IT IS not often you get married on the same day as your sibling. But Horsham couple Cliff `Spike' Smith and Julie King Smith decided to do just that. Mr Smith said he and Julie decided to get married on the same day as Mrs King Smith's brother Gary Watts and his long- time fianceáe Leanne Oscar.

"We always wanted to have a beach wedding, and originally we wanted to get married in Bali, but there were many family and friends who weren't able to come to that," he said. "So we rang Gary and told him we wanted to get married on the beach and asked him if we could use his place for the reception." Mr Watts, who like his sister Julie was born in Horsham but now lives at Warrnambool, immediately doubled the size of the wedding. "Gary and Leanne got back to us and straight away asked us how would we feel about a joint wedding," Mr Smith said.

He said Gary and Leanne had been engaged for 15 years and together for 17 years, so they felt it was the right time. The couples' joint wedding took place on Warrnambool's Killarney Beach with the reception at Mr and Mrs Watts' Southern Cross home.

Mr Smith said more than 100 guests from Horsham, Melbourne, Geelong and Bendigo attended the wedding. "It was great, so colourful with lots of family and friends, everything just went off," he said. "I wouldn't change anything, it was superb. The girls did all the catering themselves and it was fantastic." Mr Smith said he and his new wife would honeymoon in their favourite destination, Bali, in September.

"I proposed to Julie in Bali, that's why we wanted to get married there," he said.