Everything that happens, in order.
Everything between our first chat and the certificate you’ll need at the passport office. Most of it is talking and writing. One part is a legal deadline, so that comes first.
Your notice deadline.
Your Notice of Intended Marriage has to reach me at least one calendar month before the wedding, and no more than 18 months before. Put in your wedding date and I’ll work out the last day your notice can reach me.
The one date in all of this that can’t move.
Count back one calendar month from your wedding date. That’s the last day your signed notice can reach me.
If your signed notice reaches me on 15 December, the earliest you can marry is 15 January. If it reaches me on 16 December, the 15th is gone and the 16th is fine.
It’s a guide worked out from the Marriage Act. I confirm the exact day when you book.
Eight steps from first chat to certificate.
Roughly how a year looks with me, give or take. If your wedding is sooner, the same steps just sit closer together.
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Whenever you’re ready · free
A first chat
About an hour, at a café in Northcote, at your place, at the venue, or on a video call if you’re further out. You tell me how you met, and which weddings you’ve been to and quietly hated. I tell you how I work and check the date is free.
There’s no obligation. If the venue is more than 40 km from Northcote, you’ll get the travel cost in writing before you decide anything.
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When you’re sure · $300
Booking
A $300 deposit holds your date. It isn’t refundable, and it comes off the total. The balance is due two weeks before the wedding.
If your date changes and I’m free on the new one, the deposit moves with you at no cost. If I’m not, I’ll help you find a celebrant I’d trust with my own family.
The government fees on this page are the published ones.
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1 to 18 months before
Signing the notice
The Notice of Intended Marriage (everyone calls it the NOIM) has to reach me at least one calendar month before the wedding, and no more than 18 months before. The month starts when I have the completed, signed notice in hand, not when you book. Most couples sign a few months out.
You each sign it in front of me, in person or on a video call. Whoever signs with me on video needs to be in Australia. If one of you is overseas, they sign in front of someone there instead, such as an Australian consular officer or a notary, and send it on. If one of you can’t sign at first, you can sign later in front of a celebrant, as long as it’s before the wedding.
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First in-person catch-up
Meeting each of you on your own
Since June 2024 the law asks me to meet each of you separately, in person, before the wedding. It only takes a few minutes, and it’s there so I can be sure you’re both choosing this freely.
I usually do it at our first in-person catch-up while the other one goes to get coffees. If we’ve only met on video, we do it at the rehearsal, or, if you haven’t got one, over a short coffee before the day.
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From about three months out
Story session and drafts
First I send each of you a dozen questions. Answer them separately and don’t compare notes. A week or two later we have the story session, about 90 minutes over coffee in Northcote or on video, and I read you each other’s answers.
Draft one reaches you about eight weeks out and draft two about five. Draft three is usually the one. If you’re writing your own vows, I’ll send a page of prompts and read them beforehand if you’d like a second opinion (and not if you wouldn’t).
Small and simple is shorter: one proper chat, one full draft and a round of tweaks.
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The week before
Rehearsal
A weekday evening at the venue, about 45 minutes. Who walks in when, where everyone stands, where to look, how your readers should hold the microphone (closer than they think). I read the whole ceremony aloud, so nothing in it is new on the day.
It’s included with the full ceremony within 40 km. With small and simple it’s optional: about half an hour, for $150. Just the legal bit doesn’t need one. Leave the real rings at home.
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On the day
The day itself
Choose witnesses who are reliably on time.
I arrive 45 minutes early to set up the sound, the signing table and two chairs, and to find your witnesses. Then, in this order:
- Beforehand, somewhere quiet, you each sign a Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage in front of me. Two minutes.
- In the ceremony I say the words the law requires, and each of you says the legal vows to the other. Your own vows come after.
- Two witnesses, both 18 or over, watch the whole thing. You choose them.
- Straight after, you, your witnesses and I sign three certificates: two official ones and the one you take home.
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Within 14 days
After
Within 14 days I lodge your paperwork with Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (BDM), and they register the marriage. Once it’s registered, you can apply for the legal marriage certificate. It costs $59.10 as at October 2026 (it goes up most financial years; express post is extra).
I can order it for you for the BDM fee plus postage, or you can do it yourself. The certificate you signed on the day is a keepsake, and most organisations won’t accept it as proof you’re married.
What to bring when you sign.
Each of you brings your own. Once the documents are on the table, the signing itself doesn’t take long.
