Simply a post with images of very happy occasions 2018 - 2020

Taisa and Ernesto married in my Heart Garden
in  the first week of Spring  - September 2019

You are most welcome to marry in my beautiful Heart Garden and, as always, there is NO EXTRA FEE for this. Adult guests: up to 12. All children welcome.

My all-inclusive fee is $650.

Phone me or text: 0406 376 375

any day 9am to 9pm

Hello, and welcome

I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted on my blog!

I guess I’ve kept my focus on Facebook and Instagram. Blogger and Pinterest have gone into the background.

And now it’s March 2020 already. Last year was a happy one for me with lots of weddings, and sadly, a funeral for a friend. (I’m no longer a funeral celebrant – it was just a one-off.)

Since my last post in October 2018, there have been many wonderful weddings. I thought it would be a nice idea to include lots of photos in one long blogpost.

If you'd like me to be celebrant at your wedding - like almost fourteen hundred other couples - then please contact me here. Or send me a Message on facebook Messenger. Or phone or text me on 0406 376 375 anytime from 9am to 9pm, any day. I'd love to be there for you both on your most special day.

2018

Amy and Michelle, with Michele
Redbrow Garden  Murrumbateman NSW
17 November 2018

Krystle and Chris
Old Parliament House Rose Gardens
24 November

Barbara and Mick
The Heart Garden
24 November

Mick and Barbara leave The Heart Garden 

as newlyweds

Kirsten and Brendan, just married!
Canberra Nara Peace Park

8 December 2018

2019

Sandra and Thomas, newlyweds

Oi Shan (Sandra) and Thomas
National Rose Gardens, Old Parliament House
5 January

Maew and Nouhad
MV Southern Cross on Lake Burley Griffin
13 January



Corinne and Andrew
National Botanic Gardens
2 February 19

Nicole arrives with her Dad for her marriage with Luke
Lanyon Homestead
6 April 2019
Happiness all around!


Amy and Daniel married at the
National Rose Gardens  Old Parliament House
Sunday 21 April 19

Harkamal and Sourab
married in The Heart Garden
21 June 2019
Radiating their joy :)

Bec and Terry married at their home in Queanbeyan
on June 22.

Lots of fun!

Lori is arriving for her marriage to Craig.
(Several orbs appeared in this photo)
The Heart Garden
30 June 2019

Sunny winter's day for the wedding of Craig and Lori

Felix and Jasmine

married in The Heart Garden.

Jasmine arrived with her father

7 July 19

Megan and Andrew married in the green room,

The Heart Garden

2 August 19

Michael and Steph 

married at Brassey Hotel Barton ACT

26 October 19

Holly arrived with her Dad Mark, for her marriage with Diego.
The Heart Garden 28 October 2019

Here is the heart at the Heart Garden gate.

If you choose to marry in this lovely, peaceful romantic garden, this is where you'll enter.

Leanna and Ryan married in the Heart Garden
8 November 2019 

2020

Hope and Charles married at
Canberra Bejing Garden
on 29 February 2020

A beautiful location for setting up a wedding.
Canberra Bejing Garden  Yarralumla ACT

Kali and Lincoln married in my Heart Garden
on 7 March 2020

Ten years together, and this is their wedding day. I share their happiness.
(I was celebrant for Lincoln's mother and her late husband, back in the 90's)

I hope all these joyful images inspire you to choose me as your celebrant for your 'beautifully simple, simply beautiful' wedding.

Sincerely

Michele

Your three Certificates of Marriage

Hello, and welcome

For Qian and Min, it was their lucky day 8-8-18
They married in the sunny cosy green room,
overlooking the wintry Heart Garden.

You're getting married... Wonderful! Perhaps you're wondering about what happens when you sign your certificates.

On your wedding day, you’ll sign three Certificates of Marriage. So will your celebrant and also your two witnesses. You’ll sign the certificates with your usual signature.

Sasha signs three certificates of 
marriage as her new husband Rohan looks on.
The Green Room - The Heart Garden  Weston ACT
Saturday 22 September 2018

This can be a bit disappointing if you’ve changed your name already and you want to try out your new signature. You can however, be announced to your guests by your new married name at the end of your ceremony, if you wish.

