Rethinking Rituals: What You Think You Have to Do at a Wedding (But Don’t)
A registered celebrant, signed paperwork, two witnesses and about 170 legal words — that's it. Everything else is entirely up to you.
Let’s talk about what you ACTUALLY need to get legally married in Australia.
A registered celebrant - you're looking at one right now!
Legal paperwork completed and signed within the correct timeframes.
Two witnesses aged over 18
Approximately 170 legal words that are spoken by the celebrant and the couple.
Seriously? Yes indeed that's it.
The rest is the fun and feels and how much of that you want is entirely up to you as a couple.
Here are some common rituals we've come to associate with weddings. The truth is NONE of the items below are legal requirements:
Ring exchange - Beautiful, symbolic and lovely to do. Don't have to do it. If you want to can exchange another gift to each other, get a tattoo share an alcoholic beverage.
Hand blessing - very moving part of the ceremony. with words from the famous blessing of the hands poem such as "These are the hands that will passionately love you, an cherish you through the years, there's lots of good reasons to include it as part of your ceremony. However is it a non-negotiable - nope!
The Asking - this is the bit we see in rom-com movies where a question is posed by the celebrant to which each partner responds with 'I do'. It's a very touching part of the ceremony, but don't get hung up on it - because it's not legally required.
Giving Away - VERY traditional, a lot of dads get much pleasure in escorting their child down the aisle. It's origins have roots in a time when women were considered property. If you want to rethink this bit that's fine by me. It's your ceremony.
Personal Vows - if standing in front of a crowd scares the pants of you and the thought of declaring your love to your special person in public, just about sends you running to the hills - stop right there - we can skip the personal vows. The legal ones can't be skipped and they MUST be said to each other. We can tackle this a number of ways too, it's ok, I've got you!
The Kiss - as above if you are not comfortable with this, we can leave it out, or you can hi-five instead - it's all fine by me.
So don't stress, if all the bells and whistles are not your thing or you are just doing them to keep the peace, remember a lot of the things are NOT required.
Together let's plan a love story that lasts a lifetime.
Till next time - happy wedding planning!
