a white party. The applicant deposed[1] to wanting to travel to Sydney. She said she took a break from work to do that. She said that the respondent explained to her that the resemblance of events as a wedding "didn't worry me" (her words)[2] because the respondent said the event was for social media. She said she did not question the celebrant when he recited his words. She said that even when she kissed the respondent at the end of the ceremony she was happy to do that because she was "playing along" (her words).[3] When it was pointed out to her that she was engaged by the time the impugned ceremony took place, she gave evidence that "it's all an act" (her words).[4]
88 The respondent denied that the wedding ceremony was an act. He said it was genuine.
89 The applicant contended that she had no family or friends present at the ceremony in late December 2023. She said she wore a white dress, not a bridal gown. She said that her parents had not voiced an opinion on the wedding allegedly conducted in late December 2023. She said the respondent was a social influencer, that he generated income from persons who saw his social media postings and that he had in excess of 17,000 social medial followers. She maintained she was acting in a video he made depicting a marriage ceremony.
90 No evidence was given by either party about how and in what circumstances the discussions between the applicant and respondent changed from them travelling to Sydney to participate in a white party to them travelling to Sydney to participate in the staging and filming of a mock wedding ceremony. The applicant brought a white dress to the event in late December 2023. She said she had no knowledge of or involvement in retaining a wedding celebrant for that day. She said no family or friends attended to witness the event. She gave no evidence of a wedding celebration after the ceremony. She said she returned to Melbourne three days later yet she gave no evidence about the activities in which she and the respondent engaged during that period, allegedly as a married couple. For that matter, nor did the respondent. As a matter of common human experience, a newlywed couple is usually very enthusiastic about his and her status as newlyweds. No evidence in this case was given of events immediately following the impugned ceremony.
91 In my view, it beggars belief that a couple would become engaged in late December then married two days later. That is not to say that impulsive marriages do not occur. They do. But
