As far in the future as you'd like!

The first marriage form can be signed as early as 18 months prior to your wedding and as late as 1 month (or even later in certain circumstances) prior to your wedding.

That being said, I'm more than happy to have a chat about what you need for your big, future day and get you booked in!

Besides, if you book me in now, you're booking in my current prices and don't have to worry about any increases over time!

Yes and no. If you choose my Steward package, you can have the person of your choice running your ceremony - I'll just need to step in and deliver all of the legally binding bits.

So I'll still be in touch to take care of preparing and sending off the paperwork, but otherwise, your stand-in "Celebrant for a Day" can organise everything else for you for that extra personal touch!

It's fairly straightforward:

1. Notice of Intended Marriage

   Signed between 18 months to 1 month before the wedding, this is filled out with important details about the two people getting married.

   You'll both need to provide identity documents to prove you are who you say you are.

2. Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage

   Signed as close to the wedding as possible (usually at a rehearsal) saying that you're both completely free to marry one another.

3. Official Certificate of Marriage

   Signed at the end of ceremony by the couple and their two legal witnesses to say that the wedding took place. There's two copies to sign.

4. Certificate of Marriage (called a "Form 15")

   Signed at the end of the ceremony by the couple and their two legal witnesses to (once again) acknowledge that you're now legally wed!

   You get to keep this certificate.

Once the ceremony is over, I send the first three types of forms to the Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages so they can officially lodge your marriage.

Evidence of Date and Place of Birth

Ideally, if both of you have an Australian or overseas passport, this will tick this box and the Photo Identification box.

Otherwise, a birth certificate or official birth certificate extract will be needed.

Photo Identification

If you provided a passport for Evidence of Date and Place of Birth, then your passport will work here too.

Otherwise, anything from a driver's license to photo ID paired with a Medicare card with the exact same name on it will do the trick.

Proof of Termination of Previous Marriage

This means either a divorce order from your most recent marriage, a court order annulling your most recent marriage, or a death certificate from your most recent spouse.

As long as you can procure this proof in time to sign your Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage, you don't need to have it straight away.

Yes - for better or for worse. The exact name that appears on your passport or birth certificate needs to be what goes on your marriage forms - and said out loud on your wedding day.

That is, unless, you have officially changed your name in the past with a Change of Name Certificate.

If you have changed your name with a Change of Name Certificate, this is the new name that needs to be used. This includes a last name you took on from a previous marriage.

If you definitely don't want your current legal name to be used on your marriage forms and said aloud on your wedding day, I would highly recommend looking into the process of officially changing your name before your big day.

If you’re not a fan of research or filling in forms, don't worry. Consider using an Easy Name Change kit instead! With Easy Name Change, all you have to do is check off the companies to notify, and they will send you a custom pack of forms. Just attach your registered marriage certificate and send!

Easy Name Change has different options of costing. For full transparency, for couples who use the link above, I receive an affiliate bonus from Easy Name Change - so a bit of a win win for us both!

Nope! Finalising a divorce can be a long and painstaking process, and luckily you don't need to wait until it's finished before preparing to embark on your next marriage adventure. This means we can still meet up, sign the Notice of Intended Marriage, and organise all of the bits and pieces of the ceremony.

The important thing is that it's finalised before your big day. If it hasn't come through by your wedding day, regretfully you won't be able to become officially married to your new partner. We can still have the ceremony, but it will instead be a Commitment Ceremony, devoid of any legally binding bits.

You don't have to, but I'd recommend it! A ceremony rehearsal is the perfect opportunity to finalise the following things:

1. Sign your final piece of paperwork (Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage) since it needs to be signed as close to the big day as possible.

2. By having the rehearsal at the same time as the ceremony, we can double check that we won't have sun in our eyes or other unforeseen issues.

3. Yourselves and your wedding party can get a feel of how the ceremony will pan out while you're actually in the space.

4. We can confirm how the music is being played, at what points, and by who.

Holding a rehearsal comes with a $110 fee, so feel free to discuss if this is something you'd benefit from!