Married by a Midwife
Weddings
$800
As your celebrant, my role is to make your ceremony planning as easy as possible. We'll arrange a first meeting, fill in a legal document called a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM for short) I'll ask you lots of questions about what you want for your ceremony and ask for stories about how to met and what you've gotten up to together over the years. Then, I'll put it all together and create a ceremony script and send it to you for your approval.
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You can e-mail/text me as much as you like until we get the ceremony just right. You're in control and you can leave the boring legal stuff to me.
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My wedding package includes all meetings, a rehearsal, the usual legal documentation, use of my PA system and signing table and chairs for the duration of your ceremony. Your ceremony can be as long or short as you'd like, and we can include special wedding traditions or culturally significant rituals that make your wedding day extra memorable.​
Travel fees apply for ceremonies more than 50km outside of Hobart.
First meeting
Filling in the Notice of Intention to Marry (NOIM)
At our first meeting, we'll discuss your wants and needs for your ceremony, then go through the NOIM. This document has to be submitted to your celebrant at least ONE MONTH before your wedding, and is valid for 18 months from the time it is submitted. In order to submit it, I'll need to sight some ID documents from both of you; a passport is ideal, or you can use a driver's licence and birth certificate. If either of you has been married before, I will need to sight evidence of the finalisation of that marriage (such as a divorce certificate or a death certificate).
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You can either start filling out the NOIM in the link below before our first appointment or we can fill it out together.
Leading up to the wedding
Ceremony script
While you're busy organising the other details of your wedding, I'll get to work on your ceremony script, writing about what we discussed at our first meeting. I'll send you a draft, get your feedback, then make any adjustments as necessary, sending you a final draft with plenty of time before the big day.
Rehearsal
I highly recommend a rehearsal before your wedding. This increases the chances of everything going smoothly on the day, and gives everyone the opportunity to iron out any issues we might not forsee leading up to the day.
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At the rehearsal (or at some point in time close to the wedding if you choose not to have a rehearsal), I will bring a document called the Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage (DONLI) for you and your partner to sign - this is a document that declares that you are both of legal age to get married (or have the appropriate supporting documents to get married if you are 16 or 17), neither of you are already married, you are both freely consenting to the marriage, you both understand what marriage means and you have submitted your NOIM within the required timeframe.​
Your Wedding Day
On the day
I'll arrive at the venue early to set up my equipment and test my PA system (use of the PA system, a signing table and stationery is included in all packages).
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After pronouncing you married, I'll get you both to sign two Official Certificates of Marriage and the Form 15 certificate (the presentation certificate), along with your two witnesses. Your witnesses can be anyone over the age of 18 and must understand English.
I'll keep one of the Official Certificates of Marriage for my records, send the other one to the relevant department of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM), along with the NOIM and DONLI within 14 days of your wedding, and you get to keep the Form 15 certificate, which I'll place in an envelope and entrust to a responsible person of your choice for safekeeping whilst you party the night away!
Official Certificate of Marriage
If you would like to order an Official Certificate of Marriage, or you intend to change your surname after the wedding, I can help you apply for your Marriage Certificate when I lodge the other documents for a small fee of $64.72. This covers the cost of the Marriage Certificate that you will use to change your name, as well as registered post to your address. The certificate is different from the 'Official Certificate of Marriage we sign on your wedding day, and must be obtained through Births, Deaths and Marriages after your marriage has been registered with them.
If you would prefer to order the form yourself, you can apply for a Marriage Certificate from the department of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the state in which you were married.
Other Documents
If you or your partner are migrating to Australia and applying for a prospective marriage visa, I can provide a letter confirming your upcoming marriage, which may be required for your visa application.
If only one or neither of you speak English, you will need to arrange for an interpreter on the day and get them to sign a declaration prior to the wedding stating that they can understand and speak the relevant language, then a Certificate of Faithful Performance on the day, declaring that they translated as required.
Feedback
I firmly believe that there's always room for improvement, and so I ask that when you've had time to soak everything in after your big day, you leave me some feedback! I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I did well and what you think I could do better.