Frequently asked questions for your Celebrant 

We love making the ceremony planning process an easy, stress-free enjoyable experience for our couples, so this FAQ page has been created as your quick reference guide for the main questions we get asked. Simply select the stage you are at in planning your marriage, to find the answer to your question.

ENQUIRY STAGE ~ CEREMONY PLANNING STAGE ~ MARRIAGE HAS TAKEN PLACE

ENQUIRY STAGE QUESTIONS

How do we know if you are the right Celebrant for us?

If any of the following tick your boxes, then we’re a match and we can’t wait to meet you!

• You would love for the two of you and your guests to really enjoy your ceremony.
• You anticipate you may be feeling a bit nervous on the day, and would love a Celebrant that has the experience to ensure everything runs super smoothly, and has a calming presence, instantly putting you at ease.
• You envisage your ceremony to be modern, seamless, super enjoyable and not too long.
• You would love a Celebrant that is organised, experienced and detail focused so you can relax and be confident that everything is covered and will go smoothly and seamlessly on the day.
• You would love to know exactly what to expect on the day, and would love to have the peace of mind of seeing your finalised ceremony wording before the day.
• You want your ceremony to be delivered in a celebratory, happy tone after all we are celebrating you!
• You don’t want any awkwardness or unwanted surprises in your ceremony.
• You believe your Celebrant should design your ceremony to be a celebration of you, and not make the ceremony about them.
• You want a Celebrant that really understands the kind of ceremony you envisage, whether that be short and simple or personalised and full of laughs. We listen to what you tell us, and will make suggestions and provide our professional advice accordingly, we don’t pressure you into any particular style or type of ceremony as we want you to feel comfortable and really enjoy YOUR ceremony.
• You would love to experience a stress-free ceremony planning process and have a fantastic experience just like the hundreds of couples that have left 5 STAR reviews on Google for us.
• You want a Celebrant that is friendly to your guests and works seamlessly with your other wedding vendors.
• You would appreciate your Celebrant working with your Photographer and Videographer to ensure they have ample opportunity to capture you both without the Celebrant being in shot, and most definitely not photobombing your kiss shot!

How do we know if you are not the right Celebrant for us?

In short, we’re probably not the perfect match if you are looking for a Celebrant to deliver a religious ceremony, a complex ceremony full of rituals and poems, or if you simply don’t care about having a really enjoyable ceremony that you and your guests all really enjoy.

What is the process?

GET A FEEL FOR US After browsing our website, and perhaps done some research by taking a scroll through our Google reviews. If you like what you’ve seen and heard and decided one of us would be the perfect Celebrant for you yippee! it’s time to contact us!

CONTACT US The next step is to enquire via our contact page.

This is the best place to enquire as it provides us with all the info we need to confirm availability, including your wedding date, location and ceremony time.

LET’S MEET We will respond by email to confirm which of us is available, then we’ll send you our upcoming meeting appointments for you to choose from. Meetings take place either in person at our Elopement Deck in Indooroopilly, or by video call.

ONLINE FORM Once our meeting is confirmed, we will email you the link to an online form. We love making the everything including the paperwork as easy and streamlined as possible for our couples, so the online form then completes your details on all the marriage forms, including the NOIM form, saving you from having to manually complete multiple forms individually.

MEETING You don’t need to prepare anything for the meeting other than having that online form completed. We have a bunch of questions ready to ask you both that will give us an insight into the kind of ceremony you would love.

We will note all your answers and use this info to design and prepare your personalised ceremony once your booking has been confirmed.

Forms: If we’re meeting online, we’ll return your completed NOIM form to you as a PDF file to print, so you can sign this during the online meeting and scan and return it to us along with your ID.

If we’re meeting in person, we print this and you can sign in person during our meeting, with your Celebrant witnessing your signature.

SECURE THE DATE You can secure the date by making your payment by EFTPOS/ card or online banking transfer, either during our meeting, or after our meeting has taken place.

