Legals Only Weddings

There are many different reason couples choose to avoid a traditional wedding ceremony in favour of a simple, Legals Only marriage. The most common reasons are;

• They are having a destination wedding abroad, but they want to have a simple legal marriage in Australia before (or after) their trip to make life easier here and to avoid foreign red tape overseas.
• They need to be married as a condition of their Prospective Marriage or Partner Visa, but they’ve spent a fortune on their application and can’t afford to have a big wedding right now
• They’re planning a surprise Engagement Party where they will announce they got married earlier that day (or the day before)
• One partner (or a close family member) is diagnosed with a terminal illness and it is important to the couple that they marry before their condition worsens
• They hate being centre of attention and the idea of having a traditional wedding fills them with dread
• They have been together for years, but never got around to getting married, and now they want to do so with minimal fuss
• They can’t justify the expense of a traditional wedding and would prefer to spend their money on a home deposit, renovation or honeymoon.

We offer marriage meetings Mon to Fri 10am-7pm, and on Saturdays 10am-12pm. Your legals only wedding needs to be at least six weeks from your booking date to allow for the mandatory one month period after submitting your NOIM. 

Your Notice of Intended Marriage is the first of five mandatory legal documents that must be completed a minimum of one months (and a maximum of 18 months) BEFORE you are legally able to be married. 

Section 42 of the Marriage Act 1961 (the Act) requires that a marriage shall not be solemnised unless a notice in writing of the intended marriage, in the prescribed form, is given to the Authorised Commonwealth Marriage Celebrant solemnising the marriage. The ‘Notice of Intended Marriage’ (or NOIM) is the prescribed form used for this purpose by Authorised Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants.

You are not legally able to be married in Australia unless you lodge the NOIM within the prescribed timeframe.

If you legally lodge your NOIM on the 10th of August, you are legally able to marry on or after the 10th of September (one month later).

If you lodge your NOIM on a date that has no equivalent in the following month, it moves to the next actual day. For example, if you lodge your NOIM on January 31st there is no February 31st, so you are legally able to marry on or after March 1st.

If you have not married by the time 18 months elapses your NOIM will expire.

If you are able to prove there are genuine reasons for which you must expedite your NOIM and marry as soon as possible you can apply for a ‘Shortening of Time’ with the Births Deaths and Marriages (BDM) in your state. 

We cannot assist in this process and Shortenings of Time are typically only granted if one partner is being deployed in the army or navy, or has a terminal illness, or another serious circumstance applies. 

No. We’ll raise your NOIM for you within two business days of your booking, using the information you provide. Then we’ll email you your completed NOIM, along with simple instruction on how to sign it and return it to us. You will be able to do this using just your phone, no postage required, from anywhere in the world.

When we receive the correctly signed form back into our inbox we’ll legally lodge it within two business days of receipt. Which means – depending on how quick you are to return the signed NOIM – it can take less than a week to raise and legally lodge it.

No. It is possible for one or both of you to be living abroad and still legally lodge your NOIM.

Yes! Instead of taking travelling to and queueing at the nearest CDB Registry office, one of our hand-picked Authorised Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants will travel to a location you choose, near you, to officiate your Legals Only Wedding.

During the simple booking process, you’ll be asked to enter your post code, as well as the date, time and public location address that you have chosen for your marriage. 

Whether you choose your favourite bar or cafe, a beach or a park, or even your local library, our vetted celebrant will meet you at your chosen location and officiate your simple and swift legal marriage. This involves checking some documents, saying some legally required words and signing some legal documents, all of which takes around 10 minutes.

You pick a public place local to you; it could be your favourite café or bar, park or beach, or even your local library. 

As long as there is some shelter nearby and somewhere protected to sit and sign that’s fine with us.

It’s important to consider the area and to ensure there is a viable option either there or in the immediate vicinity in case of extreme heat, wind or rain.

If you Marriage Meeting has to be rebooked due to extreme weather you will be required to pay a Rebooking Fee. But you can avoid this by choosing your location carefully in advance.

