James Brechney had more reason than most to feel anxious as he joined the crowd gathered at Sydney's Prince Alfred Park on Wednesday to await the announcement of the results of the same-sex marriage postal survey.
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He had pocketed a ring that belonged to the British grandmother of his partner Stuart Henshall in the hope that the "yes" vote would prevail.
"How embarrassing if the whole country said yes and he would have said no," Mr Brechney said.
As the results of the survey were revealed and euphoria swept the crowd, Mr Brechney mustered the courage to ask his partner of two-and-a-half years to marry him.
"As soon as I got down on the knee, he started crying and nodding," Mr Brechney said.
"It was awesome. We had family and friends there and it was a beautiful moment."
Mr Brechney said he had previously thought about marrying Mr Henshall in the British Consulate: "That had certainly crossed my mind, but the moment wasn't right for us."
He described the postal survey, which recorded a 61.6 per cent vote in favour of allowing same-sex marriage, as "one of the worst things that has happened".
"But that day was so sweet and so lovely and that result was so fantastic," he said.
Mr Brechney said he and Mr Henshall were a "fun-loving couple" and had spoken about getting married during Sydney's gay and lesbian Mardi Gras.
"I'm sure we'll do our own vows," he said.
"We care about each other. We love each other a lot.
"I think some of these gay weddings you'll see will be fantastic. They're going to make the straight people jealous."