CEREMONY WORDING & VOWS Usually within 4 weeks of you securing one of us as your Celebrant, we will send your personalised ceremony wording for you to review, and return with the details we’ve requested.

We also send you our vow writing worksheets to make the process of writing your own vows easy and stress-free. While typically most Celebrants may send your ceremony closer to the date of your wedding (some Celebrants don’t even share your ceremony with you at all), we like to get this to you nice and early in the process so you can get this actioned and confirmed in good time. Instead of adding to your busy task list in the weeks leading up to your wedding.

This is one of the many ways we are committed to making the process of confirming your ceremony as stress-free and easy as possible for you.

REHEARSAL VIDEO Approximately 1 month before your wedding we will email you our custom-made rehearsal video. This video answers any questions and reassures couples of the logistics of the ceremony putting them at ease on the day. You may even share this with wedding party so you all know exactly what to expect and how your ceremony will flow on the day.

WEDDING DAY On the day we arrive 30-60 minutes before the ceremony start time (usually closer to 1 hour prior). During this time, we set up our PA system, documents, ensure everything is in order at the venue. If you are arriving separately, e.g. if a groom and groomsmen is arriving first, we usually do a quick practice of where they will all be standing, and how the rings will be presented etc, then they can all relax and greet and mingle with guests as they arrive.

YOU’RE MARRIED – WOOP WOOP!

You and your guests all LOVE your amazing ceremony – Check!

AFTER THE WEDDING We submit your marriage documents to be registered and we outline the process and provide you with a checklist for changing your last name (if that’s something one of you intends to do).

Is the date held once our meeting has taken place and we have signed the NOIM form?

Your wedding date and time is held and locked into our calendars once payment of either your booking fee or full payment has been received, and your booking form has been signed.

What is the ceremony start time?

The ceremony start time is the actual time the ceremony commences, e.g. the time the walk down the aisle takes place.

Guest arrival time is normally 30 minutes prior to the ceremony start time and we highly recommend stating this on your invitations so all your guests arrive in good time, and your day continues to run as planned on schedule.

Do we get to choose which one of you will be our Celebrant?

Yes, if we’re both available. When you contact us, simply leave a note in the comment field advising of your preference. If only one of us is available, that Celebrant will respond to you. However, we both specialise in warm, happy upbeat ceremonies that are seamless and thoroughly enjoyable.

With either of us you can rest assured you will get the exact same 5 STAR service for both the ceremony planning stage and ceremony delivery on the day.

Do we get both of you as Celebrants on the day?

One of us will be your Celebrant on the day. There’s a very high chance the other of us will be at another wedding elsewhere creating some ceremony magic.

We are looking to elope in Australia from overseas, what is the process for lodging the pre-marriage paperwork NOIM form?

In line with Australian marriage legislation, the NOIM form may only be witnessed via video call when the persons are based in Australia. So if you will be arriving in Australia a month or more from the date of your marriage, you can meet with me in person or via video call as is standard.

If you won’t be arriving a month or more before the date of your marriage, the alternative is for us to send you the NOIM form link to complete, we check everything is correct and return this to you as a PDF document to print. Then you print this and take it to the Australian Consular Office in your country, so sign in their presence with the Australian Consular Official witnessing your signature.

Do you also offer MC services for weddings?

While we love helping couples create memorable weddings, our true passion and focus is in creating and delivering personalised, seamless, and thoroughly enjoyable wedding ceremonies that resonate with our couples and their guests.

To achieve this, we are dedicated ceremony experts, committed to being the best Celebrants we can be. This allows us to put all our energy, creativity, and focus on creating the most enjoyable and memorable ceremony possible for you.

It’s important to consider that some Celebrants wear both Celebrant and MC hats. While this may seem convenient, remember that a late night after another wedding plus MC gig usually equates to a big day and a very late night which could impact their performance on your special day.

By choosing one of us as your Celebrant, you can be confident we’ll be focused solely on your ceremony, and we’ll arrive at your wedding fresh and full of energy, ready to give our absolute best for a memorable and stress-free experience for you.

