Legals ~ Its Easy as 1, 2, 3

With Janet Lomax, Weddings I Do

1. You will need to complete a Notice of Intention of Marriage form at least one month prior to your wedding, either with your wedding celebrant, or if you live in another state or overseas you can organise to have it signed in front of a Justice of the Peace or another prescribed authority and then scanned and posted to your celebrant.

2. To sign The Notice of Intention of Marriage you will need to bring to your wedding celebrant evidence of your date and place of birth, which means your passport or original birth certificate, and another form of photo ID, such as your driving licences or RTA card and if you have been married before, your original Divorce papers.

3. On your wedding day, your marriage celebrant will solemise your marriage and then you, your partner and two witnesses will sign the Registrar. After that your marriage celebrant will register your marriage online with the Registry of Births, Death's & Marriages in the state where your marriage took place, and then send all your paperwork into the Registry.

More Information

If you have never been Married, then at your first interview you will be asked to produce your passport, or your original Birth Certificate, or authorised extract of your Birth Certificate so that you can sign The Notice of Intention of Marriage, for your wedding ceremony.

You will also need to have another photo ID, such as a Driving Licence.

If you or your partner was born overseas, Birth Certificate/or/Passport If you or your partner have been Divorced, then at your first interview you will be asked to produce your Passport/or original Birth Certificate and your Divorce Certificate (Decree Absolute) for your wedding ceremony.

If you or your partner was born overseas, Birth Certificate/or/Passport & Divorce Certificate.

If you or your partner are a Widow or Widower, then at your first interview you will be asked to produce your Passport/ or original Birth Certificate and Death Certificate of your spouse for your marriage ceremony.

If you or your partner was born overseas, Birth Certificate/or/Passport and Death Certificate.

You can access all information from the Registry of Birth Deaths and Marriages: www.bdm.nsw.gov.au.

If you or your partner are under 18 years of age, and you wish to get married, you can apply for permission from a Judge through the Courts, but this is rarely given. To have a civil marriage ceremony in Australia, you and your partner must be 18 years of age.

The Notice of Intended Marriage is a form that is required to be signed with your celebrant at least one month and one day before you can be validly married.

This document is legal for 18 months only. To download the Notice of Intended Marriage (NIM) go to www.ag.gov.au

The latest consolidation of the Marriage Act 1961 is located at www.comlaw.gov.au

To download a Commonwealth Statutory Declaration Form go to www.ag.gov.au

I am an Authorised Civil Marriage Celebrant, based in Balmain, Sydney.

ABN: 79189 331 259 ~ Celebrant Registration: A8439