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LEGALITIES
1. lodge a notice of intended marriage
2. provide evidence of self, and marital status
3. provide evidence of age, or approval to get get married if under 18years.
4. declare there is no legal impediment to getting married
5. provide evidence of formal change of name if this has been done through a deed poll or official name change through the BDM.
Need a Birth, Death or Marriage certificate from Western Australia Births Deaths and Marriages section? This can be used to request a marriage certificate after you are married in Western Australia. If you like, you can give the completed form to me (your celebrant) before the wedding - I will submit it with the other documents and this will possibly help speed up delivery of the certificate.
Notice of Intended
Marriage (the NIM)
You need to complete a 'Notice of Intended Marriage' form (supplied by me) at least one
month and one day and not more than eighteen months prior to your wedding. Download the
"
Notice of Intention To Marry
"
here. This normally occurs at the first meeting, but it may be faxed to me after you have
completed it correctly (that is had it all witnessed by people authorised to do witness
these signatures). The NIM is valid only from when I receive it (that is
the date I get it or sign it).
If Graham can't witness your signature/s? If you are unable to have me witness your signatures , there is a list of people on page 4 who are authorised to do this, so you can get a person with that title to witness your signatures. Then send it off to me. This may be by Fax +61.892562222 (to get it to me quickly) then post it by registered mail please. Remember to keep a copy of pages 3 and 4.
Note: Commissioners of Declaration are no longer recognised or registered in Western Australia.
Note: it may not be possible for both the bride and groom to sign the NIM together before it is lodged. So if you are running out of time, one party may complete the NIM as much as possible, get it properly witnessed then to Graham as soon as possible. The other party can then sign when we meet up later. This may apply if one or both parties are apart from each other such as - armed forces personnel, fly in / fly out workers, spouse / fiancée visa applicants, and so on.
Note also - there is no such thing as
marriage licence in Australia. You simply need to lodge the notice of
INtended Marriage form with me at least one month and one day before you
get married.
Evidence about Self and Marital Status
- The original (not photocopy) documents I need to sight prior to the
marriage must be
| Marital Situation | Born In Australia | Born Outside of Australia |
| Never Validly Married | Original Birth Certificate |
Original Birth Certificate OR Valid (Non Australian) Passport, Change of Name Certificate |
| Divorced | Original Birth certificate AND Certificate of Divorce / Decree Absolute |
Original Birth Certificate OR Valid (Non Australian) Passport AND Certificate of Divorce |
| Widow / Widower | Original Birth Certificate AND Death Certificate |
Original Birth Certificate OR Valid (Non Australian) Passport AND Death Certificate |
I need to sight these documents prior to the wedding. IT IS PREFERABLE if you can have them at the first meeting that we have so it is all taken care of, but if you can't I can see them anytime between when the NIM is lodged and the wedding. I also ask couples if they could give me a photocopy as well that I keep until after the wedding is registered.
Trouble Providing Official Documents: If you cannot provide (and believe you cannot obtain) that documents listed above talk to Graham about the possibility of a Statutory Declaration to declare that you can't get the certificate and this may suffice eg if you had to flee you birth country, records have been destroyed, you are in protection, etc.
Divorce Certificates: Caution if you are waiting for a decree absolute (divorce) from the Family Court in your state do not rely upon it to be posted to you by set dates. The Absolute Divorce Decree must be used at least the day after it was issued. It cannot be used on the day it was issued as proof for the wedding ceremony. It must be at least one day old. Note, I believe that these Divorce Certificates are issued at no charge by the Family Court. They are very helpful and can provide these with reasonably short notice if you need the certificate.
If you have been married more than once previously, I only need to sight evidence of how the last marriage ended.
Changed Your Name? If you have changed your name by deed poll or officially through the Department of Births Deaths and Marriages, but not just through a (previous marriage), then I need to sight this official document as well.
If any of the documents are in a foreign language- official translations into English may be required. Currently in Australia the only persons who can do this are those registered with the National Accreditation Authority for Translators. Tel: 1300 557 470, email them at info@naati.com.au or check out their website at www.naati.com.au .