Of course, we’re happy to help by recommending a good MC for your reception.

PLANNING STAGE OF YOUR WEDDING CEREMONY

We would like to use your PA System for our ceremony music to be played through. What do we need to organise? Who takes care of playing the ceremony music?

All you need to arrange is your ceremony music playlist on a mobile phone and delegate someone to be in charge of playing it on the day and we’re good to go. We even have instructions on our PA’s for the person looking after the music to refer to.

If one of your guests is taking care of the ceremony music, please delegate this task to someone that is familiar with the device the music is on (e.g. have the music playlist on their own mobile phone) and ask them to arrive a little earlier than the guests so we can brief them on using the PA system and playing the music.

Having a guest or venue coordinator taking care of playing and fading out the music during the ceremony, enables us to focus on perfectly delivering your seamless ceremony.

How do you connect the mobile phone with the playlist on to the Celebrants PA System?

The mobile phone is connected with a standard 3.5 jack lead. We always have this cord with us to connect the PA to the mobile phone with the music on.

We normally carry an iPhone and Samsung adapter in our kit, however it’s ideal if the owner of the phone can bring their own adapter if need be just in case (e.g. if there was a new model of phone requiring a new adaptor that we are yet to stock).

Can the music be played via Bluetooth?

You are welcome to bring your own Bluetooth speaker and use that for the music if you wish. However, to ensure everything goes seamlessly on the day including the ceremony music, we don’t use Bluetooth as there’s a risk that the connection can drop out, plus it limits the distance of where the PA is placed. Bluetooth connections can also link to others Bluetooth devices and phones (e.g guests). So instead, we use a high end wireless cordless Mipro PA system with the standard 3.5 lead.

Why does a guest or venue coordinator take care of playing the ceremony music, and not the Celebrant?

We pride ourselves on our signature seamless, happy, enjoyable, wedding ceremonies.

As we are also ceremony stylists at With Love – Brisbane Wedding Decorators, we’ve both witnessed and performed hundreds of weddings over the years, and in our experience, ceremonies run most smoothly when someone other than the Celebrant manages the music.

A more polished experience – When Celebrants control the music themselves, it often creates pauses while they walk over to adjust the PA, or as they switch between apps on a device if their script is on an iPad. These awkward silences especially during key moments like the “Introducing Mr and Mrs Smith,” (followed by a pause while the Celebrant trots off to their PA to hit play) can feel uncomfortable and interrupt the flow of your ceremony and result in a less polished experience.

Better photos Another benefit of having a guest or venue coordinator taking care of the ceremony music, is this allows us to place our PA system behind the guests’ seats, where sound projection is most effective, and also to keep it out of the camera’s view. This placement not only ensures that music fills the ceremony space perfectly, but also keeps distracting equipment out of your photos, which photographers and videographers greatly appreciate too.

We ask that on your wedding day, the guest or coordinator you have entrusted as your music person, arrives a little earlier so we can brief them and have a practice prior to the ceremony commencing.  you can be confident that each transition is smooth, allowing your Celebrant to focus entirely on guiding the ceremony.

Note: If you would prefer not to  have a guest taking care of your ceremony music, we can recommend a business called ‘Ceremony Sound’ who provides a PA system and takes care of playing the music for you on the day.

If I decide to change my ceremony start time closer to the date, is that ok?

If you are considering changing your ceremony start time, by all means get in touch and run it by us, however we are not always able to accommodate time changes, especially if we are advised of a requested new ceremony start time at short notice.

We carefully schedule our day around specific ceremony start times, including the required time frame windows for travel, early arrival and setting up. Once your booking is secured, we proceed to turn away any subsequent enquiries that would overlap this time frames.

If you are considering adjusting your ceremony start time, please let us know as soon as possible so we can confirm if we have availability for the proposed new time.

There aren’t enough chairs available for all my guests to be seated, how to we ensure family are seated on the front row?

Interestingly it can sometimes be challenging getting all the guests seated at ceremonies, as everyone is too polite to take a seat. This is why as Celebrants we include pre-wedding announcements to assist with this.

