On the 11th of February 2020, one couple from Belfast made history. Robyn Peoples, 26, and Sharni Edwards, 27, have become the first same-sex couple to marry in Northern Ireland.
Robyn and Sharni had decided that they would mark their sixth anniversary by organising a civil partnership at Loughshore Hotel in Carrickfergus, County Antrim. They began organising their ceremony and celebration months prior to the official legislation being passed in the summer of 2019.
The couple’s plans were certainly helped by the luck of the Irish as they had coincidentally planned their civil ceremony in coordination with the first-week same-sex marriage would be legal in the country. When they realised they’d had such perfect timing, the couple decided to change their civil ceremony to a wedding ceremony.
Same-sex marriage became legal for LGBTQ couples in 2014 for England, Scotland and Wales. After many years of protests and high-profile campaigns for the same laws to be passed in Northern Ireland, Westminster stepped in to legalise same-sex marriage in the country last year.
The Guardian reports Edwards commenting “We feel humbled that our wedding is a landmark moment for equal rights in Northern Ireland. We didn’t set out to make history – we just fell in love.”
Here at Pride Guide, we are delighted for Robyn and Sharni and for all future Northern Irish, same-sex couples who finally get to show their love for one another with a wedding ceremony. We wish them all many more years of love, happiness and pride.