AS POLITICAL squabbling overshadows the issue of same-sex marriage and the nation awaits a postal ballot on the contentious topic to be rolled out, it seems the wedding industry in the Whitsundays is in support of legalising gay marriage.

Janet Hogan, founder of Botanica Weddings in the Whitsundays, is "very much” in favour of same-sex unions and believes her sentiments are indicative of those across the region.

"In general there's a real feeling of 'who are we to judge?'

If two people are in love, we don't need to know anything more than that,” Ms Hogan said.

She said there were some commitment ceremonies held at wedding venues in the area, but she believed there would be more people making a marriage commitment when it was made possible.

"Just now, we're not allowing people to follow their hearts, and that's a tragedy.”

Ms Hogan said in the future, we'd view the current argument over same-sex marriage as old-fashioned, and instead we will celebrate being "free and who we truly are”.

Jess Lawrence, owner of The Wedding Planners Whitsundays, said the "happy” wedding industry of the region was supportive of same-sex marriage.

"We believe in love in the wedding industry, and to discriminate against people loving each other, that's not what we're about.

"From our experience with commitment ceremonies, couples just want to be like everybody else, as they should be,” she said. "So I think it would be nice for them to have the same rights.”

Deb Savy, owner of Tropix Photography, said she had photographed commitment ceremonies and believed that while there hadn't been many commitment ceremonies, more gay couples would make the commitment of marriage if it was made legal.

"The reality is that people love who they love, and I think it's a very odd thing for the government to even be the ones to make the call on this. It feels very old-fashioned and it makes me think that Australia is a very old country in its thinking. I feel like we're very far behind.”