When we’re getting guests seated ready for your arrival, we advise family to be seated on the front row and unless we discussed otherwise during our meeting, we will go on to say ‘ all other guests are invited to sit or stand on either side as this marriage represents the joining of 2 families’.

If there are still any empty chairs after we’ve finished the pre-wedding announcements, we’ll ask that all remaining seats are filled before the ceremony commences (as empty chairs don’t look nice in photos, especially on aisle seats).

If you have special requirements of where you would like your guests to be seated that differ to this, you are welcome to adjust the pre-wedding announcements in your ceremony document to cover this before you send your confirmed ceremony wording back to us.

My passport has expired, do I need to renew it for you to sight?

We are permitted to sight expired passports to verify your name, date and place of birth and identity, providing the passport photo is still identifiable as you e.g. you aren’t a child in the passport photo.

Alternatively, you can provide your birth certificate plus drivers license as your photo ID instead of a passport for us to sight.

I plan on taking my partners last name, do I sign the marriage certificates on the day in the new last name?

You sign the marriage certificates using your current (maiden) name. After your marriage has taken place we provide you information outlining the process and a checklist for changing your last name.

Do we need a rehearsal?

The good news is by having either of us as your Celebrant, you really don’t need a rehearsal. Here are 5 reasons why our couples don’t require rehearsals:

1. Our couples receive exclusive access to our custom designed ceremony rehearsal video, to talk you through all the finer details of your ceremony. After viewing our ceremony rehearsal video, we find this answers any ceremony coordination questions our couples may have and knowing how your ceremony will flow on the day really helps to put you at ease. Our couples really don’t need a physical rehearsal as the video actually covers so much more detail.
2. We understand this is all new to you, but rest assured we each have 10+ years as full time Celebrants and we specialise in coordinating ceremonies that flow seamlessly, something many of our couples rave about in their testimonials and reviews. So you can trust that, we’ll guide you through
3. We also detail the ceremony logistics within your ceremony wording (grey font), so the combination of the detailed ceremony wording / run sheet, with the rehearsal video you can rest assured we are on the same page.
4. If one side of the wedding party will be at the ceremony first, e.g. the groom and groomsmen, before the guests begin arriving, we always like to do a quick practice of where we will all be stood, and how the rings will be presented by in the best way without blocking this moment from the guests. (which is covered in the rehearsal video). We find this way, everything is fresh, then they can relax and greet guests as they arrive until it’s showtime! As pictured below.
5. If you have a wedding party, you are permitted to share the rehearsal video with them too, so each of them are comfortable with their role.

Photo credit: Nikita Pere

Can I have a copy of my NOIM for my prospective marriage visa?

We are more than happy to assist with providing the required documents to assist you with your prospective marriage visa application. To the best of our knowledge, at the time of writing, Australian immigration (Home Affairs) have never listed the NOIM form as a required document for visa purposes. Instead, they request a confirmation of marriage booking letter from the Celebrant, which we happily provide to couples once their NOIM has been lodged and their date is secured.

At the time of writing, the prospective marriage visa requirements does not list the NOIM form as a required document, instead it requests the following:

• evidence (such as a letter from the person who will officiate at the wedding) that you will marry your prospective spouse within 9 months of being granted the visa.

If the above information is different to the advice being provided to you by the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs please let us know (Migration Agents mistakenly sometimes request a NOIM form instead of the marriage booking confirmation letter).

We are applying for a prospective marriage visa, what marriage date should we include on the NOIM form?

For our prospective marriage visa couples, we understand that the marriage date on the NOIM is generally a tentative date, as the actually date your marriage takes place depends on the pace at which the visa application progresses. Once your visa has been approved, please get back in touch and we can work out a date with you. 

YOUR MARRIAGE HAS TAKEN PLACE

Does my last name change as soon as I am married?

As not everyone changes their name when they get married, your name doesn’t automatically change when you marry. Instead, it’s simply a case of updating your last name on your ID and with all the relevant organisations, using your official ‘registry issued marriage certificate’ (the one that gets posted to you by BDM QLD) as proof of your marriage.

