law gives same-sex couples many of the rights of marriage. New Jersey joins Connecticut and Vermont as states that allow civil unions for same-sex couples. Massachusetts allows same-sex couples to marry, while California has domestic partnerships that bring full state marriage rights.

New Jersey’s law came in response to an October state Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples be granted the same rights as married couples. The court gave lawmakers six months to act but left it to them to decide whether to call the unions “marriage” or something else.

Same-sex couples welcomed the law, but some argued that not calling the relationship “marriage” creates a different, inferior institution.

Saundra Toby-Heath and Alicia Heath-Toby, one of the seven couples who sued for the right to marry, are now talking about plans for a civil union ceremony. But the couple – together for 18 years – is not sure what form it will take.

After a religious commitment ceremony in September 1999, they threw a bash in the backyard of their Newark home for 100 people. It took six months to plan.

“The ceremony that me and my wife had was heavenly,” said Heath-Toby, 44. “It was something very, very special.”

Even though they can now take another step legally, they aren’t sure their celebration would include more than 10 people. Toby-Heath, 53, calls civil unions an “unnamed species.”

“It’s something,” she said. “I almost feel like we were cheated from the wonderful feeling that ‘marriage’ brings.”

M.W. Savant, whose Edison, N.J.-based company, Savvyplanners.com, specializes in same-sex ceremonies, said the sentiment is not surprising.

“So many people are tired of having to half embrace their relationship,” Savant said. “There is a good number of people who are still holding out, waiting for 100 percent marriage equality.”

Not so for Marc Figueroa, a 31-year-old teacher, who proposed to his partner after the October Supreme court ruling.

The pair, who live in Hackensack, have hired Savant to help plan their September wedding. They’re envisioning 120 to 150 people, probably on a yacht sailing on the Hudson River, and expect a burgeoning same-sex wedding industry as others follow suit.

“It’s going to be huge,” Figueroa said. “And we have a lot of friends who will start doing the same things very shortly.”

The men are happy for the new legal bond they’ll have, even though some of their gay friends are down on the term “civil union” and want marriage.

“We’re ecstatic,” Figueroa said. “For us, we said we’re fine with civil unions.”

Even before the new law was passed in New Jersey, florist Lynn Jawitz took out ads in GLBT publications to promote her New York-based company, Florisan.

“We wanted to be really well positioned in a business sense when this market broke and we couldn’t be happier,” she said.

Jawitz has received some inquiries from same-sex couples about events, but no work so far.