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Okay, so there’s lots of legal stuff to get you married in Australia, but luckily we’re one of the easiest countries in the world to marry.

Here’s a step by step guide to help you along the way …

• Firstly, you must give at least one month’s notice of your intent to be married (I can email you a form – but if you book with me you’ll complete the form through my software).  If you’d like to marry on 17th October 2024, I need to have received your completed and signed Notice of Intended Marriage (NoiM) before 17th September 2024. But, this is something you can do early – like up to 18 months early! Do it now – get it done and avoid the stress.
• You must sign the form in front of an approved witness such as a Justice of the Peace, Celebrant, Solicitor, Doctor or Police Officer (the category of person approved is listed on the Notice).  If you’re outside Australia the witness must be an official at the Australian Embassy or Consulate OR a Notary Public (again, check the form).
• A few changes happened because of Covid – until the end of 2023 you can sign your NoiM in front of me via Zoom – yiha. Makes life for my couples so much easier.
• You must show me the original ID documents required to prove your date of birth, place of birth and identity before the ceremony starts (example is driver’s licenses and either birth certificate or passport) and these can be scanned through to me.
• You must prove through original documentation that any previous marriage has ended and you are free to marry again (for example divorce certificate or death certificate of previous spouse).
• You will need to have two witnesses over the age of 18 present at the ceremony.  Don’t panic though, if you’re planning an elopement I can arrange witnesses on your behalf. Your witnesses can be family.
• Consider whether you are both able to understand the English language.  If this is not the case you must provide a registered official interpreter (hint: not your cousin – unless they’re a registered interpreter).

There are a few myths about marriage in Australia, so let’s clear some of them up

• One of the couple must have reached the age of 18, no two people under the age of 18 can marry.  If one party to the marriage is under 18, parental consent will be required.
• Same sex marriages are now legal in Australia, so if you’re part of the LGBTIQ+ community, marry away <3
• You do not have to buy or obtain a Marriage  License as these are not required in Australia
• You do not need to have a blood test
• You do not need to have a pregnancy test
• You do not need to fulfil any residency requirements (you can get married the day you arrive from overseas)
• You do not need a special type of visa – you can be married if you’re visiting on a tourist visa or a work/business visa

There are no rules about when, where, or how you marry

• You can be married at any time on any day of the year (365/24/7)
• You can be married indoors, outdoors, in a park, on a beach, by a lake, in a hot air balloon, on a boat, in a wedding chapel, a restaurant, historical building, vineyard, lookout, or surrounded by kangaroos, koalas and other Australian wildlife, in fact anywhere you like.  Often you will need to obtain approval of the local Council to marry on public land and I can help with this.  Many venues will charge you if you’d like to be married on their private premises.
• You can wear what you like, too.  Don’t think you need to wear a bridal gown and veil.  You can wear a bikini if you like.
• You do not legally need to exchange wedding rings.
• The smallest legal wedding will contain five people:  the Celebrant, the couple, and two witnesses.

Want more information? Contact me now, I’m happy to answer questions 0400 595 679

There’s loads of gorgeous choices for chapel weddings on the Sunshine Coast. Chapel weddings are divine – they’re elegant and formal and usually beautiful. Many people discount having a chapel wedding because they’re not religious – the lovely thing is though, that chapels (by and large) don’t have the vibe that churches often do. Take The Chapel Montville for example.

The Chapel is a beautiful contemporary chapel with gorgeous pews, a whale tail signing table and all the stained glass windows. Air-conditioning in summer is a haven on hot days, and the many tiny details, each included with consideration make it just perfect. Oh, and the view … did I mention the view? Stunning, and a photographer’s dream.

So for an elegant wedding on the Sunshine Coast, I really do recommend checking out the The Chapel Montville in the hinterland.

Tell them I sent you!  🙂

Yes, I sure do.

I went to a funeral recently and frankly, I was so disappointed by the Celebrant – zero public speaking skills, zero personal  presentation and care factor?  You guessed it – Zero.

The person everyone was there to say farewell to? Well, she deserved more than that.

Tell me, when you pass away, do you want some random up at the lecturn just saying the “same ole same ole” about you and your life?  Of course not?  And your loved ones don’t deserve that either (even if you didn’t get on.)

The person you’re farewelling is three dimensional – more than just a mother, father, brother, son – everyone who sits in that chapel, or who stands on the beach, has different memories and reasons for being there.  Let’s capture THAT.  Let’s try to truly capture that life.

So, my promise to you is:  If you book me for a funeral or life celebration, I will deliver a sincere, loving and honest funeral service – we’ll unfold and explore a life and we’ll get all the guests remembering the good times, the not so good times, along with those embarrassing moments (we’ve all had them) and just have a good old heartfelt and caring ceremony.   We’ll laugh a bit and cry a bit and we’ll keep it real.

Did you know you don’t have to have a funeral?  It’s true.  You can skip the chapel and head to your loved one’s favourite place – the pub, the beach, the hinterland … and have a farewell service or wake. 

I’ve married a 100 year old gent who had an amazing life, a still born baby who didn’t have a chance at this life, suicide victims, drug overdose victims, cancer victims, prisoners – you name it, I can help give your loved one a wonderful and loving send off to the next part of their journey.

