Grieving friends, family and community members will honour the lives of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at a silent vigil in Sydney before tributes flow at the upcoming Mardi Gras parade.
The bodies of Mr Davies, 29, and Mr Baird, 26, were found inside surfboard bags at the fence line of a rural property in Bungonia near Goulburn, about 200km southwest of the city, on Tuesday.
NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 28, is in custody charged with murdering the couple at Mr Baird's home at Paddington in inner-city Sydney on February 19.
A Friday night vigil, organised with the permission of the couple's families, will be held in nearby Darlinghurst.
The vigil is scheduled on the eve of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, where organisers are expected to recognise the couple.
Mardi Gras board co-chair Brandon Bear said the LGBTQI celebration will be a more sombre event than usual for some people.
"Everyone brings what they are going to bring to Mardi Gras ... if you do come along to parade on Saturday, there will be a space for you, we will hold that space for you and you can be part of our community in that space," he said on Friday.
The alleged murders of two young men in the prime of their lives came in horrible circumstances that had left the community devastated, Sydney mayor Clover Moore said.
"I sincerely hope tomorrow night provides a safe environment to come together, to grieve together, and to support each other's resilience and to celebrate the power and the joy of Mardi Gras," she said.
Detectives allege Lamarre-Condon's killing of Mr Baird with his police-issued gun was a premeditated attack after a months-long campaign of "predatory behaviour" towards the man he briefly dated.
Mr Davies, a Qantas flight attendant, was allegedly murdered because he happened to be in the Paddington property at the time of his partner's killing.
CCTV of Lamarre-Condon buying a surfboard bag in the days before the alleged double murder was aired on Nine News on Thursday night.
More footage captured two days later showed him returning for a similar bag.
A vigil will honour shooting victims Luke Davies (left) and Jesse Baird. (HANDOUT/NSW POLICE, STUDIO 10)
Independent state MP Alex Greenwich said his office, along the parade's Oxford St route, has been overwhelmed with community distress.
"These tragic deaths remind us to redouble efforts to improve the safety and wellbeing of LGBTIQA-plus people in NSW," he said.
One of Mr Davies' friends, Dean Bailey, said he could still picture the 29-year-old laughing at a message the pair shared on the morning he was allegedly murdered.
"It was a funny Instagram meme, followed by a crying-laughter emoji, which is pretty much what Luke was like," he told Seven's Sunrise program.
"To know that within 30 minutes after that, things took a turn for the worse and the unimaginable happened, it's heartbreaking to think what went on from that message that he sent to me."
Qantas will honour Mr Davies on its Mardi Gras parade float, while the AFL is expected to announce a tribute for Mr Baird, who umpired 62 games including two finals, in coming weeks.
NSW police officers will march in the parade out of uniform after reaching a compromise with organisers, having previously been uninvited after Lamarre-Condon was charged.
Meanwhile, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb attended a ceremony to welcome 158 new probationary constables on Friday after they graduated from the Goulburn Police Academy.
The commissioner has faced serious criticism of her leadership and has been pressured to explain police procedures, particularly relating to gun safety, following the alleged murders.
She has implemented reviews and committed to improving policies, but rejected claims the force had lowered its recruitment standards to address a shortage of police officers in the state.