It’s been 6 weeks since my marriage and I haven’t received my marriage certificate in the mail yet, what should I do?

We are sorry to hear you have experienced a delay in receiving your official marriage certificate from BDM QLD (the department that registers your marriage and issues your official marriage certificate). This happens from time to time.

If your post wedding email advised either that your marriage certificate was requested via either the online system, or your marriage certificate application form was provided to us to submit to BDM QLD with your documents, then you should have received this by now.

Due to client privacy, BDM QLD do not allow us to contact them on behalf of our clients, so you will need to contact them directly.

Here are BDM QLD’s contact details for you to contact them directly:

Email bdm-mail@justice. qld. gov. au

By phone Call Within Australia: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
International callers: +61 7 3022 6100 (+10 hours UTC) (Mon–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm).

BDM QLD will be able to confirm directly with you if they have registered your marriage (which we expect they would have by now). Please clearly spell the full names (including middle names) of each of you so they can search both of your names to locate your marriage.

Once they confirm your marriage has been registered, you then know they have also received your marriage certificate application that was submitted accompanying with your marriage documents.

From time to time that they don’t post out the official certificate, however once you advise you haven’t yet received this, they will normally send this to you in the next post.

Please note when clients contact BDM QLD advising they haven’t received their official marriage certificate yet, unfortunately they have a standard response along the lines of ‘Your Celebrant didn’t include your marriage certificate application form’ without actually checking to locate this form first.

By being aware of their naughty little habit of blaming the Celebrant for not including the marriage certificate application, without actually attempting to locate the form in their office, you can get this resolved sooner with them. By firmly advising them that your Celebrant has confirmed that all documents were sent including the marriage certificate application, they have always managed to quickly locate the documents in the past and quickly resolve and post this out to you.

Please understand that due to client privacy we are not permitted to contact BDM on your behalf.

There is an error/ typo on the marriage certificate that was posted out to me, how do I get this resolved?

This happens from time to time, so please don’t worry, you are still legally married. If you would like to get the error on your marriage certificate corrected, you will need to request this directly with BDM QLD who have the following process in place for marriage certificate corrections.

You must apply directly to BDM QLD via the following process for your marriage certificate to be corrected. You can request a review of the certificate to change incorrect or missing information from when your marriage was registered by completing their online ‘correct a certificate’ form.

You can use the ‘correct a certificate’ form:

• to correct spelling errors on a certificate
• to change incorrect information supplied at the time of the event

As a general guideline, at the time of writing, BDM QLD’s correction policy advises if the error is an administrative error made by them, a correction fee and replacement certificate fee will not be charged.

BDM QLD advise that for most corrections you will need to provide supporting documents and your proof of ID. After they have reviewed your request, they will let you know what they need and whether a correction fee is payable.

Please be advised due to client privacy, BDM QLD do not permit Celebrants to liaise directly with them on your behalf once your marriage paperwork has been lodged with them.

BDM QLD haven’t posted my marriage certificate yet, are you able to chase them up for us?

While we would like to help, due to client privacy, BDM QLD don’t allow Celebrants to contact them about couples’ marriages, once your marriage has been registered with them, so they require you to contact them.

They should be able to confirm with you if your marriage has been registered, and if your marriage certificate has been mailed out yet, and if not, they should be able to tell you what information they need to finalise sending this to you.

Here are BDM QLD’s contact details for you to contact them directly:

Q3. Where do I direct questions about my application to?

All questions should be directed to BDM QLD who oversee the whole process. They can be contacted:

Online

Email bdm-mail@justice.qld.gov.au

By phone

Call Within Australia: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
International callers: +61 7 3022 6100 (+10 hours UTC)
(Monday–Friday, 8.30am–4.30pm).

I have received an email/ SMS from BDM QLD requesting payment for our registry issued marriage certificate. Should I provide payment details? who pays for my marriage certificate?