Locations should also be within a 5 minute walk of an accessible car park.

We have the largest national of network of Authorised Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants in Australia, covering everywhere from Perth to Albany, Byron to Cairns and Adelaide to Mallacoota. If we are unable to book a celebrant for your chosen location and time then we will give you two options. 

• Reschedule to a date, time and location that works for both you and the celebrant OR
• Choose a full refund.

No. We’re sure you’re very nice, but we only conduct Legals Only Weddings at public locations to ensure the personal safety of our celebrants.

It’s simple and swift – just 20 - minutes or less!

You, your partner and your witnesses will meet one of our Authorised Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants at your chosen location who will;

• Check your identity documents and proof that any previous marriage has ended
• Check that you consent to marry
• Ask you to sign your Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage before beginning
• Conduct your Legals Only Wedding, which involves a very brief legally required script and some legal vows you must repeat, followed by the signing of your Marriage Certificates by you, your witnesses and your celebrant

That’s it! You’re married. All of this will take around 10 minutes in total, but we allow 20 minutes so we have plenty of time to say hello and answer any questions you may have.

You can also choose to add a personal vow and ring exchange if you wish for an additional $100. You’ll receive an amazing Vow Kit to make writing simple, authentic vows super simple and it will elevate your Legals Only Wedding to an elopement style celebration.

If you – or your two witnesses – are more than 10 minutes late you will have to rebook your Marriage Meeting and pay a Rebooking Fee. 

Plan to arrive early! And make sure you choose reliable witnesses, who you can trust to be on time.

Your celebrant will be wearing a Legals Only Weddings Lanyard around their neck, with their ID clearly displayed, so they’ll be easy to spot.

Just bring yourselves and the following for each party to the marriage;

• Proof of identify and of your place and date of birth

• Your Passport, OR
  • Your Passport, OR
    • Your Passport, OR
• Your Drivers Licence AND Birth Certificate (you only need to bring your Birth Certificate and your Drivers Licence if you DON’T have a passport)
  • Your Drivers Licence AND Birth Certificate (you only need to bring your Birth Certificate and your Drivers Licence if you DON’T have a passport)
    • Your Drivers Licence AND Birth Certificate (you only need to bring your Birth Certificate and your Drivers Licence if you DON’T have a passport)
• Proof that any previous marriage has ended
• Two witnesses who are 18 or over
• Your Notice of Intended Marriage (or NOIM). 

Failure to bring any of these documents listed above will mean you are legally unable to be married at your Marriage Meeting as planned. If this happens, you will need to rebook your Marriage Meeting and pay a Rebooking Fee.

But don’t worry about remembering the details – we’ll send you a checklist and a few reminders before the big day so you’re fully prepared.

That’s fine. If either party doesn’t have a passport, they must bring their Birth Certificate AND their Drivers Licence with them instead.

Failure to bring these documents (or a passport) to prove your identity will mean you are legally unable to be married and you will have to rebook your Marriage Meeting and pay the Rebooking Fee.

But don’t worry about remembering the details – we’ll send you a checklist and a few reminders before the big day so you’re fully prepared.

Aside from your passport, if any of your documents are issued in a language other than English then you must ALSO BRING an official translation of these documents. This cannot be a translation that you or someone you know has done. It must be done by an official translator, who will stamp and sign the translated document.

Failure to bring an adequate translation will mean you will be legally unable to be married at your Marriage Meeting as planned – and you will have to rebook pay a Rebooking Fee.

Yes! You need to provide two witnesses who are both over the age of 18 and who will be able to see, hear and understand everything. 

They do not need to be Australian citizens, but they do need to understand and speak English.

If you’re getting married in a café or bar and would prefer to have anonymous witnesses you can usually call ahead, book a table and request staff be made available as witnesses. If you do this, you’ll want to be sure you book a time that isn’t likely to be busy! Most people love a wedding and are very happy to accommodate.

