A lesbian couple who have been inseparable since the day they met in a crowded Sydney pub have revealed they will be the first gay couple to legally marry in Australia.
Lauren Price, 31, originally from Wales, and Amy Laker, 29, will be declared ‘wife and wife’ on Saturday, more than three weeks before other gay couples can tie the knot on January 9.
The pair were granted an exemption on the standard 30-day notice period – because Ms Price’s family had already paid to come from Wales for their civil ceremony, which was planned for this weekend.
The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages have allowed the ceremony to be legally binding on financial grounds, citing the travel of close relatives.
‘We went in there and made our case, the officials left the room to make their decision,’ Ms Laker told Daily Mail Australia.
Amy Laker, left, and Lauren Price, right, will be the first gay couple legally married in Australia – just weeks after it was legalised
The couple’s notice of intention to marry period was slashed from 30 days to just one week
The couple have been engaged for two years after Lauren proposed in France – they have had their wedding planned for more than 12 months
‘It was the longest ten minutes of our lives – our hands were so sweaty. When she came back in and said she had good news I just started crying.’
Ms Laker said the request was granted because Ms Prices’ family had paid to travel to Sydney for Saturday’s planned civil ceremony, but said they gave a list of reasons to make their case.
‘We had lodged an intention to get married notice at the British Consulate in September,’ she said.
‘We have been engaged for two years and we have been planning this for a long time, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment wedding.’
The couple attended rallies in Sydney – and cried when they found out they would be legally wed on Saturday
Lauren proposed on top of the Eiffel Tower after the couple had been together for a year
Neither of them were looking for a relationship when they met in a Sydney pub – but were instantly inseparable
The couple will be married in Camden at the gardens in town before continuing with their friends and family to the local pub.
‘It is a small wedding, we have 65 guests coming – a lot of people are coming from interstate.’
Both brides-to-be will be wearing wedding gowns on the day and plan to help each other get ready for the big day before adding the finishing touches in private.
When the couple met three years ago neither of them were ‘looking for a relationship’.
The official reason for the shortening of their notice of intention to get married period was financial with Births, Deaths and Marriages NSW noting relatives were coming from the UK
‘We have been engaged for two years and we have been planning this for a long time, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment wedding’
The couple will be married in Camden at the gardens in town before continuing with their friends and family to the local pub
‘Lauren had arrived in Sydney two weeks before, and I was happy being single. We even talked about the fact we didn’t want anything serious,’ Ms Laker said.
‘Once we got together we just couldn’t not be together – we just clicked.’
Then, a year later, Lauren proposed to Amy on top of the Eiffel Tower.
‘For us being legally married is more about automatically being next of kin, and also because we want children so it makes that clearer, this is my child’s other mother, my wife,’ she said.
The couple are ‘really happy’ everything has worked out and grateful their marriage will be legally recognised.
‘It was a very emotional moment, I bawled my eyes out for a bit,’ Ms Laker said.
Both brides-to-be will be wearing wedding gowns on the day and plan to help each other get ready for the big day before adding the finishing touches in private
‘When she came back in and said she had good news I just started crying’
‘Once we got together we just couldn’t not be together – we just clicked’