Happy Hearts Celebrations

If you want a good outcome on the day, I can’t stress enough the importance of having a rehearsal for your wedding ceremony. Regardless of whether you are having a wedding with 5 guests at home or a large wedding of 500 guests at a stately function centre a rehearsal is important.

The rehearsal is part of the journey toward the marriage ceremony. It is an enormous help to the bridal party and others involved to be familiar with the procedure on the day. Never underestimate the psychological value of the rehearsal, it helps to reduce nerves and stress in the build up to your wedding day.

There are four important elements to a rehearsal. 

• checking the location of the ceremony and assessing the options for the day,
• the choreography and running through the ceremony (but not reading the words)
• the opportunity to with the bridal party and families, and 
• tending to the paperwork.        

Rehearsals are also held to ensure there are no surprises for you on the day. In the words of Benjamin Franklin: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

There are a few things your Marriage Celebrant should do to ensure a marriage is legal.

Before the wedding

The couple must complete a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM). This NOIM must be received by your Celebrant no later than one month before the wedding (i.e. Received on 5th March – wedding on 5th April, received on 31st August – Wedding on 1st October). Documents that must be signed before the ceremony are the NOIM and the Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage (close to the wedding but definitely before). 

During the ceremony:

• your celebrant must introduce him or herself;
• the couple’s full names (as per the NOIM) must be said by the celebrant, or the couple, at least once;
• your celebrant must say the Monitum;
• the legal vows must be said by the couple (as per the Marriage Act); and
• You must have two witnesses (over the age of 18) in attendance, who can see and hear everything that is said throughout the ceremony

After the Ceremony

Your celebrant must send the appropriate paperwork to the Registering Authority within 14 days of the wedding.

You need two witnesses to your marriage ceremony and they need to be over the age of 18. They must be able to see and hear the entire ceremony; and they must be able to understand the ceremony (through an interpreter if necessary).

The reason for this? The two witnesses are the official legal witnesses to your marriage under law, and their presence serves a legal purpose. They need to be able to swear in court the identity of the parties included in the ceremony or to testify to the circumstances in which the ceremony was performed, including the date and place (just in case it is ever needed)!

P.S. By the way, the witnesses don’t have to be members of your bridal party.

There are so many planning decisions to make about your wedding day. Ideally as bride and groom you should work together on the decisions to make sure you are both happy with the plans. It’s always good to start with the basics:

• Set budget
• Choose date, style and site for wedding
• Find your venue
• Meet with wedding celebrants to discuss the ceremony details & choose who you want as yor celebrant
  
  

The trick is taking things one step at a time and recruiting friends and family to help. The most important thing to keep in mind: Try to have some fun! This is your wedding after all. Don’t get too hung up on those tiny details and focus on what’s truly important: a happy marriage with the person of your dreams.