Steps to a Legal Marriage in Australia
The following steps are required for a legal marriage registered in Australia:
You and your partner need to complete a Notice of Intended Marriage form at least one calendar month prior to the date of your wedding. If you are in Australia this form is signed in my presence or via a Zoom style virtual meeting, so I can witness your signatures and it is kept by me as your celebrant and later submitted along with a range of other documents to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages after the wedding ceremony. If you are outside Australia at the time of submitting your Notice there are a number of authorised witnesses listed on the form that can witness your signatures and then you can email it to me. To complete the form I also need to see your identification documents, either your passports or a combination of your birth certificates and drivers licence or similar (we can discuss this further). If you or your partner have been previously married then we will also need your divorce certificates or partner's death certificates.
Before the ceremony you and your partner will complete a Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage.
During the ceremony I am required to say some specific legal wording about the nature of marriage in Australia (called the monetum) and you will need to repeat the legal vows before me and two additional witnesses - therefore in total a minimum of five people need to be present: the couple, the celebrant and two adult witnesses.
Two Certificates of Marriage are then signed after you have said your vows, by the bride and groom, the two adult witnesses and the celebrant, one certificate is a keepsake certificate of marriage given to you on the day.
All the required documents are then submitted by myself to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages so your marriage can be registered.
If you require a Registered Marriage Certificate for change of name etc, you will need to apply for it after I have registered your marriage. You can do this online yourself or I can do this on your behalf for up to two months after your marriage has been registered.