One lucky couple married onstage at the first ChillOut Festival in Daylesford since last year’s resounding “yes” vote in the same sex marriage plebiscite.
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Jessica Reed and Jacqui McDonald took the plunge and said “I do” in front of a massive crowd at Victoria Park after a parade through town celebrating all things LGBTI on Sunday morning.
They had won a competition that included accommodation at Holyrood House, wedding photography from Love is Love Photography and dinner at Mercato restaurant.
Ms Reed said it was a “big shock” to win the competition, which was held to celebrate the historic changes to Australia’s same-sex marriage laws.
“We were plucked out of a hat, we only found out about a month ago, we planned on getting married later in the year but we found out literally a month ago,” she said.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since the laws changed, I remember when Howard and Ruddock changed them in 2004, it’s fantastic the change.”
It comes after Ballarat recorded the second highest “yes’”vote of all non-metro Victorian electorates, with 70.5 per cent of survey respondents voting to change to the Marriage Act.
Ms McDonald said it was a thrill to take part in ChillOut’s parade.
“Everyone is so supportive and it’s positive vibes.”
