Sydney Festival set to host a huge wedding reception to celebrate legalising gay marriage
People in the crowd celebrate as the result is announced during the Official Melbourne Postal Survey Result Announcement at the State Library of Victoria on November 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Australia is set to celebrate their first official day of legalized same-sex marriage with a mass wedding service at this year’s Sydney Festival.
Same-sex marriage was only legalized in Australia on December 7 last year when it joined 25 other countries that recognized the union of same-sex couples.
Rebecca Davies and her partner Paula Van Bruggen kiss as they celebrate in the crowd (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
The theme of the service will be ‘love is love’, the same phrase that was seen on thousands of banners as people fought to legalize gay marriage throughout Australia.
At the ceremony, several same-sex couples will come together and marry under the name love is love to show that their commitment for one another is exactly the same as that of husband and wife.
Royal Assent was given to the same-sex marriage law on 8 December following on from a historic postal vote in 2017 which saw more than 61 percent of Australians vote Yes for same-sex marriage.
Australians celebrate legalizing gay marriage in Melbourne (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
A 30-day waiting period for registered same-sex couples to marry went into effect after the bill was passed.
However, the first of two gay weddings commenced on December 16.
Some couples had sought an exemption from the waiting period given their circumstances.
Lauren Price and Amy Laker were given permission to marry before the waiting period as they had family who had travelled to Sydney especially for the occasion, however, this was only allowed for those under difficult circumstances.
(Getty)
Writing on Facebook, Equal Marriage Rights Australia said: “Australia’s first legal same-sex marriage has just taken place. Congratulations Amy and Lauren.”
Amy And Elise McDonald, 36 and 28, who happened to have the same surname, married a couple of hours later in Melbourne.
It is understood that both couples were granted exemptions on financial grounds.
Price and Laker had previously planned to hold a commitment ceremony today at the British consulate because Laker is Welsh.
Another couple has been granted an exemption as one of them has terminal cancer.
Same-sex couple Amy Laker and Lauren Price say their vows in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Caroline McCredie/Getty Images)
For those couples who had to wait the 30 day period, the event could not possibly be any more fabulous.
The ceremony will be completed with lavish pink swimming pools, the world’s first karaoke carousel, and quick 10-minute dance parties.
To add to the pride theme boutique patisserie Black Star Pastry will be designing a five-tier pavlova cake for the reception with each tier representing a different colour of the pride flag. This will be accompanied by an ‘Equality Time’ salted caramel and fior di latte gelato coated in biscuit crumbs from gelato pioneers Messina.
Thousands gather in Prince Alfred Park in Sydney for the result of the vote (Photo by Cole Bennetts/Getty Images)
The two-hour event will be a mass celebration for all gay couples in Australia as they can finally be united in marriage and recognized as a couple under Australian law. It will be a celebration of love and only the first few of many gay marriages to come.
