Inside the PM's wedding: Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon marry

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon exchanged vows they wrote themselves in a private wedding ceremony in Canberra on Saturday.

Just 80 guests, including family, friends and Mr Albanese’s closest political allies*, were among those invited to the grounds of The Lodge, the Prime Minister’s official residence in Canberra, to see the couple wed.

The newlyweds issued a statement sharing their joy.

“We are absolutely delighted to share our love and commitment to spending our future lives together, in front of our family and closest friends,” they said.

Mr Albanese, 62, and Ms Haydon, 47, who began dating in 2019 and became engaged on Valentine’s Day last year, were married by a celebrant* from the Central Coast.

Mr Albanese is the first Australian prime minister in history to marry while in office.

Details of the nuptials* were a closely-guarded secret for privacy and security reasons, however suspicions were aroused after politicians started slipping into Canberra for the weekend.

They had been quietly sitting on an invite for six weeks, one told The Sunday Telegraph.

The couple chose not to have a bridal party, with the only two attendants Ms Haydon’s five-year-old niece, Ella, and the Prime Ministerial dog Toto, with the pair wearing matching white dresses.

As promised by the PM, Toto was indeed the extremely cute ring bearer.

Ms Haydon wore a traditional white, high-neck dress detailed with fabric-covered buttons on the long sleeve and beaded detail across the gown.

The dress was designed by contemporary Sydney fashion house Romance Was Born. The bride paired it with a drop veil and carried a bouquet of yellow roses, white orchids and eucalyptus leaves.

Mr Albanese wore a deep navy blue jacket with black satin collar, black bow tie and black pants from menswear designer MJ Bale, and a white rose buttonhole.

Ms Haydon was walked down the aisle by her parents Bill and Pauline to Ben Folds’ song The Luckiest.

After the ceremony the couple walked back down the aisle to Stevie Wonder’s hit Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).

Among the 80 guests to attend the wedding were Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, ALP national secretary Paul Erickson, Health Minister Mark Butler, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Industry Minister Tim Ayres and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

While the couple chose not to invite state and territory leaders, there were a few politicians not on the frontbench* that scored an invite, such as his former staffer turned NSW MP Jo Haylen, NSW Transport Minister John Graham and Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne.

The Prime Minister also invited people from his inner circle, including strategist* Mal Larsen, his head of communications Fiona Sugden and adviser Dimity Paul.

Friends from both their childhoods, including Mr Albanese’s friends from Camperdown and Ms Haydon’s friends from high school, were among the guests.

In a nod to Mr Albanese’s Inner West Sydney roots, local brewery Willie The Boatman designed special beer cans for the occasion. The couple exchanged gold bands designed by Leichhardt’s Cerrone Jewellers.

With the formalities over, guests let down their hair as Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon shared their first dance to Frank Sinatra’s The Way You Look Tonight. Mr Albanese’s son Nathan was due to give a speech later in the ­evening.

Despite using the PM’s official residence, The Lodge, as the venue, the wedding was paid for privately by the couple. They will honeymoon in Australia next week.

They met in 2019 at a ­function, when Ms Haydon caught his attention after yelling from the crowd her support for Souths. Albo later said she “had him at ‘Up the Rabbitohs!”.

The pair initially kept a low profile before Ms Haydon joined Mr Albanese on the campaign trail in 2022.

It is Ms Haydon’s first marriage and Mr Albanese’s second. He was previously married to former NSW Labor minister Carmel Tebbutt with whom he had Nathan. The couple parted after 19 years of marriage.

Ms Haydon once revealed that she had been single for a long time before meeting the PM, and agreed her path from the NSW Central Coast, where she grew up, to meeting world leaders had been a fairytale story.

“Did I see my life panning out this way?” she once said. “Absolutely not.”

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GLOSSARY

• allies: person, group or nation that cooperates with another for a particular purpose, like a friendly nation or a political supporter
• celebrant: qualified person who leads a ceremony such as a non-denominational marriage or a funeral
• nuptials: a marriage ceremony, wedding
• frontbench: front rows of the sitting government and their opposition in parliament, made up of senior ministers
• strategist: a professional skilled and experienced in planning, especially in military, political, or business matters

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QUICK QUIZ

1. Loyalty to which rugby league team brought the couple together?
2. The PM and his bride enjoyed their first dance to which song by which artist?
3. Where did the PM and Jodie Haydon celebrate their happy day?
4. What were two nods to the PM’s Inner West Sydney roots?
5. Which flowers and leaves were used in the bridal bouquet and which of these is native?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Wedding traditions
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon’s wedding celebration contained many traditional elements that reflected their culture and belief systems. However, across the world, weddings are celebrated in many different ways with different traditions observed. It is good to understand how different cultures celebrate special occasions and to respect these differences.

Create a three column table to list some wedding traditions.

Column 1 should list traditions that were observed by Mr Albanese and Ms Haydon.

Column 2 should include some wedding traditions from your culture - this could be quite similar or quite different from Column 1.

For the third column, choose a culture/country/religion that you are less familiar with. Research to find out and then write down some of their traditions.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Intercultural Understanding

2. Extension
If you were to be invited to a wedding from the culture/country/religion you researched above, what are three things that you could do to show respect and understanding of their traditions?

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Intercultural Understanding

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.

Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.

Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?

Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.