On April 17, 2013 a bill for legislation in the New Zealand government was passed and on August 19, 2013, same sex marriage became legal in Aotearoa. What a truly proud and exciting time to be a kiwi!

Since that day over 7000 same sex couples from New Zealand and around the world have been married here.

In February 2017 myself and the Glitter Squad celebrants were the first celebrants to walk in the Auckland Pride Parade, and in February 2018 created the first wedding within a Pride Parade in the Southern Hemisphere (!), getting the amazing chance to marry Sinead and Victoria.

In 2020 I created the inaugural Pride Wedding Expo in conjunction with Winter Pride, alongside like-minded wedding vendors. Due to covid levels in September 2021 we delivered the expo as an online magazine, proudly offering all couples a safe space to plan their wedding.

On June 15 2023, another milestone moment for the rainbow community took place, whereby people can now self identify and amend the sex on their New Zealand birth certificates, a process essential to transgender, intersex, non-binary and takatãpui people. I have married couples in the past where one or both identifies as non-binary, and have worked alongside the couple and Births, Deaths and Marriages to ensure that the sex marker on the marriage licence reflect this. I also believe that language matters - you don’t have to use any specific language in your wedding ceremony, so please don’t be shy in raising concerns. It’s entirely possible to create a wedding ceremony with gender-neutral language, pronouns and titles. Whatever outcome you want from your wedding ceremony, we can make it happen.