- Proof of where and when you were born: an official birth certificate or a passport
- Photo ID: a driver licence or passport
- If either of you has been married before, proof it ended: the divorce order, or the death certificate
Scans or clear phone photos are fine to get us started. I need to see the originals before the wedding, so if you don’t know where your birth certificate is, start looking now.
The words the law asks for.
Two parts of every legal ceremony are set by law. Everything around them is yours.
What I say
I am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law.
Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter.
Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
Marriage Act 1961, section 46
This tells everyone I’m allowed to marry you and that this is a real, legal marriage. The law allows “words to that effect”, but I say it word for word anyway. It takes thirty seconds, and the last sentence is the legal definition, so it never changes. I usually lead into it with something plain, like “there are some words I’m required by law to say”, and people relax.
What you each say
I ask everyone here to witness that I, [your name], take you, [your partner’s name], to be my wedded wife (or husband, or spouse).
The legal vows, Marriage Act 1961, section 45(2), in a modern accepted form
These are what make you married. You each say them to the other, and you pick wife, husband or spouse. A nod and an “I do” can’t stand in for them, however sincere the nod. Your own vows go straight after, as long or short as you like, funny or not. I’ll hold the microphone.
Common questions.
The ones that come up at nearly every first chat. If yours isn’t here, ask me; I’d rather you did.
What if it rains?
Pick a wet-weather spot when you book the venue, and tell me what it is at least a week before. Moving a ceremony under a roof is quick if everyone knows where they’re going.
The script lives in a plastic sleeve and the speaker goes under cover. The legal part works anywhere, as long as your two witnesses can see and hear it.
What if you’re sick on the day?
A celebrant I trust steps in with your script and the paperwork, and you hear it from me first, not from a stranger on the morning.
If it’s one of you who’s unwell, ring me. We’ll work out a new date together, and I’ll tell you straight away whether your notice still covers it.
One of us is overseas. Can we sign the notice on a video call?
I can witness it on a video call as long as the person signing is in Australia. If one of you is overseas, they sign in front of someone there, such as an Australian consular officer or a notary (in person or by video), and send it on.
Or the one who’s here signs with me now and the other signs in front of a celebrant once they land. Either way, the second signature has to happen before the wedding, and I’ll confirm your exact dates when you book.
Do we need to be Australian citizens?
No. You can marry anywhere in Australia whatever your citizenship or visa, as long as you’re both 18 or over (a court can approve a rare exception), not already married, not closely related, and both choosing it freely. I can’t marry you overseas, though.
Who can be a witness?
Any two people aged 18 or over. Family is fine, and so are friends. They watch the whole ceremony and sign the three certificates straight after, so choose people who’ll be there on time and paying attention, not organising the photos.
How do I change my name?
You need the registered marriage certificate from BDM Victoria. It’s $59.10 as at October 2026, with express post extra. The certificate we sign on the day is a keepsake, and passport and licence offices won’t accept it.
I can order the real one for you for the BDM fee plus postage. Wait until it’s in your hands before you book the passport appointment.
We have less than a month to go. Can we still get married?
Sometimes. A prescribed authority (in Victoria, BDM or a registrar at a major regional court) can shorten the notice period, but only for set reasons: employment or travel commitments, wedding, celebration or religious arrangements, medical reasons, legal proceedings, or a mistake in giving notice made by a celebrant (not by you). It isn’t automatic, and there’s a $62 assessment fee you don’t get back.
If you’ve simply left it late, I’ll tell you that before you pay $62 to find out. The other option is to keep your date for the celebration and do the legal part a little later, on a quiet weekday. You’re not legally married until that second, smaller ceremony, and that’s the date on the certificate.
Can we get married in a park?
Yes, and plenty of couples do. Many need a booking or permit, though. The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne always does. City of Melbourne parks do once you have 50 or more guests or you’re using a bookable spot, and Parks Victoria asks for at least eight weeks’ notice.
Send me the confirmation and I’ll keep a copy in my bag in case anyone asks. Check the confetti rules before you buy any, because a lot of places ban it.
Do Saturdays cost more?
No. Peak Saturdays in October, November, March and April cost the same as any other day. They just get booked first.
Is a rehearsal included?
With the full ceremony, yes: at your venue on a weekday evening in the week before, anywhere within 40 km of Northcote. For small and simple it’s optional, about half an hour for $150. Just the legal bit doesn’t need one.
Do you MC the reception?
No. I don’t MC receptions, but I can recommend people who do.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so check bdm.vic.gov.au or ag.gov.au for the current ones.
Where are you up to?
Most couples write to me before step one, with nothing more than a rough date. “Sometime next autumn” is a perfectly good place to start. I reply within two working days.