What is it about weddings that makes one consider, and maybe reconsider, one's own relationships? Witnessing one wedding is alright, but watching 30 couples tying the knot and exchanging vows - well, that's kind of unusual.Alon SkuyPICTURE TO PROVE IT: Shannin Brown refreshes her make-up while a local takes a surreptitious picture of her on her cellphoneBut that's what happened in Knysna at the weekend. Thirty couples committed to sharing the rest of their lives with their spouses at an inaugural mass same-sex wedding -part of the 16th Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival.Alon SkuyHELPING HAND: Olivia Mae helps Shannin Brown prepare for the parade while Laylah Novacek does a nail check.Vernon and Tony Gibbs-Halls, the first gay couple on the continent to legally marry in 2006, led the ceremony - taking the opportunity to renew their vows after a decade together.So did Esme Edge, the town's mayor, and Julie Seton, who married earlier this year.Alon SkuyME AND MY POOCH: Nothing and no one would dare separate a man and his dog at the vintage car show that coincided with the Mardi Gras Why would these people want to share their special day with 28 other couples, with decor and hors d'oeuvres, and guests they didn't pick themselves?"Nothing makes a day more special than having people who understand and appreciate who you are," said Capetonians Thembisa and Yanela Mhlawuli, who were also renewing their vows, after making their union official at a Home Affairs office last month.Alon SkuyBEAR HUGATHON: An intrigued spectator gives Olivia Mae a hug for her troublesThey believed the mass wedding helped them "share the same feelings of nervousness and all the hardships we've all gone through".The couples led the pink parade down the street in front of thousands of spectators and supporters - except for a solitary figure who carried a double sided placard that read: "There is a way that seems right to man.but its end is the way of death - Proverbs 14:12".Alon SkuyDRAG QUEEN: Vida Fantabisher takes a break for a smoke backstage before rejoining the mardi gras festivitiesDrag artist Betty Bangles paused momentarily to take a cheeky selfie in front of the doomsayer and his board.Alon SkuyTISSUE MOMENT: Michelle and Nicolette Sass-Jegels share a tender moment after exchanging their marriage vowsDisappointingly, the wet weather reduced the rest of the weekend to an empty flea market, which had hoped to sell lots of mugs, undies and car stickers, and caused the cancellation or postponement of many other activities.Alon SkuyGOLDEN GIRL: Sultry Sasha le Strange takes time out backstage for a portraitOne venue that enjoyed steady patronage was the Zanzibar club, whichheld drag shows all week.Drag queens including Betty Bangles, Olivia Mae, the acrobatic Manila von Teez (a must-see) and Victoria Styles helped keep the club and its bar busy.Alon SkuyTICKLED PINK: Enigma von Hamburg and Shannin Brown fooling around backstageBut for Styles, who was puffing on a cigarette and hilariously asked for water, but accepted a sip of gin and tonic, the weekend was taking its toll.Alon Skuy"No [I don't get nervous]. I've been doing this for eight years. But I'm tired today. After this, I'm taking a five-week break - and I won't shave."..