Ceremonies & fees

Spring and autumn Saturdays go 9 to 12 months out, so the sooner the better. A weekday elopement can often happen a few weeks out, as long as your notice reaches me at least one month before.

Yes, please. Coffee’s on me in Brunswick, or we can talk on a video call if you’re further away. There’s no obligation either way: it’s a chance to see whether we click, and to ask me anything about the day or the paperwork.

Yes, as long as I’m free on the new one. Your $300 deposit isn’t refundable, but I’ll carry it across to a new date once. And if I ever had to cancel on you, you’d get every dollar back.

Your Notice of Intended Marriage, at least a month ahead. A birth certificate or passport, photo ID, and if you’ve been married before, the divorce order or death certificate. Scans are fine to start; I see the originals before the day.

Yes, two, and both need to be 18 or over. Any friend or family member can do it. Eloping on your own? I can bring two witnesses for you at no extra cost; just tell me early.

Elopements run 10 to 15 minutes, small weddings 15 to 20 and weddings 25 to 35. Long enough to mean something, short enough that nobody checks the time. Readings, music or a ritual? I’ll fit them in and tell you how long they add.

For a wedding, yes: it’s included within 40 km of Brunswick, usually a day or two before. A small wedding can have one for $150, and an elopement doesn’t need one: we walk it through on the spot.

Please do. The legal words are short and set, so everything around them is yours. I’ll send you a guide, read your drafts if you’d like a second pair of eyes, and print them on cards for the day.

Yes, and they’re often the best bit. A reading, the rings, a promise of their own or a hand on the signing table: I’ll write their part to suit their age and nerves, and help them practise beforehand.

We pick a wet weather spot together when we plan: a verandah, a shed, under the big gum. I bring two big clear umbrellas for the signing, and we make the call together two hours before. Some of my favourite ceremonies have had rain in them.

All over Victoria. Within 40 km of Brunswick is included, and further out I quote it in writing before you book: about $80 to the Yarra Valley, or $120 to the far end of the Mornington Peninsula. The Great Ocean Road, the Grampians and the High Country include a night’s stay.

A celebrant I trust steps in with your script, and the law lets me pass your notice to them, so your date still stands. It’s never come to that, but you’ll know their name well before the day.

With the legal marriage certificate from BDM Victoria, not the keepsake one we sign on the day. I can order it for you when I lodge your paperwork: $59.10 plus $10.60 express post (BDM’s fees as at November 2026). Then give a copy to your bank and the other places that hold your name.

No, and that’s the fun of it. You’re already married, so there’s no notice, nothing to lodge and no set words. Your renewal certificate is a keepsake, not a legal document.