Legal change of name takes place with the making of your vows of marriage during your wedding ceremony. This means that, by the end of the ceremony, if you – as bride, or groom, or both - have chosen name change, then it’s already legally in effect.

There’s nothing more you need to do about this, but, if you want to change things like your passport or your driver’s licence, then you must produce evidence that your legal marriage has taken place.

Sasha

After your wedding, your celebrant has two weeks to send your papers to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the territory or state in which you were married.

To get evidence that your legal marriage has taken place, you must apply for your Official (or ‘full’) Certificate from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Applying online is easiest but if you married in the ACT, you can apply at any Access Canberra shopfront.

You must include credit card payment in your application to the Registrar.

When you apply, you must fill in the full names that appear on your Notice of Intended Marriage. They’ll also be on the marriage certificate you received on the day of your marriage. This means – don’t use married names on your application to the Registrar.

If you apply straight after getting married, you’ll need to allow time for your marriage papers to be processed by the Registrar and officially registered. (Remember here that your marriage is already legal – it’s just not registered yet.)

Qian

Next, allow three to four business days for the Registrar’s Office to process your application, then allow a couple of days as your certificate travels to you in the mail by registered post.

Because your certificate will be sent by registered post, there must be someone home to sign for it. If there’s no-one home, you’ll get a card and you’ll need to sign and collect from the post office.

The current fee for an official certificate in the ACT, with registration number on it, is $63. This includes registered postage.

Personally, I like to focus on the certificate you take home on the day. It needs to be a beautiful momento for you, so I ask you at our meeting to choose the font you’d like me to use when I print it.

If you have Asian names, I’ll ask you whether you want your surname to appear before your other names. The choice is yours.

The certificate I hand to you on the day will have a unique number and this number will be recorded, but because it doesn’t have a registration number, you can’t use this certificate as evidence of your marriage for any legal purpose (like a licence application or work records).

As evidence of your legal marriage, you must buy an ‘official’ certificate from the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages.

Angela and Jon, just married, receive their 
certificate from Michele.
Friday 28 September 18
at Lennox Gardens ACT

You may be wondering what happens to the other certificate that’s signed on the day. It’s in your celebrant’s register.

Some celebrants keep an electronic register but I still like to use a large red book. By law, I have to keep my registers for six years, but I just like to keep them. (Sometimes I press flowers in them from weddings.) Because I’ve been celebrant at nearly fourteen hundred weddings, I have quite a large library of registers!

I was asked at a wedding recently, why the witnesses signed before the bride and groom. This is my preference. I like the witnesses to sign first, then I sign, and then the newly married couple.

This plan works well for setting up the photos with just the couple, signing at the end. Then, as the law requires, I hand the newlyweds their certificate. (This is a nice chance for me to get a photo for my personal collection.)

The guest who asked about the order of signing challenged me about ‘How can they witness the signatures of the bride and groom, if they sign before them?’ This is a common misunderstanding.

The answer is, that the witnesses certify that they witnessed a legal marriage take place, not that they witnessed the signing of the certificates by the groom and bride.

If you would like me to be celebrant at your wedding, I’d be delighted to be there for you both.

I specialise in small simple weddings, with any number of guests, on any day or night, at any time. I call them beautifully simple and simply beautiful. We have no registry office weddings in Canberra ACT, so I offer a perfect alternative.

Micah and Marlon married at

Royal Canberra Golf Club

on 2 September 2018

If your wedding is going to be small with around 10 adult guests or less (and any number of children) you'll be most welcome to marry in my peaceful romantic Heart Garden. 

My fee for any wedding is $650. There's no extra fee for a wedding in my garden. You may like to see garden photos on my Pinterest page. And there are lots more on Instagram and facebook.

There’s an email contact form here. Or please phone me on 0406 376 375 any day between 9am and 9pm, or text anytime, and let's talk about your wedding. 

My congratulations to you both on your very happy plan.

Sincerely

Michele

Nazia and Nillarn married at the home of Nazia's parents in Macgregor
on Saturday 22 September 2018

The rustic entrance to the Heart Garden in mid-Spring 2018

The Heart Garden in mid-Spring 2018. When the poppies, violas, rhododendrons and wisteria finish, the roses will come on. Masses of flowers on the large potted blueberry (mid-screen) mean a bumper crop this summer.