If you live outside Australia and want to marry here

Please note - this is a Wedding Page. If you'd like to visit my blog, where you'll find masses of information about getting married in the ACT and surrounds, and getting married in Australia in general, click here. My latest wedding news and photos are on my facebook page. I also put photos on Pinterest.

This is what you need to know

If you both wish to live in Australia as a married couple and if you are in Australia and your partner is overseas, they will need a Prospective Marriage Visa. Applying for a visa is a long process. Please note that after many years of helping many couples with their visa applications, while one of them is living overseas, I no longer provide this service.

Jenny from Shanghai, China

flew to the Heart Garden to marry

Mars in the Spring of 2015

But - if you are reading this blog in another country and you'd both like to marry in Australia without moving to Australia to live, I would still be very happy to help you with that. Just like Rosanna and Fabrizio who flew from Sardinia in Italy to marry in my beautiful garden, stayed in Canberra for a few honeymoon days, and flew home again as newlyweds. It was in September 2013, which in Oz is early Spring.

There are no residency requirements for marrying in Australia. You must be 18 or over and not already married in any other country. You must provide official evidence to support your application, such as birth certificates, passports, divorce evidence and so on. You must give a minimum of one month's notice to your celebrant by way of a Notice of Intended Marriage. This can be done by email or airmail.

You can be male, female or of indeterminate gender or unspecified gender. You may marry a partner of the opposite sex or the same sex as your own.

Stephanie and David share a kiss as newlyweds

Stephanie flew in from
Ottawa and David flew
in from Paris to marry
each other in the
Heart Garden in
Canberra, Australia.

You will probably want a fairly simple wedding ceremony, especially if your English is not strong. If you don't know enough English to understand the marriage process and ceremony, as your celebrant, an interpreter must attend your wedding. (They don't have to be a professional interpreter.)

An interpreter's Certificate must be sent to the Registrar by your celebrant for the registration of your marriage.

Here's a page of information about the Simple (but still) Special Service that I provide. My fee is 600AUD.

Rosanna flew from Italy with Fabrizio to marry in the Heart Garden

Rosanna from
Sardinia, Italy,
arrived single and
flew home from the
Heart Garden, married
to Fabrizio.
(What a magic garden!)

(If your marriage plan changes, a refund of $350 may apply)

The service I'll give you is beautifully simple and simply beautiful. Even though the ceremony is short and sweet, and mostly comprises the legal obligations of the Australian Marriage Act, there are several opportunities to personalise it. I will help you with this.

I can also help you find an interpreter and witnesses.

If I am your celebrant, you will take home with you, your wedding ceremony, printed in the font of your choice and your personal Marriage Certificate (also in the font of your choice). I will also advise you about purchasing a certificate online from the Registrar's Office, once your marriage has been registered in Australia. It can be sent to your overseas address.

Please use the email contact form to let me know your plan. I'd love to help your dream of getting married in Australia become a wonderful and memorable reality.

Michele the Celebrant
3 July 2017

Let's make contact!

You're getting married . . .

How wonderful!

My congratulations to you both.

Will I be the celebrant who’ll have the privilege and pleasure of officiating at your wedding?

In these YouTube videos, you can see how I look and hear how I sound, and I believe that my personal style comes across in my blog posts. In my profile page, you'll find an audio introduction.

I am a very experienced celebrant. Flexible, friendly and efficient, that's me! Click on '12 Good Reasons' and you'll see more details about me and what I offer you.

Please feel free to phone or email me with any questions you may have. You are most welcome to phone for a chat about your wedding plans 0406 376 375 any day between 9am and 9pm.

You can email by clicking a link in any post, or by filling in this contact form. I'll respond quickly, especially on a week day (or night, until about 11pm). I'll send you lots of information about the process of getting married.

If you'd like a short simple (but still special) wedding, this is now my specialty. I've streamlined all we need to do together into a one-hour meeting. If you wish to marry ASAP, you'll still need to wait the statutory one month from the date of lodgment. I can help you lodge your Notice with me on the day you contact me. You can then marry in one month's time.

I offer you the simple service on any day, at any time, in any location, with any number of guests. There's more information here. If you'd like to marry in my beautiful Heart Garden, it would be an intimate wedding with a small number of guests. (Up to about ten adults.) Children welcome.

The Heart Garden has its own site. There's a slideshow menu so that you can see how the garden looks in the month you are planning to marry. You may also access the month-by-month slideshows on my Heart Garden Pinterest page.

Thank you so much for visiting Michele the Celebrant. I look forward to more contact with you about your happy plan.