Never in Australia, surely, has the closing moment of a wedding been less complicated. "You may kiss the bride," announced celebrant Judy Aulich. And with that, both brides kissed. Hayley Wilson and Samantha Hermes were married.

It was the first legal wedding between two women in Australia. Hayley and Samantha made sure of it by choosing the early hour of 7.30am on Saturday for their wedding in Ms Aulich's garden in the Canberra suburb of Giralang.

A merciful early summer sun shone from a blue sky, chasing away the morning chill. It wasn't quite the first legal same-sex marriage, however.

Stephen Dawson, a West Australian state Labor MP, and his partner Dennis Liddleton had tied the knot hours earlier. They made sure of their place in history by electing to be married on the forecourt of Canberra's parliament house at 12.01am. Away in the high distance, the city's Telstra tower, perched atop Black Mountain, switched from its normal white light and pulsed the colours of the rainbow.