FOR nine years Sophie Meredith and Alison Gerard have built a life together, and now they are the first Bathurst couple to say “I do” following recent changes to the Marriage Act.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They have long called each other wife and the duo were among those celebrating in November when it was revealed that the country had returned a yes vote in the same-sex marriage postal survey.
Their marriage on December 28 was deeply personal and filled with family and friends.
The couple became engaged seven years ago after Ms Gerard proposed, twice – firstly at the wedding of their friends, and then again on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The couple was given a special dispensation to get married, without the required 30-day waiting period, to allow a gravely ill family member to attend.
“It didn’t just feel like us, it felt like it was a lot bigger than us. We were just at the centre of it all,” Ms Meredith said of their wedding day.
“I still can’t get my head around it that as a gay person I’m able to get married.”
I still can’t get my head around it that as a gay person I'm able to get married.
- Sophie Meredith
In Ms Gerard’s role as the director of the Centre for Law and Justice at Charles Sturt University, she works closely with Bathurst’s Wiradyuri community and the couple wanted them included in their ceremony.
Elders gave permission for use of a sacred celebration site on Mount Panorama – also known as Wahluu – for the ceremony to be conducted.
Ms Gerard said: “After a seven-year engagement, it was wonderful to tie the knot legally, and on Wahluu, a site with such deep cultural significance to local Wiradyuri people.”
Ms Meredith said: “For us it was the first time we had experienced a traditional Wiradyuri marriage blessing, and for many of our guests also.”
During the ceremony the 120 guests sat in a circle as the blessing was conducted and the marriage was officiated, while Ms Meredith’s family in the United Kingdom watched on through Skype.
The couple will hold another wedding ceremony in the UK later this year.