Statutory Declaration: You need to complete a Declaration , which I have, in my presence prior to your wedding, declaring there is no legal impediment to your marriage with your partner / fiancee. I organise this for you, so don't worry about this - it is part of the legal bits that I do. (This is generally signed at the rehearsal)
At your ceremony, there must be two official witnesses who have attained the age of eighteen years. The full names of your witnesses need to be furnished to me prior to your ceremony for inclusion on the official Certificate of Marriage which is forwarded by me to the Register-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages to register your marriage.
Need a Justice of the Peace. Click here.
If you are considering having a wedding at the
Marriage Registry - the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Perth, and generally
at a courthouse in the country -
RECONSIDER. Have a look at this
proposal. I provide a professional celebrant service but at a time and location of your choosing. To see some free venues in
nice places in Perth Metro area see
Venues
Age
In Australia a person who is over 16 years
may marry another person over 18 years, but the person under 18 years
must
1. get parental permission, AND
2. get permission from a court
before the marriage may be approved and go ahead.
Only one of the couple may be under 18 years of age - absolutely!
Changing Your Name
Some women (mostly) who marry choose to change their surname to their
husband's surname. This is done as a matter of custom and not of law.
A formal Change of Name conducted at the Registry is not required if you wish to take your
husband's name. A standard Marriage Certificate is usually sufficient evidence to have
personal documentation, such as your driver's licence and passport changed to your married
surname.
All presentation marriage certificates (the one
presented to you on the day) issued since September
1, 2005 are issued by the Attorney General's Department (via the person
authorised to marry people) and it has a registration number on it. This
registration number can be tracked back to the person who issued the
Certificate through the Attorney General's Department. These 'new'
certificates are LEGAL documents and are increasingly used to prove that
a marriage took place on the day and place on the certificate.
Some women however do wish to formally change their name. It's simply a matter of choice.
If you decide to change your surname to your husband's name the Government Departments and
the Passport Office need to view your official registered copy of the
Marriage Certificate issued by the
Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages. Generally the Certificate of Marriage that
Celebrants issued (before September 1, 2005) is not adequate (as it has
no registration Number on it).
There is no legal requirement for you to change your surname officially
if you wish to:
assume your spouse’s
surname following marriage
combine your surnames
with your spouse (with or without a hyphen)
return to your maiden name
resume a former married surname
return to a previous legal name which has been formally registered
You do not need to register a formal change of name if the change falls within one of the above categories. Your marriage certificate is sufficient proof of your change of name and there may be occasions in which you will also need to produce your birth certificate and documents showing your (previous) formal change of name as verification. (2006)
Fees
A Booking Fee must be paid to book me as a celebrant, and that confirms the date and
time of the Civil marriage and the completion (if possible) of the Notice of
Intended Marriage, with the balance to be paid no later than two weeks prior to the
wedding ceremony. The fee is non refundable if the marriage does not take place.
For scale of fee guidelines see The Civil Ceremony which has these outlined.
Can't wait one month and one day to get married?
Shortening of notice time (info from the Attorney General's office).
Section 42 of the Act provides that, prior to a marriage taking place a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) must be given by the couple and received by the authorised celebrant solemnizing the marriage. That notice must be given not earlier than 18 months before the date of the marriage and not later than one month before the date of the marriage. In other words, the authorised celebrant must receive the NOIM at least one month, and no more than 18 months, before the wedding date.
Situations arise from time to time when a couple will approach a celebrant seeking to be married with less than a month available to give the required notice. In many cases there will be a legitimate reason for this and so it is provided for in the Marriage Act 1961 and the Marriage Regulations 1963.
Prescribed authorities (usually staff of the Local Courts or Registry officials) can shorten the required period of notice if they are satisfied that circumstances prescribed in the regulations are met.
There are the five categories of circumstances set out in the regulations. These are:
- Employment related or other travel commitments,
- Wedding or celebration arrangements, or religious considerations,
- Medical reasons,
- Legal proceedings,
- Error in giving notice.
