Farmer Monty Haron has an alter ego — or some might say altar ego. One day the 29-year-old could be carting hay, and the next hitching newlyweds.
He describes himself as a “born entertainer” and a “double act” since launching as marriage celebrant Holymatrimonty on social media.
“Most celebrants get into it because they love love, but at the stage I got into it that wasn’t the story for me. I just love entertaining,” he says.
So, how exactly does one go from boots and dust one day to marrying loved-up couples across Australia the next, sometimes wearing nothing but a pair of budgie smugglers?
To get to the answer, you have to return to the beginning of Monty’s life as a boy growing up in Glen Innes, a town in northern New South Wales.
A country kid
Monty might have been born a “townie”, but farming is in his blood.
His dad is a local doctor in Glen Innes, but Monty spent many of his days at a family friend’s farm. So much so that he is now known as their “other son”.
“I grew up coming out here on the weekends … just riding motorbikes around as a young kid and then kind of fell in love with everything that’s here,” Monty says.
“We’ve always been very good friends with the Lander family … they taught me everything I know about farming.
“To be able to grow up with a farming background despite not being on a farm as a kid, it’s been pretty good.”
When he returns from his other life in Newcastle, Monty picks up any job on the farm, from trucking feed to looking after stock or baling hay.
Becoming Holymatrimonty
When he drives out of the farm gates, Monty leaves the dust behind to head home to Newcastle’s coastal community.
But while the dirt may stay in Glen Innes, his work boots certainly do not.
His journey from country kid to marriage celebrant may have started with his name.
“I guess I was born to entertain in some way because [my dad] named me after Monty Python, so I’ve finally grown into that,” he says.
Then came his brother’s wedding in 2017.
“My brother was getting married, and I didn’t want to go to a dodgy, boring wedding, so I thought, ‘This will be a bit of laugh’,” he says.
After a 12-month course and a few thousand dollars, Monty officially became a marriage celebrant.
He hasn’t stopped since.
“Since his wedding, I’ve done about 430 weddings all over the country … I just love entertaining.”
A journey of self-discovery
Monty has a lot of fun in life, but it has not always been easy.
Now an openly gay man, he struggled with his sexuality as a young boy in a rural town.
“Maybe if I had grown up in the city, I might have come out a bit sooner but that’s not how it happened,” he says.
“When I finished school, I just knew that I had to get away and didn’t think the country was the right place for me at that time.”
It was in Newcastle that Monty discovered exactly who he was.
“It was a completely different experience down there,” he says.
“Everyone’s so open and understanding and accepting and, in hindsight, they are in the country too.
“I sill come back to Glen Innes a lot … nobody loves me here any less.”
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