Tony Abbott’s sister Christine Forster weds partner Virginia Edwards in Sydney

FORMER PM Tony Abbott has attended the wedding of his sister, Christine Forster, to her long-term partner and said he’s thrilled to have a new family member.

TONY Abbott’s sister and vocal marriage equality campaigner Christine Forster has wed her long-term partner at a ceremony in Sydney.

Ms Forster and her partner of 10 years, Virginia Edwards, both said they were “very excited” to be tying the knot with the former prime minister’s sister telling reporters on Friday “it’s been a long time coming”.

Christine Forster and Virginia Edwards were married in Sydney. Picture: Diimex

In an interview with The Project ahead of the ceremony, Ms Forster admitted she was “a bit nervous” for the big day while her partner said the pair had “waited too long for this day”.

Asked what the day meant to them, Ms Forster said: “It’s everything”.

“For us to be able to get married here in Sydney with our friends and our family at our sides, and to get married under Australian law, it’s amazing,” she said.

“I’m still in some ways pinching myself about this, because it was such a long time coming and it was a very long and hard fight for marriage equality in this country.”

Ms Forster said her brother had been “fabulous” in the lead-up to the wedding.

“He was the first person to ring us this morning to check everything was going smoothly,” she said.

“He is looking forward to it as well and will be here with his wife Margie, I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

Tony Abbott said he was ‘very happy’ for his sister and new sister-in-law. Picture: Diimex

Mr Abbott, who opposed to same-sex marriage, was one of almost 200 guests at the ceremony.

Ahead of the event Mr Abbott said he was “very happy” for the couple.

“I’m looking forward to having a new sister-in-law,” he told reporters.

But one of Ms Forster’s most publicly supportive family members, Frances Abbott, was not able to make the ceremony.

“Francey is based in Melbourne and she’s planning her own wedding now. That came up pretty quickly as you might know,” Ms Forster said.

“We saw them last week ... we had a lot of wedding discussion, I assure you.”

Frances Abbott sent some love to the brides to be over Instagram earlier on Friday. Picture: Instagram

The couple revealed Ms Edwards would be reverting to her maiden name after the pair were married, now going by Virginia Flitcroft.

Ms Forster confirmed she wasn’t making any changes.

“I’m sticking with Forster, there might be an issue going back to my maiden name,” she joked.

Ms Forster, a City of Sydney councillor, played a prominent role in the campaign for gay marriage which was legalised after 62 per cent of participants in a national postal survey backed the move in mid-November.