Their joy though is slightly tempered by the fact that at the start of their ceremony their celebrant must announce to guests that it is not a wedding; that their same sex-status means their union is not recognised by Australian law.

That may be about to change though as a group of NSW MPs prepares to introduce a marriage equality bill into the state’s Upper House on Thursday. 

It follows the passage of a similar bill through the ACT parliament last week, but that legislation may be short-lived as the federal government prepares to challenge it in the High Court.

That eventuality has been addressed by the group behind the NSW bill though, with Tamworth-based MP Trevor Khan telling The Leader the group had gone to great lengths to ensure it stood up to a constitutional challenge.

Supporters are confident it will successfully negotiate the Upper House, but its chances in the Lower House are less certain.

Either way, the fact such a bill is being introduced at all is a welcome development for Tamworth’s gay community.

Ms Mayo said she and Lucy had been engaged for about two years and had been waiting in the hope the marriage laws would change.

Early this year though they decided to proceed with a commitment ceremony, and will stick with those arrangements whatever the fate of the NSW bill.

They had planned to travel to New Zealand, where same sex marriage is legal, for the formal paperwork, but the thought they may be able to do that in their home state in the not-too-distant future is exciting.

“It would be absolutely amazing,” Ms Mayo said.

“(The current situation) is discriminatory. My relationship is equal to my parents’ relationship, it’s no different.

“My sisters have been able to marry and I want that, too. 

“What (the government) is saying at the moment is our love is different to that of heterosexual couples, and it’s not.”

Tamworth couple Shirley Kirk and Courtney Mann made page 3 of The Leader when they became engaged at a Pink concert in August.

The superstar herself popped the question to Courtney on behalf of Shirley, making the occasion all the more memorable.

The only thing that could top that now is if the pair were able to marry legally in the place they call home.

“We’re planning to wait until the law is changed,” Ms Kirk said.

“We’re fairly hopeful that it’s just a matter of ‘when’ now rather than ‘if’.”

She said it was hard not to feel like a second-class citizen when you weren’t afforded the same rights as heterosexual Australians and now the couple are expecting a baby in March, the desire to have their union legally recognised is even greater.

Ben Tochel, who moved to Tamworth from the Central Coast 12 months ago, is another who’s waiting to marry his partner, Jarrad Richardson, until the law is changed.

He believes there’s a lot of support in the community, too, as more people recognise Australia is out of step with many other parts of the world.

Like so many others, he’ll be watching Thursday’s events closely, hoping the bill will negotiate its first hurdle.

“It’s a big thing and we’ll wait until it is legal,” Mr Tochel said.

“People say ‘oh, it’s just a piece of paper’, but it’s very important to us.”