When Nova and Jo decided to tie the knot, they had two goals. They wanted their union to be both legally recognised and celebrated by family and friends.

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‘These are important to us; we deserve to have the same recognition of our relationship by state and society as is given to our heterosexual family members and friends who are married,’ said Jo.

In order to fulfil both requirements, in February 2009 Nova and Jo held a commitment ceremony in Perth followed by a legal marriage in British Columbia, Canada a few days later on their fifth anniversary.

‘We considered a number of other countries but ruled out a few due to minimum time limits,’ explains Jo.

‘Unlike many other places, BC in Canada has no minimum waiting period between getting your marriage licence and having the ceremony.’

Nova and Jo’s legal ceremony in Whistler was a quiet but moving affair attended by their celebrant, her husband and their two dogs- a stark contrast from their Perth ceremony at which over 200 guests witnessed their vows at the Perth Town Hall.

‘While our Perth ceremony could be considered formal as we both wore ivory and followed a fairly traditional structure, we took liberty with the fact that it wasn’t a legal wedding and threw out the traditions and symbols that we didn’t care for.

It was important for Nova and Jo to incorporate their family and friends in their special day, choosing friends to be the photographer, videographer and make the wedding cupcakes, while giving family members roles to play during the ceremony.

‘We chose a close friend, Michael O’Brien, to be our celebrant in Perth which was a great decision; he brought something very special to our ceremony.’

Jo says feeling connected to so many people and the effort they put into ensuring everything ran smoothly made her feel incredibly proud on the day.

‘And the moment when I first saw Nova as I walked up the stairs – she looked amazing and I felt honoured to be sharing this moment with her.’

Nova’s proudest moment was ‘Seeing how proud and glowing Jo’s dad was on the day, seeing my own mum cry with happiness and seeing Jo look so gorgeous.’

Guests on the day were touched by the beauty of the ceremony and many a hardened butch was moved to tears.

Same Sex Marriage and the Law:

–Countries that offer marriage equality to same-sex couples:
Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden

–US states that offer marriage equality to same-sex couples:
Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine

–Countries that offer civil unions or registered partnerships:
Andorra, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Wallis and Futuna

–US states that offer civil unions or registered partnerships:
California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin

–Australian states that offer civil unions or registered partnerships:
Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, Victoria

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