Mobile
Phone: 0409 110 090FAQ
We want to get married but, don't where to get the marriage License
Australia does not have a marriage license and there are no blood
tests for you or your partner to take. You need to locate a Celebrant
of your choosing and he/she has all the necessary papers for you to
complete to get you started on the road to marriage.
When should we make our booking
To secure a booking on your chosen Wedding date you should make a
booking as soon as possible As the period required for lodgement of
your "Notice of Intended Marriage Form" must be no less than 1 month
before your chosen wedding date
and no more than 18 months in advance,
so don't leave it until the last minute - Book Early.
What is the 'Notice of Intended Marriage Form' and How do we Lodge
it
The 'Notice of Intended Marriage Form' is an Australian Government
form that must be lodged with your chosen Marriage Celebrant at
least 1 month before your Wedding. The form is valid for 18 month
and expires after that date if you have not married.
Once this form has been completed (it may be witnessed by those
listed on page 4 of the form), it must be returned
to your chosen celebrant, it may be posted or faxed, but an email
cannot be cannot accepted as lodging the form. Only forms that have
been signed and witnessed can be accepted as lodged unsigned forms
not. When you have your interview it will then be witnessed by the
celebrant, in special circumstances other persons may also witness
the 'Notice of Intended Marriage' these are listed on page 4 of the
form. When the Celebrant receives the Form, it it is considered 'lodged'.
In very exceptional circumstances will the Prescribed Authority, provide a 'shortening of time' where it was considered a genuine case of not booking a celebrant. Other cases requiring a shortening of time will depend on individual merit. The celebrant is not empowered to provide you with a shortening of time.
What documents will we need to show before our Wedding
You will need to supply the original Notice of Intended Marriage Form.
If you or your partner were born in Australia you we will need to supply
your Birth Certificates (extracts are fine- but no photocopies) - The Australian
Governments has indicated all who were born in Australia can provide
a Birth certificate and therefore celebrants can/will not accept
Australian PASSPORTS as evidence of Birth. If you were born Overseas
then we will need to see either your Birth Certificate or a
Foreign Passport. If these cannot be produced then you will need
to advise at the time of making your booking.
If either partner has been previously married then then evidence is
needed to show that your last marriage has ended. This may be a
Certificate of Divorce or a Death Certificate (no photocopies)
Persons under the age of 18 years cannot legally marry. Both persons intending to marry must be over the age of 18. Should one party be under 18 years of age - you are required to obtain:- Parental consent on the prescribed form and a Court Order under section 2 of the Marriage Act 1961.
My Partner is away and cannot sign the Notice of Intended
Marriage Form
No Problem. The form can be lodged with only 1 signature but your
partner will need to also sign it before the wedding can take place.
Send the Notice to the celebrant with only your signature. The
celebrant will express also what else he/she requires from you
What happens if my partner cannot speak or understand
English
This
is no problem but you will need to advise the Celebrant of this at the time of
making your booking, we can then let you know the procedure to be
followed. You will need to appoint an 'interpreter' who is able to
translate from English into the mother tongue of the Bride or Groom
and back into English, they will need to complete an "Interpreters
Statutory Declaration". Should the Celebrant have any doubt of the
ability
of English language skills
of either person/s getting married, he may also decide to appoint an
interpreter.
Do we need to appoint Official Witnesses at our Wedding
Ceremony
Whilst you may have many guests, you should appoint 2 witnesses who
appear to be over age of 18 years, These are generally in the Bridal
party, but can be anybody a the wedding.
Can we change our wedding date if our plans change
Yes. Please note though that each time you change it there will be a
surcharge/fee, this is best discussed with your celebrant to ensure of
his/her availability for your new chosen plans
What happens if we decide to change the Wedding venue
Changing the venue is no problem provided the booking can be
accommodated. Conducting weddings at other than the initially booked
venue will incur a charge/fee for
What is the dress code for ceremonies
This is entirely up to you. Some people dress up in formal wedding
attire, some smart casual and others casual. You can wear what ever
you desire
Fees to perform weddings are set by the celebrant with you and these will include:
-
Lodging the Notice of Intended Marriage
-
Producing Marriage Certificates
-
Performing your Wedding Ceremony
-
Registration of your Marriage with appropriate Registry of Births Deaths and
Marriages
- Other items could also include:- Supply of a Signing table, chairs and tablecloth.
- Hire of a PA System where required for larger than normal gatherings,
these are generally costed on
- Faxes and or STD calls, as are calls to mobile phones where a landline is not given
Negotiate with your celebrant for the overall cost of the service as
it will now include a mileage factor dependent on distance to the
venue and back to the Celebrant's home. There may be other costs
unique to the Celebrant you have chosen so it is best to discuss all
aspects of costs with him/her before you go ahead with their
services
Can we have a surprise wedding
The short answer is No! but read further
Both parties (Bride and Groom) must be in agreement to be married, i.e. without duress-as
this could make the wedding invalid.
But as both parties agree to be married and the form has been
'lodged' - you could have a "Surprise Wedding " for your family and friends.
I don't feel I can speak at
the ceremony, I feel this is private between my Bride and I, can't I just answer a question with a
Yes? And I wish to
change the wording of the vows!
No! The Marriage 1961 is
quite specfic at what must happen.
The Bride and Groom must repeat certain
words these are outlined in:-
Meaning of Section 45(2) of the Marriage Act 1961
The purpose of Section 45(2) is to set out the minimum words which must be used by the parties to be sufficient for a non-religious ceremony to be a Marriage Ceremony.
Each party must
say to the other, in the presence of the celebrant and witnesses-
the words
or words to that effect.
What this means is that, if the celebrant is not a minister of religion and if the ceremony does not satisfy the minimum requirements of section 45(2), namely the exchange of vows, the marriage will probably be void. It is therefore very important to comply with the minimum requirements of the ceremony
I have lost my Divorce papers how can I
get a replacement??
Ring the Family law courts hotline number
Tel 1300 352 000,
they will advise you how to go about it. You will also
need to complete a copy of request
Document request form Download form here