FAQs

If you were born in Australia, you can obtain a copy of your birth certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages, in the state in which you were born. 

This service with Birth, Deaths and Marriages incurs a fee and the application can take a couple of weeks to be processed.

If you have divorced and need a copy of your divorce certificate or decree absolute, then this can be obtained from the family law court in the state in which the marriage was dissolved.

I can receive your identification via email or photo via your phone.

The marriage ceremony cannot proceed unless all the required documentation has been produced.  

Once the booking date of the marriage has been confirmed, we then sit in for our first meeting together.

During the first meeting we complete the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) form. I witness the signatures and ensure the identification and/or certificates are current and correct.

The Notice of Intended Marriage NOIM form must be submitted at least one month prior to the date of your intended marriage and up to 18 months prior to the wedding.
I can provide you with the NOIM at our first meeting together.

In accordance to Australian Law all authorised Civil Celebrants must...

Introduce themselves and make it known during the ceremony that, "I am an authorised Civil Celebrant that is registered to perform marriages in Australia".

State the words from Section 46 of the Marriage Act 1961 referred to as The Monitum: “I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence & in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn & binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia is the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”

Use your full names at least once during the ceremony.

You the party to marry must state the words from Section 45 of the Marriage Act 1961 as your marriage vows “I call upon the persons here present to witness that I (Bride, Groom, spouse) take you (Bride, Groom, spouse) to be my lawful wedded wife, husband, spouse.”  This must be done in the presence of your witnesses.

In accordance to Australian Law of Marriage, the NOIM form must be submitted at least one month prior to the date of your intended marriage. Only when the NOIM form is completed, dated and signed the one-month period begins.

The Notice of Intended Marriage form can be downloaded https://www.ag.gov.au

The form can be signed in the presence of an authorised celebrant, a justice of the peace, a barrister or solicitor, a legally qualified medical practitioner, or a member of the Australian Federal Police. I can help you source your local authority if required.

My preference is to have both people at the first interview for preliminary discussions please.

However, it is possible that only one person is available to visit me to complete the NOIM form and the other partner may sign the NOIM later before the marriage ceremony.

The two witnesses are the official legal witnesses to the marriage under law and their presence serves a legal purpose. That purpose is to be able to swear in court, or elsewhere, as to the identity of the parties or to testify to the circumstances in which the ceremony was performed, including the date and place.

Two witnesses are required and must be over the age of 18, preferably known to you.  Your children most certainly can be witnesses if they are over 18 years of age.