Are you planning a beautiful and reasonably priced ceremony in Bali?
If you are just looking for a short legal ceremony in Australia because you are planning a cheaper celebration elsewhere, such as Bali, we can help!
Many Perth couples are finding that a huge reception can be too expensive in Perth. Bali and other places (e.g. Thailand or Mauritius) offer packages which have much better value. However if you don’t obtain the correct documents before you leave the country you hold the ceremony in, you may have difficulties proving your marriage or changing your name once back in Australia, depending on which procedures you have followed. The better option is to have the legal ceremony here in Australia, and then have a beautiful ceremony with all the trimmings, that looks just like a traditional ceremony, to renew your vows overseas.
For a discounted fee we can provide a streamlined registry-style marriage service which won’t take up much of your time so you can spend more time planning your flights to your formal ceremonial event. With a short meeting and a 5 minute basic legal ceremony, without the trimmings, you can ensure you have no dramas with your documents.
Procedure-
1) Choose your celebrant – contact Jeff.
2) Visit Jeff’s office with the documents we advise you to bring, depending on your circumstances. Pay your fee. Complete the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM).
3) Choose your 5 minute minimum Australian legal ceremony.
4) We prepare the documents for the wedding day a month later. (a month is the earliest you can marry after the NOIM has been completed)
5) Return with 2 witnesses, 18 years of age or over to my office. We can perform your ceremony in our local park or in our office.
6) Sign the documents, we then lodge them with the Perth BDM.
7) You can then obtain a Western Australian document from the Perth BDM to prove your marriage, written in English. You won’t have any issues with your documents, by having them in a foreign language!
Disclaimer: If you want us to provide this service AFTER your overseas ceremony, you will need to provide evidence that your first ceremony is not a legal marriage under Australian law. If so it is illegal for us to perform a second marriage ceremony for you. We can help you with advice on how to provide this evidence.
We recommend you talk to us BEFORE you have the first ceremony, and even better, plan to have your Australian ceremony FIRST.
Why not have the same celebrant for both your Perth and Bali ceremonies – discuss pricing and availability with us!
Unfortunately some couples actually marry overseas, but don’t complete the final documentation stage before they leave the country. They then try to obtain the documents in Perth. You can only obtain documents in Perth if you were married in Western Australia. If your marriage in the other country is legal in Australia, then you are already married and you cannot get married again in Australia, without divorcing first! Please research your plans carefully first to ensure a happy outcome.
Note: Jeff is a Commonwealth registered civil marriage celebrant, legally entitled to conduct marriage ceremonies in Australia. We are not affiliated with a Government department.