Mara Milano and Whitney Keller say their vows. Nearly two same-sex couples a day have tied the knot since marriage between same-sex partners became legal in New Zealand a month ago. Forty two female couples and forty male couples have wed. Fifty eight of the couples were resident in New Zealand with the remainder coming predominantly from Australia, as well as the USA, China, Hong Kong, the UK, Thailand and the Phillipines. Registrar General Jeff Montgomery says he is expecting the rate of same-sex marriages to continue with perhaps an increase as the spring 'wedding season' nears. “We are seeing continued national and international interest by same sex couples in getting married in New Zealand," he says. "Couples need to fill out a notice of intended marriage form and then one of the couple needs to bring the form to a Registry Office, make a statutory declaration in front of a Registrar of Marriages and pay the fee. Births, Deaths and Marriages, and our agents have issued a number of marriage licences for same sex couples which are valid for three months. We expect the number of same sex weddings to increase as we move into spring.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 21st September 2013 - 8:45pm