The reason for seeking a shortening of time for notice must fall within one of the categories before an application can be considered. There is no capacity to grant shortening of time outside these circumstances. Shortening of time is not automatic. When making a decision the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) or prescribed authority will weigh up the information provided in support of the application and may seek additional information as outlined in the regulations.
If in doubt, ring Births Deaths and Marriages today (right now) on 92641555, and discuss it with them today. Poste Haste!!
Only a prescribed authority has the power to shorten this time and he or she must be satisfied that the particular circumstances justify doing so. Generally this is the Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages. I, as an Authorised Marriage Celebrant, can assist you in applying to have a shortening of time for the Notice of Intended Marriage. Shortening of time is not commonly or lightly granted, and must be supported by appropriate evidence or reasons. For example, if one party to the marriage has a member of the family become seriously or terminally ill a doctor's note may be sufficient to request this reduction in wait time.
If you have simply forgotten or were unaware of the need for the Notice of Intended Marriage this is not generally a good enough reason to be able to apply for reduction in time to marry.
| Where to find State Birth,
Marriage and Death Certificates -
this link has all the
Australian State Registry Offices on it:
To be legally married in Australia you will need to have ORIGINAL documents sighted by people who sign the legal forms required before you get married. Where to get Divorce Certificates (Decree Nisi- absolute) in
WA Need a Statutory Declaration for any reason:?
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Are you an Australian Citizen, planning to marry a non
Australian and have your spouse become an Australian Citizen.
Read this. If you are applying to DIMIA for a fiance/spouse visa and require a
celebrant who can organise a letter to confirm proposed marriage then I may be able to
assist. See my webpage on Visa's Sunrise and sunset : for anywhere in the world - calculations done free - http://members.iinet.net.au/~jacob/riseset.html
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Apostilles
If you get married here in Perth and need an Apostille for when you return home outside of Australia, you may need an Apostille (or some other form of authentification eg for China, Vietnam or many Middle East countries) that you were married here in Australia. You will then need to obtain an official certificate from the Births Deaths and Marriages (I can assist with this for you when I marry you and send the forms in for registration of the marriage). Once you have this then you can get your apostille from http://www.wa.dfat.gov.au/legal.html
1. Start time for the ceremony - This is agreed to at the first meeting or the first confirmation of services.
There is a common call that I hear at weddings that it is traditional for brides to be late. I ask that the bride and groom arrange for their guests to be at the ceremony location about 30 minutes before the agreed start time. This has a many benefits - the guests are there when the ceremony starts (few latecomers who get lost or have trouble parking can be there for the start) AND the Bride can be there at the wedding ceremony at our agreed start time, but be fashionably late for all the guests. So I ask all my couples to put on their invites something like "Please be at the ceremony location by hh.mm" on the date of the wedding. This does not say the start time may be 30 minutes later. In this manner the start time everyone is happy.
The reason for this is that I may have another wedding after yours (and I allow plenty of time between these). I discuss this with you on the first meeting as well.
2. Photographers - I conduct many weddings where people choose well meaning family or friends. If they are to take photo's at your wedding they need to realise that these are the only shots you can get, and they need to last a lifetime. Many a time I have been requested by the Bride and Groom after the wedding to have my photo/s that I take at the end as theirs turned out with shadows , too dark, not formal enough. Many photographers are available for short periods of time and you can negotiate the service. Remember PHOTO's LAST A LIFETIME.
My suggestion - use a professional photographer - at least for the ceremony and immediately (may be one or two hours) after for family and Group photo's. At least this way you will be assured of good quality photos even if the others are not so crash hot.
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Obtaining Birth, Death or marriage Certificates from some countries other than Australia |
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| New Zealand | England and Wales | Canada |
| http://www.bdm.govt.nz/ | Birth Death and Marriage certificates | Birth Certificates |
If you wish to email me with an enquiry graham@formywedding.com.au please do so. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
If you find any errors in the website please let me know
as well.
Graham Lambert, Authorised Marriage Celebrant