The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra has hosted what is believed to be its very first wedding.
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Kristie and John Simpson were married at the historic site last Saturday, August 18.
No one can remember a wedding being held there before. The embassy was established in 1972.
"It was a moment in time,'' Kristie said.
![John and Kristie Simpson at their wedding at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs John and Kristie Simpson at their wedding at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c7d6c9ad-581f-4909-b1cc-62694c2421c9/r0_0_1200_801_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The couple are proud Aboriginal people, originally from Coonamble. They felt pulled towards the Tent Embassy as their wedding venue.
"I guess because of our strong cultural connections. We need a place to connect and belong. I guess it's our calling,'' Kristie said.
John, a former elite boxer, and Kristie both went to school together. Their families knew each other. They first truly met each other at a club when they were 19 or 20. They were together for about a year and then when their separate ways for 15 years.
![Kristie Simpson sang to her husband John as they came together at their wedding at the Tent Embassy. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs Kristie Simpson sang to her husband John as they came together at their wedding at the Tent Embassy. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/76ce77de-9e95-45dc-8752-695bd720bef7/r0_0_1200_801_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Then we found our way back to each other,'' Kristie said. The couple has since relocated to the Canberra region.
Canberra celebrant Julie Rattenbury officiated at the wedding which featured a traditional, cleansing smoking ceremony and traditional dancers. There was also a fair dose of old-fashioned romanticism as Kristie sang the Ronan Keating ballad, This I Promise You as she walked towards John.
![Celebrant Julie Rattenbury with Kristie and John Simpson at their wedding at the Aborigonal Tent Embassy Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs Celebrant Julie Rattenbury with Kristie and John Simpson at their wedding at the Aborigonal Tent Embassy Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/69df3719-9854-4deb-bd85-46f8770d516f/r0_0_1200_801_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Kristie, nee Pearson, is from the Yorta Yorta people, around southern NSW and north-eastern Victoria. John, is from the Wiradjuri people from around south-western NSW.
He described being married at the Tent Embassy as "very special''.
![Kristie and John Simpson seal it with a kiss on their historic wedding day. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs Kristie and John Simpson seal it with a kiss on their historic wedding day. Photo: Alex Pasquali Photographs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/4cf31b94-d5e3-4224-bdd0-d157015d5126/r0_0_801_1200_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We're very proud and tied to our culture,'' Kristie said. "And being off country, the Tent Embassy is known as a meeting place.
"We want to thank our Tent Embassy family: Uncle Tea-Bags, Uncle Kumba, Aunty Wendy, Little Stan and many more, too many to mention but each and every one of them made this magical, history-making moment in time happen.''