For funerals, wakes, ash scatterings on Bribie, North Brisbane or Sunshine Coast, give me a call.  I promise I will not do boring and and I will definitely give you, or your loved one, the farewell you deserve.

Some funeral ideas requests I’ve had – just to get you thinking:

“Lynnie, after the service I want you to run out the front and hose the guests as they’re leaving”.

“Harleys.  Give me Harleys … oh … and strippers!  Make sure there’s strippers.”

“No tea and biccies for me.  I want whiskey and Irish music.”

“Play Somewhere over the Rainbow for me – because that’s where I’ll be.”

“Lynnie, I want Christmas carols played and my casket to be wrapped in tinsel.”

“Make sure I’m actually dead.  Stick a pin in me or something.”

Capturing their essence!  That’s what I do.

If you haven’t heard, Queensland is in the midst of a heatwave!   My facebook feed is full of temperature gauges, just in case I hadn’t noticed my face has melted onto the floor.

I recall a February many years back it was a super hot day and the ceremony was to take place at Mooloolaba Beach in full sun – I tried to get the couple to move the ceremony, but they wouldn’t.  This is what happened:

It was the hottest day in February history on the Sunshine Coast, and it was quite still so we didn’t even have the luxury of a cooling ocean breeze. I can usually get and keep the audience’s attention – but they just weren’t interested: frying in the hot sun can do that to you. I had cut down the ceremony so it wouldn’t take so long, but instead of a reading, they’d asked a family member to sing. Usually, I’d love this, and God bless the young chickie, she did a beautiful job and hit every note perfectly – but she.sang.every.damn.note.and.every.damn.chorus, not thinking about the guests or the bridal party. And she didn’t notice that during her song, two people had fainted.

Shit.

Which brings me to the point of this post:

What do you do about weddings in weather like this?   It’s days like today, personally, I’d be pushing my bride to move everyone to an air-conditioned alternative – typically, the wet weather venue.  Trust me, your guests will be grateful and you won’t look like you’ve melted with running makeup, and droopy, sweaty hair you’ve just paid a fortune for.  And it’s likely your photos won’t be a gorgeous as you’d hoped (though thank heavens for photoshop I guess). Boys in full suits in weather like this is just cruel and some of those wedding gowns are heavy and HOT – and not in a good way.

But, if you’re adamant on having an outside ceremony here’s some hints for the considerate couple:

Move the ceremony into the shade

Have umbrellas or parasols available

Have bottles of water on ice for guests

And sunscreen!

Buy those little paper fans for guests

And …. Don’t be late – that’s just cruel as well.

A hot Bribie wedding story

At a recent Bribie Island wedding, the bridal party were facing the western sun and it was so hot it was brutal. I sent everyone (including myself) into the shade and we waited. And waited. And waited. When the bride finally arrived she admitted that she’d told everyone the ceremony was to start 30 minutes after what she told them, because she didn’t want any late arrivals, which meant most guests and all suppliers were waiting out in the heat for over an hour. Not cool.

Here’s a hint: Tell your suppliers your timing plans so we can cater to these sorts of weather nasties. Had I known I would have sent everyone (including myself) into the bar. lol. See, this is why I prefer crispy Winter weddings.

I literally watched the groom get sunburned right before my eyes – he didn’t handle the heat too well and would have been pretty sore over the next few days. The groom’s shirt was dripping wet under his suit coat – trust me that’s no fun so I made him take his jacket off until just before the bride arrived and the boys were so grateful for the respite.

Most suppliers and guests arrive 30 minutes prior to the ceremony start time

Remember, most of the suppliers (and most of the guests) will turn up 30 minutes before your ceremony, and some suppliers don’t leave until well after the ceremony has finished and the guests have left – that can be a l-o-n-g time in sweltering heat. 

So please be thoughtful of your guests, suppliers and bridal party and have a Plan B that can cater to rain, excessive wind, and the torturous Queensland heat.

So, do what you can to keep everyone hydrated and cool – including yourselves! Everyone will be forever grateful!  Trust me  🙂

Do you want to get married but just couldn’t be bothered organising the whole big shebang? Maybe you’d prefer to spend the money on something else or maybe your family situation is just too dicey.

I have started a company called Elope to Australia and we tailor elopement and small wedding packages in most places around Australia.  Because I’m on the Sunny Coast, I’ll always suggest to be married here (support local business).  

Here’s how it works

Elopements are really taking off! After their elopement some couples take a pic of the marriage certificate and SMS it to all their friends and family. Others have cute signs saying “We Eloped” and the date – and you can use these as invitations to a post-wedding bash. This is what Ken and I did when we eloped – and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to celebrate our wedding (and I got to wear my wedding dress twice. Woot!

Typically, your elopement will be between a Monday and Thursday and there won’t be any more than 8 guests (a small wedding is up to 20 guests). You can design your own package so head to the Cart and play around with the package until you’re happy with it.

The most common package has: Celebrant to conduct a 10 minute ceremony; bridal flowers and buttonhole, bride’s hair and makeup, an hour of professional photography (you’ll get your fabulous edited images on a disc or usb for you to keep – there’s no copyright or trademark and typically there’s 80 images).

Contact me on 0400 595679 or email me