James ‘Breko’ Brechney getting the confetti ready for his wedding. | Photo: Supplied
A couple who are getting married on a float during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade have come up with a novel idea for reception decorations.
James ‘Breko’ Brechney and Stuart Henshall got engaged in front of TV cameras on the day it was revealed most Australians voted ‘yes’ to marriage equality.
Both were active campaigners in the national postal survey on marriage equality. They registered their intention to get married as soon as the government made it legal to do so.
In planning the wedding the men came up with a fun idea to ‘upcycle’ posters from the ‘no’ side of the debate.
They asked around to see if anyone had posters from the Coalition for Marriage and Australian Christian Lobby – the teams campaigning against same-sex marriage.
‘We put the call out on Facebook and Twitter for anyone that had them,’ Breko told Gay Star News.
‘We just think it’s an awesome way to upcycle those ridiculous signs, and they’re such great colours too.’
Stuart Henshall getting the ‘no’ posters ready for his wedding. | Photo: Supplied
One woman in Sydney from a surprising location came through with the goods. Their anonymous donor was from Waringah, the electorate of former Prime Minister and vocal marriage equality opponent, Tony Abbott.
‘An anonymous donor from Tony Abbott’s electorate of Warringah had ordered a pallet of them off the ACL to deplete their expenditure during the postal survey,’ Breko said.
‘She was more than delighted to donate them to our Wedding celebrations and also gave us a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.”
Don’t expect to see the confetti at Mardi Gras
They will not spread the confetti during the parade because of Mardi Gras’ strict environmental policy.
‘We’re going to use the confetti at our reception at the Kings Cross Hotel the following day,’ Breko said.
‘Mardi Gras, rightly so, has a biodegradable confetti policy – and while the Australian Marriage Equality signs I saw were on cardboard the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) used cheap plastic – so we can use it sparingly at the venue and make sure it’s cleaned up and disposed of properly.’
The ‘no’ confetti will be spread at a big gay wedding. | Photo: Supplied
Breko said he hoped that the former leader of the ACL, Lyle Shelton, knew exactly what they were doing with the signs.
‘We don’t know if Lyle Shelton from the ACL knows about it yet but his name is on the corflutes,’ he said.
‘Look forward to it being shredded up and used for a good purpose come Mardi Gras weekend.’
