*Note: Each round trip by me in excess of 100km from my home office in Pascoe Vale for meetings, for a rehearsal or for the ceremony will incur an additional fee of $330.
I’ll meet with you, so I can explain the legal requirements for getting married in Australia. In these COVID times, that first meeting will be held via FaceTime or Zoom, Skype or WhatsApp. In that meeting, I’ll get an idea of what you’re planning for your wedding and you can ask me as many questions as you like. If you wish, I’ll help you fill out the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), and then you’ll need to sign the NOIM in front of a JP, GP, police officer, or solicitor or barrister as your authorised witness. Then I’ll ask you to lodge it with me – you can scan and email it or you can take a photo of it and send it to me. One month from the date I receive it, I can marry you. I’ll confirm your wedding day in my diary and send you the first of two invoices. The second one is due one week before your wedding.
I’ll meet with you by FaceTime or Skype, Zoom or Whatsup, so I can explain the legal requirements for getting married in Australia. I’ll also get an idea of what you’re planning for your wedding and you can ask me as many questions as you like. If you wish, I’ll help you fill out the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), and then you’ll need to sign the NOIM in front of a notary public or an official from the Australian Embassy or Consulate as your authorised witness. Then I’ll ask you to lodge it with me – you can scan and email it or you can take a photo of it and send it to me, along with evidence of your ID and any death certificates or divorce certificates, if relevant. Any day one month from the date I receive the NOIM, I can marry you. I’ll confirm your wedding day in my diary and send you the first of two invoices. The second one is due one week before your wedding.
I’ll send you a draft ceremony that includes a brief welcome, legal vows, a ring exchange and a declaration of you as a legally married couple. I’ll leave space for you to include some personal vows, if you wish. And I’ll happily send you some samples of personal vows, to give you an idea of what they can look like, and to help you write your own.
I’ll ask you to go through the first draft and make any changes you want, before you send it back to me.
In the week before your wedding, I’ll send you a copy of the legal form (Official Certificate of Marriage), to make sure that all the necessary details are correct.
On your wedding day, you’ll arrive as two single people. I’ll arrive in time for both of you and me to sign the Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage, just prior to your ceremony. Then I’ll deliver your ceremony – and you’ll leave as a married couple!
Within 24 hours of your marriage, I’ll submit all the legally required documents to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. And I’ll notify you when your marriage has been registered.
You can’t get married in Australia without a marriage ceremony. All you need is your partner, two witnesses over the age of 18 years and a celebrant to marry you. As a registered celebrant, I can help you get married – and will take care of all the legal requirements. Such a legals only marriage can take place anywhere in Australia at any time on any day of the week, including public holidays. It can even occur in my driveway, during these Covid-19 times, in a Vegas-style wedding: you drive up, we sign some paperwork, I marry you in front of your two witnesses, we all sign some more paperwork, and you leave, married.
There’s a difference between a wedding and a marriage ceremony. A wedding generally refers to ceremony, as well as the entire celebration and the preparations that are involved in getting married in a larger, more extravagant event. But having a larger wedding is a choice.
For a legals only ceremony, all you need are two witnesses over the age of 18 years, and me, to conduct the wedding. I’ll take care of the paperwork and other legalities. Your legals only ceremony will include the legal aspects, as well as some personal wedding vows – you can also exchange rings if you wish, although both the personal vows and exchange of rings are optional. I will arrange for a copy of your registered (legal) marriage certificate to be posted to your home address.
I’ve conducted hundreds of weddings. I know my stuff – in fact, I train other celebrants. It’s taken me lots of hard work and experience to get to this point. I love working with all sorts of people, irrespective of their cultural background or sexual orientation to deliver a wedding that’s enjoyable, memorable, professional and polished. My aim is to make the wedding as stress-free for my clients and their guests as possible.
You can set up an appointment with me at any time. You can call me, or email me or set up a day and time for an appointment via the calendar on my website, or have a video-chat via FaceTime, Zoom or WhatsApp (+61410456327). There’s no charge for that first appointment.
I can marry you anywhere in Australia. I’m based in Pascoe Vale, a suburb of Melbourne, but I travel all over Melbourne and regional Victoria, as well as interstate, to plan and deliver ceremonies. You can choose to get married at a traditional wedding venue, or in a park or in a public or private garden, or your backyard or hotel room or on a beach or so on. The choice is yours. Let’s meet up and talk over a cup of coffee about the pros and cons of getting married in some of these locations.
You can reach me via phone (+61410456327), an email (hello@bronteprice.com.au), by simply filling out the contact form on my website, or by having a live chat with me on my website, or by having a video-chat with me via FaceTime, Zoom or WhatsApp (+61410456327). I will get back to you as soon as I can, to arrange a meeting.