A Civil Marriage Celebrant, as a qualified trained and professional person, is authorised to conduct your marriage ceremony in a manner that meets the legal requirements. This includes a range of matters such as ensuring that your ceremony contains certain mandatory words; the correct completion of your Notice of Intended Marriage (NIM) and all other marriage documents; and the lodging of your marriage documents with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages is done in such a way that they comply with the Marriage Act 1961.
Apart from ensuring that your ceremony contains the necessary legal components, your Marriage Celebrant will also personalise your ceremony, if requested to do so and will offer some choices as to what you may like to consider for inclusion in your ceremony. Your Marriage Celebrant can also offer you a range of resources to assist you in this process. This is not to say that you cannot write your own vows and indeed, if you would prefer to write your own ceremony, there are a number of celebrants who would be pleased to help you in this endeavour, and most importantly, would still ensure that your ceremony complies with all the legal requirements.The obligations placed on Marriage Celebrants are outlined in a Code of Practice for Marriage Celebrants which is to be displayed by them. Some Marriage Celebrants may even provide you with a copy of this document.