We’ve done a Legals Only Wedding at Chin Chin in Melbourne where the bar staff witnessed the marriage and everyone did shots straight after to celebrate! It’s your wedding – do it your way.

Yes. In Australia, you must say the legal marriage vow aloud to each other, which is;

“I call upon the persons here present to witness that I [full legal name, including middle names] take you, [full legal name, including middle names], to be my lawful wedded partner in marriage.” 

And vice versa. But don’t worry! You won’t have to memorise this, our celebrant will simply request you repeat after them and will break it down to a few words at a time.

You can also choose to add a personal vow and ring exchange if you wish for an additional $100. You’ll receive an amazing Vow Kit to make writing simple, authentic vows super simple and it will elevate your Legals Only Wedding to an elopement style celebration.

Absolutely! We love it when couples say their own vows. We even offer a handy Vow Toolkit with hacks and downloadable templates to help you create short and sweet vows that come from the heart.

You can add a personal vow and ring exchange to the basic legal script for only $100 – and make memories that will last a lifetime.

You can! However, it’s completely optional and not all couples do exchange rings.

If you would like to add a personal vow and ring exchange you can do so for just $100 extra – and you’ll receive our amazing Vow Toolkit to make things nice and easy.

This is your moment– wear something that makes you feel great! From jeans and t-shirts to lacy white gowns, you can wear whatever you like for your Legals Only Wedding

Our celebrants will be professionally attired in smart casual – but you do you.

Sure. We don’t mind how many people are present, especially if you want to party afterwards. But let’s be clear, a Legals Only Wedding is just that; legals only. There is no walk down the aisle, no music, no speeches. We just sit at a table, do the paperwork, say the mandatory words and that’s it. There is no wedding ceremony. 

So, if you do want to invite a few extra people, be clear about exactly what they can expect.

You’ve paid for a legals only marriage and that’s exactly what you get. So please don’t expect our celebrant to do anything more than what they’re contracted to do within the allotted time frame, because that’s not what you’ve paid for. And they won’t.

If you want to include those things you want a wedding ceremony. Which means you should contact a local celebrant who can create a personal ceremony for you. We recommend starting with The Celebrant Society Directory

Or, for beautiful and affordable all-inclusive weddings and elopement packages in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula, check out The Pop Up Wedding Collective.

Yes. You’ll receive your keepsake Certificate of Marriage to take home with you on the day. 

But you can no longer use this version of your Marriage Certificate to legally prove your marriage. You will need to apply for an official Marriage Certificate from the BDM in your state. 

But don’t worry, we’ll email you all the details on how to do this, along with the links you need to do so as soon as you’re married.

We’ll send you a final follow up email with useful information on to apply for your official Marriage Certificate from the BDM. 

And – if you’ve opted in to receive the bonus Easy Name Change gift card – we’ll also send you your unique code to access that service completely free of charge!

No. Getting married doesn’t change your name. But it does give both of you the right to change your name if you wish. One person may choose to take their partners name (regardless of gender), or you may choose to double barrel, or hyphenate your surnames. 

You can start using your new name as soon as your married, but it can take up to twelve months on average to update all your records with institutions and businesses you use or are a member of. You will need to contact each organisation and follow their process for updating their records. 

Or, if you’ve opted in to receive the Easy Name Change Bonus Gift Card, we’ll send you a unique code and they’ll do all the hard work for you! With Easy Name Change couples can typically change their name everywhere in as little as just eight weeks.

To change your name you need to go to contact every organisation or institution that you have a relationship with and go through their change of name process. 

This will involve being asked to prove you are eligible to change your name, so you must apply and pay for a copy of your original marriage certificate from the BDM in your state.

So, if either of you do decide you want to change your name, it is best to start with your banks, super funds and utility providers, then move on to more arduous tasks like your licence and passport.  

  Yes! Please email us at admin@legalsonlyweddings.com.au with the subject line RE: New Celebrant Application.