We're getting married! Why do we need an authorised celebrant?
'We're getting married!
Why do we need an authorised celebrant?'
It's such a wonderful and exciting time, it's understandable that the last thing a you might consider are the processes, that make sure your marriage is legal and registered with Births Deaths and Marriages. You need an authorised celebrant to help you with that.
Finding a celebrant that is right for you, might mean shopping around. All authorised celebrants are listed on the Attorney General's web site, so if you have a celebrant in mind, it's a good idea to check that they are listed on this site.
You may have heard stories about couples who learned that their marriage was not registered with BDM. After a wedding, authorised celebrants have 14 days to lodge the documentation with Births Deaths and Marriages.
In 2022-2023 a Melbourne man accepted bookings from friends to solomnise their marriage. He had been studying a Certificate IV in Celebrancy, but did not complete the course.
Too embarrassed to tell his friends that he didn't finish the course, he 'married' them. Other couples were so impressed by his work that they too booked him to officiate at their wedding.
He illegally performed five marriages. It was discovered when one of the five couples applied to BDM for a marriage certificate, and learned that their marriage had not been registered. They told friends, and then the other couples married by the same man, also learned that their marriages had not been registered.
This is a sad story. If the fellow had told his friends that he had not completed his studies in celebrancy, and was therefore not authorised to solomnise marriages, he could still have conducted much of the ceremony - all but the legal components. An authorised celebrant could have been invited to work with him to manage the legals.
Finding an authorised celebrant, and lodging the Notice Of Intended Marriage is a good first step towards making sure that your special day is everything you want it to be, whether it's a big day with family and friends or a simple legals only with two witnesses.
Make sure your wedding plans are off to a good start by checking that your celebrant of choice is listed on the Attorney General's web site. https://marriage.ag.gov.au/commonwealthcelebrants/all
Once you have an authorised celebrant to help and work with you, all your other plans can be attended to, knowing that the most important part of your wedding - your commitment to each other - is in safe hands.
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