Next month, two young south-west men will do something they had dreamed of, but they thought may be impossible.
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On Tuesday, January 9, Connor Ovenden, 23, and Ben Shaw, 24, will get married, declaring their love for each other in the rotunda at the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens. Theirs may be the first same-sex wedding in the south-west.
Mr Ovenden, an artist and writer, said after he met Mr Shaw online more than three years ago, in “typical millennial fashion”, they bonded over an Agatha Christie movie.
“We’re very young, but you could probably describe us as being 80-year-olds in 20-year-old bodies,” he said.
The couple has been engaged since the beginning of 2016.
“I had lost hope, basically,” Mr Ovenden said.
“I knew it would come eventually, but thought it could be another five or 10 years.”
After same-sex marriage was legalised, Mr Ovenden said getting married was an opportunity to “get rid of the negativity and have a refresh”.
South-west celebrant Emmalee Bell will marry the couple without charge, after offering the service to a lucky same-sex couple through social media.
“When the law was finally passed, I wanted to do something to celebrate that,” she said.
Photography and wedding hire business also offered their services free of charge.
Ms Bell, a celebrant for more than 10 years, said she had hoped and advocated for a change to allow same-sex couples to marry for a long time.
“When it comes down to it, everyone’s marriage looks different, everyone’s wedding looks different, but at the very basis of it, love is love,” she said.