Celebrate a Same Sex Wedding

“We had hymns, prayers and a sermon, which was to do with our understanding of marriage within the Christian tradition. There are so many different ways to define marriage, but for us it was a kind of spiritual ritual. In the same way that I understand a baptism to be a public declaration of commitment to Jesus, with the support of the church, I understand a wedding to be a public declaration of commitment to my wife, with the support of my church and family. [...] I tried to dance and tripped over my dress and Kylie had to catch me, which was pretty symbolic of our relationship – I’m always the clumsy one! It was everything we had imagined it would be, and so much more. I’ve never been so happy in my life than I was when Kylie and I were saying our vows to each other. It just felt so right.”

“Because I was from the UK, we were fortunate enough to get married in the British consulate in Sydney. It was odd though, because you’re essentially in a bureaucratic office; it was just down the road from our work. We then had a ceremony later in Byron. It was important for us to celebrate with our families and friends, especially having both lived on the other side of the world away from our families. [...] To be able to stand up in front of our families and declare how we felt with each other was extremely special. To look over during our vows and see tears of happiness in our mothers’ eyes and to see the smiles on everyone’s faces was just awesome. It is wonderful being married. I was shocked at how different I feel towards Dan, not more in love, but more aware of my love for him. To feel the weight of the ring and to see it and play with it is a constant connection to that feeling.”

“In May this year we got married in the grounds of a small community hall near where we live in the northern rivers, Tregeagle. We stood together under a beautiful fig tree with our son and women of honour. Our guests walked to us on an aisle of autumn leaves lovingly collected and laid by our dear friends. The love between us and the love in their faces is forever etched into our hearts. We then said our vows to each other. It was incredible to stand in front of so many of our loved ones, pledging our love and vowing to choose each other, every day, for the rest of our lives. We then read the vows we had written for our son. Having our son as part of the celebrations and pledging our commitment to him as his mothers was truly magical.”