Firstly, that’s good news as it means your marriage has now been registered.

Fees associated with ordering a registry marriage certificate, including any postage costs, are the responsibility of the couple, much like if you were ordering a copy of your birth certificate.

BDM QLD sometimes send a text message or email to confirm the payment details for your marriage certificate application. This may be because they were unable to determine the details provided on your marriage certificate application form (if it was handwritten and scanned), or the card provided has expired, or the payment didn’t go through, or they don’t have your payment details.

It is important that you respond to an email or SMS from BDM QLD and provide the information they have requested, in order for your marriage certificate to be posted to you.

I have received an SMS/ email from BDM QLD requesting payment details for my ‘registry issued marriage certificate. Do I need to order this or can I use the presentation certificate I received on the wedding day to change my last name? 

The presentation certificate that you receive on your wedding day isn’t considered sufficient evidence for most organisations to update your last name, which is why you need to order your ‘registry issued’ marriage certificate.

After your marriage has taken place and been registered by BDM QLD and either we’ve submitted your marriage certificate application form for you, or you’ve applied for this directly, BDM QLD will post your ‘registry issued marriage certificate’ to you by mail, to the address you provided on this form.

Once your ‘registry issued’ certificate has been received, it can then be presented as proof of marriage to update your last name on your ID (see our handy little change of last name.

For your convenience, here’s our handy Marriage change of name checklist of places you may like to update your name with.

Then at your request, these organisations can then update your last name on their records and issue new documents where relevant (Drivers Licence, Passports etc).

Payment for our registry issued marriage certificate has been deducted from my credit card, however BDM QLD have sent a SMS/ email / left a voicemail claiming that the Marriage Certificate Applicaiton Form we completed, wasn’t submitted with our marriage paperwork. 

By deducting the payment for your official registry issued marriage certificate, BDM QLD have inadvertently confirmed they have actually received your completed form, as this is the only way they could possibly have your credit card details to deduct the payment.

You will need to respond to BDM QLD directly and advise them that they have deducted the payment and ask them to confirm if your registry issued marriage certificate has been put in the mail yet.

Can BDM QLD provide an electronic copy of my registry issued marriage certificate?

BDM QLD send a hard copy (paper) by post, to the address you have provided, including overseas addresses.

Questions relating to your registry issued marriage certificate need to be directed to BDM QLD as they are the department that issue these. At the time of writing this, electronic copies are not currently issued.

I have received my registry issued marriage certificate in the mail which shows my maiden name as my last name. Should my marriage certificate show my new married last name?

Your marriage certificate won’t show your new surname as it records your legal name at the time you married.

It’s also worth noting that BDM QLD are not aware of who intends to change their last name and who doesn’t.

The most common purpose couples order an official marriage certificate is it provides official evidence of their marriage, which allows them to then change their last name to that of their new spouse if they intend to.

You will find a checklist and more info on the change of last name process via the link in my last ‘changing your last name’ email.

We received our official registry issued marriage certificate in the mail, but we’ve since lost it. How do we order a replacement marriage certificate?

As BDM QLD are the department that issue your official registry issued marriage certificate, you will need to contact them directly to request a replacement.

If you did complete a marriage certificate application form and provide it to us by email. If you can locate it in your sent items, you may be able to use this form to apply for a replacement certificate. Or alternatively you will find this form on the BDM QLD website.

As you are applying for your marriage certificate directly this time, you will likely need to provide the ID requested within this form. They will be able to advise you of their requirements and answer any further questions relating to their process.

Do you have the printed copy of our vows from our wedding?

If you shared personalised vows with each other, for safe keeping, we’ve placed these in the same envelope that the presentation marriage certificate you signed on your wedding day was placed in to. This is an A4 size envelope labelled ‘Marriage Certificate.’

Here’s an idea: Pull your vows out on your 1st wedding anniversary and share them with each other again. It will take you right back to that moment in your ceremony.

We hope you have found our frequently asked Celebrant questions helpful.

Jamie + Cara – Brisbane City Celebrants