Civil Marriage Celebrant, Weddings, Baby Namings, Funerals. Central Coast NSW.

Documents Required

In order to get off to a flying start please have the following documents available if possible at your first meeting with me. Legally the original documents (or certified copies) must be sighted by the celebrant then returned to you.

Birth certificates are required. The authorised celebrant must cite these papers; otherwise the wedding cannot take place. If you were born overseas, a passport is sufficient, but if you were born in Australia, you must have your birth certificate. If a couple has been divorced, relevant divorce papers (decrees absolute) must be sighted. The same is required if the person to be married is a widower (death certificate).

The notice of Intention must be signed one month and one day before the intended marriage ceremony, if this is not possible, the couple must attend the local court and ask for a lessening of time. There are four categories where this lessening of time can be made available.

About Celebrants

The minimum requirements for civil marriage celebrants:

To consent to be present as the responsible authorised marriage celebrant
To take a public role in the ceremony
To identify themselves to the assembled parties - witnesses and guests as the celebrant authorised to solemnise the marriage
To be responsible for ensuring the validity of the marriage according to law
To say the words required by section 46 in the presence of the parties, the formal witnesses and the guests before the marriage is solemnised
To be in close proximity (i.e. near by) when the vows required by section 45(2) are exchanged because it is the exchange of vows that constitutes the marriage and the authorised celebrant should ensure they see and hear these vows
To be available to intervene (and exercise the responsibility to intervene) if events demonstrate the need for it elsewhere in the ceremony
To be part of the ceremonial group or in close proximity to it
To sign the papers required by the Act

These requirements don't affect my capacity to design a ceremony that includes the participation of people particularly requested by the couple and should not diminish the flexibility available to couples and civil celebrants to 'personalise' ceremonies to suit particular requirements.

It isn't acceptable for couples or guests to be under any misapprehension as to the authority of a person to solemnise a marriage under the Marriage Act. In other words it must be made clear at all times to couples and other guests who the authorised celebrant is and that that person has certain obligations under the Marriage Act even if the majority of the wedding ceremony is lead by someone else. It is unacceptable for anyone other than the authorised celebrant themselves to use the celebrant's authorisation number.

Tying The Knot Folklore

The old cliche' "tying the knot" has been around for centuries, rope and cord was used for many purposes. The first form of legal contracts, a knot was tied to symbolize legal contracts. A witness would tie a knot if he could not write, he would tie a knot in a strap and it was attached to a document.

Knots and cords were used as jewelry in primitive times. Cords were more common in the betrothel than the metal rings. In ancient times weddings were steeped in superstition, they believed that there were evil spirits out there to harm the betrothed.

There are many explanations for the "tying the knot " cliche'.

In Asia Parsi and Iranian couples would be separated by a curtain and would join hands and their hands were tied together with a cloth and double knotted, then a piece of yarn was wrapped around the couples hands seven times, seven times around the couple and then seven times around the knot.

One source believes the expression comes from Roman times when a bride wore a girdle with knots and the groom needed to untie the knot on his wedding night.

In some parts of Africa the hands of a bride and groom were tied with braided long grasses to symbolize their union.

The Celtic custom known as handfasting is binding of the hands, but it meant a trial marriage. They would be married for one year and a day, which at that time they could make the marriage permanent or go separate ways.

In a Vedic marriage in India one of the brides hands is tied to the groom's hands to symbolize their union.

In Mexico a cord ritual is practiced called the Lazo. A cord is draped around the shoulders of the bride and groom. In the front is a cross of Jesus, which means the union is blessed by God.

In some cultures friends used to tie the bride and grooms clothes together symbolizing unity. Bows and ribbons were traditional wedding favors that signifyed the marriage knot.

In Sinhalese Buddist wedding ceremonies, a gold cord is tied around the fifth finger of the bride and groom. Water is poured over the knot signifying the sharing of their lives.

In a Russian Orthodox wedding an embroidered cloth is wrapped around the couples hands. The scarf is called a rushnychok and is made for this purpose.

Long ago when certain indian tribes wed, the finger of the bride and groom was cut until it bled and then that hand was bound together to mix the blood for their union.

Today some clergy will wrap his scarf around the hands of the bride and groom symbolizing their coming together as one.

In some cultures the knot poses a superstition of evil. A Syrian groom has to make sure no one has placed a knot amoung his clothes. To him it symbolizes impotency.

The knot symbolizes love, loyalty, friendship, duty and the main symbol is unity.

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