How to avoid your Official Certificate of Marriage not ‘turning up’

On the day of the wedding, your Celebrant (hopefully ME) will provide:

2 x Official Certificates of Marriage (white)

1 x Certificate of Marriage (yellow)

All 3 documents must be signed by both parties to the marriage, their 2 witnesses and me.

The yellow certificate is what you keep on the day, but it is not your official Certificate of Marriage. It is a confirmation that the Ceremony of Marriage took place.

Your Official Certificate of Marriage is applied for, by me, your friendly celebrant, and arrives to you a week or so after the ceremony by Registered Post requiring a signature upon delivery.

Worth Knowing:

A common occurrence is that delivery is attempted, no one is home to sign for it, and you are unaware that the certificate is awaiting collection from your local postal office.

If no one collects the document after just a couple of days, Australia Post return it to the Registry. Asking Registry to resend it causes considerable delay.

To avoid this, nominate which person it is to be addressed to, and ensure this person has registered with Australia Post to receive any notifications.

The certificates are only available from the Marriage Celebrant's Section of the Attorney General's website. Your Celebrant pays for the ability to produce them and send them back to the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. I cover this cost in my fee.

More Questions? Happy to answer them. email me now sb@sandiebarnescelebrant.com.au