The groom’s mother was understandably proud, saying the couple were meant for each other.
But it is not only Paul McCarthy’s mother, Anne, who is happy at her son’s wedding to boyfriend Trent Kandler in New Zealand.
Mrs McCarthy said the event was “absolutely wonderful”.
“I’m so proud, they are meant for each other… I’m very excited, very pleased,” she told The Dominion Post.
The two Australian men are among the first gay couples to marry under the country’s same-sex marriage law that came into force on Monday.
McCarthy and Kandler tied the knot in a ceremony at Wellington’s Te Papa museum after beating more than 300 couples to win the “Make History” competition organised by Tourism New Zealand.
The couple from Speers Point, near Newcastle, have been together for 11 years and were wed in front of 20 family and friends, half of whom were flown to Wellington by New Zealand’s tourism board as part of a major promotion tied to the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
A strong media presence was also witness to their wedding, which was conducted by former Wellington mayor and chairwoman of the New Zealand Tourism Board, Kerry Prendergast.
“If enough people see that we don’t have two horns, we’re not freaks, that there’s nothing to fear from marriage equality … We’re happy there is media here, we want to the world to realise there’s nothing to be scared of,” McCarthy told The Dominion Post.
Speaking ahead of their marriage, McCarthy said he wanted to have a traditional wedding.
“There are certain rituals that go hand-in-hand with marriage and we’re trying to match those as closely as we can,” he told Fairfax Media.
The couple’s marriage will not be recognised in Australia, but McCarthy said he would like to marry at home in front of as many friends and family as possible.
“We wanted to wait for Australia to catch up but we didn’t know how long it would take,” McCarthy said.
“We would really like down the track to be married at home and we hope Australia passes marriage equality laws so that we can renew our marriage vows.”
Thirty-one same-sex couples were planning to marry on Monday, after New Zealand’s parliament passed gay marriage laws in April, the 15th country to allow gay couples to wed.
COUPLES CROSS THE DITCH TO GET HITCHED
Australians are among those taking advantage of New Zealand’s marriage equality law after the country became the 14th in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.
Photo: Ross Duncan
Author: Andrew Taylor
Publication: The Age
Date: 19 August 2013