Legals-only & registry-style ceremonies · Tweed, Byron & Gold Coast
Legals-only & registry-style ceremonies
A legals only or registry style wedding ceremony with Felicity Best, a registered marriage celebrant in Murwillumbah, is $650 Monday to Thursday and $750 Friday to Sunday. It runs ten to fifteen minutes and covers the words the law requires, your paperwork lodged and a commemorative certificate, with up to ten guests welcome. Six weeks is usually enough notice, and your Notice of Intended Marriage still has to be lodged one calendar month before the day.
What's included
One price, and this is what is in it.
Short on purpose. What it leaves out is under the list.
- Ten to fifteen minutes with up to ten guests
- The legal ceremony
- The Notice of Intended Marriage
- Lodgement of your legal paperwork
- A commemorative certificate
No PA and no personalised ceremony script.
What it costs
| What you get | Mon–Thu | Fri–Sun |
|---|---|---|
| Legals-only ceremony Ten to fifteen minutes with up to ten guests, the legal ceremony, the Notice of Intended Marriage, lodgement of your legal paperwork, a commemorative certificate. No PA and no personalised ceremony script. | $650 | $750 |
Australian dollars, no GST. Travel within 80 km or an hour and a half of Murwillumbah is included, whichever gets you there; beyond both it is $1 per kilometre, round trip. Booking fee $250, which comes off the total. Witnesses supplied at $60 each. Council permits for beach and park ceremonies are booked and paid for directly with the council, and are not included.
Work out your total: the day, the place and witnesses, itemised.
How it works
Three steps, from start to “I do”.
Allow about six weeks for a weekend date in season. Midweek and winter dates are often free at much shorter notice; the one fixed limit is the law, which needs the Notice of Intended Marriage lodged at least one calendar month before the ceremony.
- 1
Check the date
Send the date, or just the season, and where. I will tell you whether it is free and exactly what it costs, because every price is already on this site.
- 2
Meet, and lodge the notice
A first conversation, in person or on a call. You sign the Notice of Intended Marriage then or soon after, witnessed by me in person or by video link where the requirements for witnessing it that way are met. It has to reach me at least one calendar month before the day, and about six weeks is the sensible notice for a weekend date in season.
- 3
The day
I'll arrive well before your guests and have a word beforehand with your photographer, your venue and anyone else working to the same run sheet. You'll leave with your commemorative certificate, signed on the day.
I'll lodge your marriage paperwork with the relevant registry within fourteen days of your wedding. If you would like an official marriage certificate, you can order and pay for one directly from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in the state or territory where you were married. It is an additional cost and is not included in my ceremony fee.
What you need
- Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM), lodged at least one calendar month before your wedding
- Birth certificate or passport for each of you
- Photo ID
- If either of you has been married before, evidence of how that marriage ended, such as a divorce certificate or the former spouse's death certificate
- Two witnesses aged 18 or over
The NOIM, explained: the form, the timing and the documents in full.
How a registry office wedding compares
A legals only ceremony exists because the registry office is not a realistic option for most people here. New South Wales holds its registry ceremonies in Sydney only, at Pyrmont, which is a nine hour drive or a flight from the Tweed, at $482 on a weekday and $597 on a Saturday. Queensland's nearest is Brisbane at $410.60, weekdays only for the legal only service, four people, no guests, and booked out for the rest of the year.
I do the same paperwork with up to ten guests, at a place and on a day you choose, and you do not travel for it. The registry's fee is lower on paper. Add the drive to Sydney or Brisbane, a night away and a weekday off work, and it is not.
Questions
Questions people ask
- What is a legals-only wedding?
- The shortest lawful ceremony there is. I say the legal statement, you each say one required line, everyone signs, and it is done inside ten to fifteen minutes. There is no processional, no readings and no custom script. Couples use it before a party, before travelling, or because the paperwork is the only part they wanted.
- Is a legals-only ceremony cheaper than the registry office?
- Not on the fee alone. The NSW registry charges $482 on a weekday and $597 on a Saturday, in Sydney only, a nine hour drive from the Tweed. Queensland charges $410.60 weekday and $534 Saturday in Brisbane, weekdays only for legals. I charge $650 weekday and $750 Friday to Sunday, where you choose, with ten guests and no trip.
- How many guests can come to a legals-only ceremony?
- Up to ten, plus your two witnesses. That is more than either registry allows: Queensland's legal only service is limited to four people with no guests at all, runs on weekdays only, and is booked out for the rest of the year.
- Do we still need a Notice of Intended Marriage?
- Yes. The one month notice period applies to every marriage in Australia however short the ceremony is. The form comes to me rather than to the registry, and I have to have it signed and in hand at least one calendar month, and no more than eighteen months, before the day.
- Can we have a ceremony with family later?
- Yes. Plenty of couples do the legals quietly and hold a ceremony for family months or years later. That second event is a commitment ceremony or a vow renewal rather than a marriage, because you are already married by then, so I price it at $650 rather than as a wedding.
Get in touch
Check my date
Send the date, or the season, and where for legals-only & registry-style ceremonies. I will tell you whether it is free and exactly what it costs. No obligation.
Most days, 9am to 7pm.