In summary, you need to;
A) complete a Notice of Intended Marriage and lodge it with your celebrant – at least 1 calendar month prior to your ceremony.
B) provide passport OR original birth certificate and photo ID ( eg drivers license)
C) if you have previously been married you will also need to provide original divorce papers or death certificate
And that’s it!
See below for more detailed information
a) Notice of Intended Marriage
All couples must complete a Notice of Intended Marriage and have their signatures witnessed by an authorised person and then “lodged” with their celebrant (via Simple ceremonies) , at least 1 calendar month prior to their ceremony date.
Click here to start your Notice of intended Marriage (NoIM)
You can do this via email
Simply click on the button above and complete the Notice of Intended Marriage (NoIM) by typing in your details.
When you have completed the form on line, Submit it (by click ing the button) and you will receive and email (within 30 seconds) with the your NoIM.
The just print it out and have your signatures witnessed by one of the following;
In Australia these include; an Authorised Celebrant, a Commissioner for Declarations, a Justice of the Peace, a Barrister or Solicitor, a qualified Medical Practitioner, or a member of the Australian Federal Police, or the Police Force of a State or Territory.
Outside of Australia these include; if a party signs the Notice outside Australia—an Australian Consular Officer, an Australian Diplomatic Officer, a notary public, an employee of the Commonwealth authorised under paragraph 3(c) of the Consular Fees Act 1955, or an employee of the Australian Trade Commission authorised under paragraph 3(d) of the Consular Fees Act 1955. Note: For the definitions of Australian Consular Officer and Australian Diplomatic Officer, see section 2 of the Consular Fees Act 1955.
Once you have done this, email it back to Simple Ceremonies (michael@simpleceremonines) along with copies of your IDs (These can be either; your passports OR birth certificates and driver’s license) AND your Divorce/ Death certificate if applicable.
We will, within 24 hours, acknowledge the receipt of your NoIM and confirm that it has been Lodged. If you don’t hear back from us within 24 hours please contact us to follow up.
Click here to access the NoIM
OR make an appointment to come and see me in my office in North Sydney (9-4.30pm Monday to Friday)
The appointment and the completion of the Notice of Intended Marriage take place at least one calendar month prior to your ceremony.
To save time you may like to complete your NoIM first and bring it with you. Just click here to do that Click here to access the NoIM
The Notice of Intended Marriage must then be returned to me at least one calendar month prior to your ceremony.
If you email your Notice of intended Marriage you will need to bring the original with you (along with your other documentation, such as birth certificates etc) on your wedding day.
Once received I will respond and confirm that your Notice of Intended Marriage has been received. If I don’t respond in a timely manner it may be because I have not received it. If so, please check details and send again or follow up with a phone call to ensure your ceremony can still go ahead on the booked date.
b) On the day of your ceremony you will need to bring the following original documents;
a) the original Notice of Intended Marriage
b) your Passport OR Original birth certificates & photo ID
c) original Divorce Papers (Decree Absolute) or Death Certificate – if applicable.
* All documents need to be in English or accompanied by an original, authorised English translation (NAATI).
d) if either the bride or groom do not understand or speak English they will need to have witnesses who can translate for them.
They can be anyone as long as they can translate between English and the language spoken by the bride and groom.
The person elected to translate will need to complete a Statutory Declaration before they arrive – a copy can be completed here
NB. The celebrant will witness the translator’s signature on the day of the ceremony.
NB. Without the above I will not be able to marry you on the day.
Other helpful information to assist you getting married
1. Customisable Wedding Ceremony
I have put together a simple ceremony you may like to use. Included in the ceremony are certain legal requirements that you must include in your ceremony. I have highlighted these sections in blue. Feel free to customise all other areas of you ceremony.
If you would like to customise your ceremony you’ll need to email the amended ceremony back to me at least 48 hours prior to your ceremony.
Click here to see Sample Ceremony you can download and customise
2. Document outlining the obligations and consequences of marriage and stating the availability of marriage education and counselling.
The Commonwealth Government of Australia has put together useful information for those about to get married.
You can access and read this information by clicking on the link below.
Outline of the obligations and consequences of marriage
3. Pre Marriage Counselling
The Commonwealth Government of Australia recommends all couples receive pre-marriage counselling. It is not compulsory but it is recommended.
Please feel free to talk to me about service providers or check out the list below
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