Have you gotten engaged recently? While lost of couples can wait 12-18 months or more from the point of getting engaged, you’re here because you want to know how to get married quickly in Australia: you can’t bear the bollocks, you just want to get it didded’ and get it done. Sometimes, it’s even related to health, travel, or work.
Or maybe it’s for a VISA situation. We’re not here to judge. We’ll walk you through the quickest way to get married in Australia, with references to celebrants, add-ons and more.
What’s the quickest way to get married in Australia?
30 days is normally the quickest turnaround time to get married in Australia, because you need to submit a NOIM (notice of intent to marry) form to your local government, and the laws require that this is done one month before your planned wedding date.T
There are some tricks to make things happen quicker (see further below), but here is the quickest way to get married in Australia normally:
1. Submit a Notice of Intended Marriage application
This is number one, because a minimum of one month before you intend to marry, you need to lodge your NOIM (Notice of Intent to Marry) to your celebrant. They then use this notice to interface with the government.
You can download your Notice of Intent to Marry here.
2: Select your marriage celebrant
If you’re planning on getting married in Melbourne for example, this would mean you would either select a Wedding Celebrant if you want a specific character to your ceremony. Your other option, is to instead register it at the Victorian Marriage Registry, or with a small alternative venue such as The Altar Electric or I Do Drive Thru (see here for more amazing small wedding venues): each of these can provide you with a marriage celebrant and assist in getting you married quickly.
If you are unable to be mobile for your ceremony, ensure you query your potential celebrant on the options available for where you can get married – which include your home.
3. Pick your marriage ceremony date
Knowing that you need a minimum of one months notice, after you have worked out where you are getting married in Australia and by what celebrant, you will then ask them what their availability is like, and how soon they can marry you.
How quickly you can get married in Australia is limited by your celebrants availability. Then you book your date with them.
4. Turn up, sign stuff, get married
Your Authorised Wedding Celebrant will run you through all of the paperwork needs, as well as other requirements that you need to meet before marrying quickly (such as, you know, not being already married, and not attempting to marry your sibling).
You must also have two witnesses present, each over the age of 18: your Wedding Celebrant can be one, and your photographer can be the other.
What is the quickest way to get married in Australia?
In Australia, the quickest that you can get married through the standard process is one month from the moment that you decide you want to wear the eternal shackles of undying love to your future betrothed.
This can also be done quicker – read on.
To get married, apart from ideally needing to be in a relationship that’s withstood some of the sands of time with someone you (ideally) like, there’s really only a few moving parts that are actually happening: having a short ceremony witnessed, and signing some papers.
The rest of what we associate with “getting married” are really just shiny things that we throw on top: that to be fair, are fun and awesome, and you can also sprinkle a bit of radness on top in various ways.
How can I get married quickly in Australia in less than one month?
You can get married quickly in Australia in less than one month, by filling out a special form to expedite the process, which has specific requirements you must meet. Go here for the form.
Special circumstances where you might shorten the notice period to get married
- If you’ve made an error in giving notice to get married (see the NOIM information up above)
- If you are in the middle of legal proceedings
- Medical reasons
- Getting married around other wedding or event committments
- Employment reasons
- Travel reasons
You will still need to find an authorised marriage celebrant that is available to marry you when you wish to get married, so you should make a shortlist of celebrants to cross check availability with as soon as you can.
Oh, and pick up something radical from a wedding florist in Melbourne.
Three extra things to think about if you’re wanting to get married quickly in Australia
You’re here because you want to get married quickly, but that’s no reason to not splash a bit of the good stuff on top of it. You can still have a short, sweet and quick ceremony, while also enjoying it.
1. Hire an elopement photographer
Find a local wedding photographer to hang out with you, even if just for an hour. We regularly photograph small weddings and elopements all over Australia and it can be a beautiful opportunity to get some beautiful images of you hitting the city or whatever environment you got married in, including your home or a local park.
2. Plan something fun afterwards
If the papers are worth signing, that’s worth celebrating over a wine/ginger-beer/milkshake/insert preferred beverage here. Refer back to point #1 – this can be a beautiful moment to capture you two just hanging out. Pick a restaurant, cafe, or activity to enjoy afterwards. It doesn’t have to be big and bombastic either, it can be slow, calm and simple.
If you’re in Melbourne, you might be signing the papers at the Treasury building on Spring St, and there are plenty of options nearby:
3. Spread the love
Celebrate with your community via a facetime hookup, or reach out to Bottlebrush Films, who can arrange your elopement ceremony to be live-streamed.
And off you go.
Getting married quickly is easier done, than… said.
