Nicole Kopaunik and Daniela Paier were wed in the southern town of Velden just five minutes into 2019, when same-sex marriage officially became legal, reports ORF. The newlyweds, who were reportedly engaged for four years prior to the ceremony, have chosen to take Nicole’s surname as their new family name. Austria’s Constitutional Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage on 4 December, 2017 after a complaint was brought before the court by a lesbian couple and four other couples, but the change didn’t take full effect until the beginning of this year. “Now everyone has the chance to decide for themselves, if they want a “marriage for all” or a legal partnership, but that was not the case before.”

In 2009 Austria granted same-sex couples the right to enter into legal civil partnerships, but the 2017 ruling has allowed all couples the choice of civil union or marriage regardless of sexuality. The current government of Austria, a conservative coalition of the Austrian People’s Party and the Freedom Party of Austria, strongly oppose marriage equality but said they would respect the court’s decision, according to The Associated Press.
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Austria.