Notice of Intended Marriage - NOIM

Your Marriage Celebrant can assist you in filling out the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) form. Completing this form is part of the legal requirements of getting married in Australia.

You need to give this completed form to the Marriage Celebrant who will conduct your wedding. This can be done up to 18 months before your wedding and at least one month before the ceremony. The information included on the form is used by the Registrar of Marriages to register your marriage. Non-identifying information on the form is also used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics when it generates statistics on marriage and family life in Australia.

The Marriage Celebrant must sight official evidence of the date & place of birth of both the bride & groom. There is a section on the form where the Marriage Celebrant indicates they have sighted your official identification documentation or a statutory declaration.

The form has 4 pages and can be completed online and printed out to be witnessed and signed by the Marriage Celebrant or an authorised witness.

Your Marriage Celebrant will have a copy of this form to give you, but you can also follow the link above to download a pdf copy from the website of the Attorney-General.

The above is a revision of an article originally posted on 19-Sep-2007.

Front page of the Notice of Intended Marriage form

Marriage Celebrant Code of Practice

Did you know that Marriage Celebrants have a recognised Code of Practice under which they operate?

The Code is a 3-page document with 6 sections covering:

1. To whom the Code applies
2. High service standard expectations
3. Recognition of the significance of Marriage
4. Compliance with the Marriage Act and related laws
5. General requirements of Marriage Celebrants
6. Knowledge & understanding of Family Relationships Services

 This Code outlines the expected behaviour, community standing and appropriate practice of the Marriage Celebrant in relation to conducting your Marriage Ceremony.

Your Marriage Celebrant will give you a copy of the Code of Practice. This ensures that you are aware of the level of service you can expect from your Celebrant.

The above is a revision of an article originally posted on 18-Sep-2007.

Pg. 1 of the Marriage Celebrant Code of Practice

Celebrants Online welcomes ...

Marriage Celebrant Andrea Wolfgramm, CMC.

Andrea is based in Brunswick, a northern suburb of Melbourne.

To learn more about Andrea, visit her profile on Celebrants Online.

Celebrants Online welcomes ...

Marriage Celebrant, Dee (Deanne) Hamson, CMC.

Dee lives in beautiful Alexandra Headland on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. A Marriage Celebrant for more than 8 years, Dee takes great delight in performing ceremonies in a range of locations and locales - on the beach, river side, in the park, in the intimacy of your own home, be it on the Sunshine Coast or further afield.

In addition to Weddings, Dee also celebrates Renewal of Vow Ceremonies, Commitment Ceremonies, Naming Ceremonies & Pet Memorial Ceremonies.

To learn more about Dee, visit her profile on Celebrants Online.

Celebrants Online welcomes ...

Marriage Celebrant, Anthony (Tony) Haining, CMC.

Anthony is a long-time resident of Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, having been involved in the life of the Olinda and Dandenong Ranges communities for many years.

He is possessed of a powerful voice and an embracing physical presence. Anthony is a dedicated celebrant who takes a great deal of pride in the service he offers to marrying couples.

To learn more about Anthony, visit his profile on Celebrants Online.

Celebrity wedding gatecrashers

So, if a celebrity was going to 'gatecrash' YOUR wedding, who do you hope / dream it would be?

• Brad Pitt?
• Usain Bolt?
• Taylor Swift?
• Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez?
• Campbell Newman?
• Robert Pattinson & Katy Perry?
• Noel Gallagher?
• Queen Elizabeth?
• Jeremy Clarkson?
• John Travolta?

All of these celebrities, and many more I'm sure, have made the news at various times for 'gatecrashing' a wedding.

So, who would I choose? Ah now, there's a secret!

If your ideal celebrity gatecrasher isn't a secret, why not share it in a comment?

Celebrants Online welcomes ...

Marriage Celebrant, Wendy Burns, CMC.

Wendy is a Perth celebrant, living in Mt Pleasant. She is a highly experienced celebrant and has been performing weddings and other ceremonies for the past 18 years.

Wendy is happy to travel to be of service, covering the metropolitan and wider Perth area.

To learn more about Wendy, view her profile on Celebrants Online.

Bride & Groom : Making an entrance

Recently on the email forum of the Civil Celebrants Graduate Association, Monash (CCGA) there was an email about an upcoming wedding where the bride and groom planned to walk in together. This then sparked a conversation among members of other ways in which marrying couples had entered the marriage space - together, with one or other parent, with children, etc. Lots of interesting variations on a theme were thrown up. However, none was so interesting as this - Zip Wire Wedding: Couple Fly Into Ceremony!

What do you think? Have you participated in or experienced a novel wedding entrance? If so, feel free to make a comment and share your thoughts.

Personally, I'd feel a bit dishevelled arriving via flying fox. The heart would certainly be pumping and I guess you'd be revved up and ready to go ... but will what follows live up to the thrill of the entrance?

Lauren and Ben's entrance seems to be in keeping with them as a couple, though; Ben proposed on a hike after they'd reached the top of a mountain!

Lauren Bushar & Ben Youngkin - Ben's proposal on top of Max Patch

Former US President official witness at same-sex wedding

Former U.S. President, George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were official witnesses at the recent wedding of friends, Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen.

On Sept. 21, Clement and Thorgalsen, partners for 12 years, were married in front of family and friends in a small private ceremony in Maine. George Bush Snr., together with Mrs Bush (presumably), signed the official marriage licence papers.

Maine is one of only 13 U.S states in which gay marriage is legal. For a same-sex marriage to be legal in Maine, the couple must marry within 90 days of obtaining a marriage licence from a local Government office. The ceremony must be witnessed by two people in addition to the officiant. The licence is then signed by the couple, the officiant and the witnesses and returned to the town clerk within 7 days of the ceremony.

Thorgalsen posted to her Facebook page a photograph of Mr Bush Snr. signing the licence.

Helen Thorgalsen via Facebook

Marriage in Ireland vs. Marriage in Australia

Interesting statistics in an article in the Irish Independent online giving an overview of marriage in the Republic of Ireland in 2011. I had a look and then thought, "Well, I wonder how Australia compares?" A quick search popped up relevant Australian Bureau of Statistics information for 2011.

Ireland

Population in 2011: 4,600,000 (approx.)
Marriages in 2011: 19,855

That's 4.3 out of every 1000 Irish folk married in 2011.

Median age at marriage in 2011: Male = 34.6 yrs / Female = 32.5 yrs
Percentage of marriages performed by a Civil Celebrant: 29%

Australia

Population in 2011: 22,400,000 (approx.)
Marriages in 2011: 121,752

That's 5.3 out of every 1000 Australian folk married in 2011.

Median age at marriage in 2011: Male = 31.4 yrs / Female = 29.3 yrs
Percentage of marriages performed by a Civil Celebrant: 70.1%


Given that Ireland is a predominantly Catholic country, it's perhaps not surprising that Civil Ceremonies account for such a small percentage of ceremonies performed.It's also interesting to note that these figures for Ireland show the marriage rate as falling, being at its lowest rate since 1998. Of course this, together with the fact that there were 536 same-sex civil partnerships registered in Ireland in 2011, is being used by a pro-marriage group - the Iona Institute - to bemoan the state of marriage and claim that the decline is evidence of a 'collapse in marriage'!

In Australia, the marriage rate to 2011 was actually increasing. The slight increase over 2010 figures maintained the general rise seen since 2001, from 104,000 marriages to the 2011 figure of 121,752!


Image: Green harp flag of Ireland -  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license