Marry in Australia
Say your vows among Hunter Valley vines or on a Whitsundays beach. Tell us your date, and we check every venue for it.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Each region has its own venues, light and way of getting there.
Marrying in New South Wales means choosing between Sydney Harbour, wine country in the Hunter Valley, the cliffs of the Blue Mountains or the beaches of the North Coast. 5 venues.
Queensland weddings lean towards the water, from Gold Coast beaches to island resorts in the Whitsundays and the reef coast around Port Douglas. 4 venues.
Victoria weddings range from Melbourne's laneways and city venues to vineyards in the Yarra Valley and coastal estates on the Mornington Peninsula. 1 venue.
Western Australia pairs a relaxed coastal capital with Margaret River wine country, Rottnest Island and the far north at Broome. 2 venues.
What draws couples to Australia, place by place.
Say your vows among Hunter Valley vines, just over 2 hours from Sydney, then pour the valley's wine at dinner.
Hayman Island sits in the Whitsundays on the Great Barrier Reef, with Whitehaven Beach's silica sand a boat ride away.
Port Douglas sits between the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, so one weekend holds both.
Exchange vows above sandstone cliffs and eucalypt valleys, about 90 minutes west of Sydney.
Byron Bay pairs relaxed surf beaches with green hinterland, giving the weekend a coastal ease guests feel straight away.
Wineries, caves and surf beaches share one coastline, about 3 hours south of Perth.
Visiting couples can marry legally in Australia with no citizenship or residency requirement, and same-sex couples can marry on the same terms as everyone else.
The steps, in order:
1. Choose your celebrant: pick an authorised celebrant: a Commonwealth registered civil celebrant, a state or territory registry officer, or a registered minister of religion. 2. Complete the intended marriage notice: sign the NOIM before an Australian consular or diplomatic officer, a notary public or an authorised Commonwealth employee if overseas. In Australia, a celebrant, justice of the peace, lawyer, doctor or police officer can witness it. 3. Lodge it with your celebrant: lodge it at least 1 month and no more than 18 months before the wedding. Overseas couples can scan and email it, then show the originals later. 4. Provide your identity documents: give your celebrant evidence of date and place of birth, photo ID and, if married before, a divorce or death certificate. Foreign language documents need a NAATI accredited translation. 5. Sign the declaration and marry: shortly before the ceremony, sign a declaration that there is no legal reason you cannot marry. Then marry before your celebrant and 2 witnesses aged 18 or over, saying the vows the Marriage Act requires. 6. Register and order your certificate: sign 2 marriage certificates and a ceremonial certificate; the celebrant registers the marriage with the state registry. Order the official certificate there, with a DFAT apostille if you will use it overseas.
Choose a month that suits the region you marry in.
Peak summer and school holidays, hot, with bushfire risk in the south and wet season in the tropics.
Warm southern coast, tropical north is in the wet season with cyclone risk.
Autumn begins, settled weather in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Mild days in the south and grape harvest in many wine regions, check Easter and Anzac Day dates.
Tropical north enters the dry season, southern autumn colours in Victoria.
Dry, balmy weather in Queensland's north and Broome, cool and wet in Melbourne.
Best for northern Queensland and the Whitsundays, winter weddings by the fire in the south.
Whale season on the east and west coasts, dry and warm in the tropics.
Spring wildflowers in Western Australia, warming days across the south.
Jacarandas in Sydney and Brisbane, tropics still dry before the wet.
Late spring in the south, wet season and stinger season start in the tropical north.
Summer, Christmas and school holidays push up demand, bushfire and cyclone seasons are under way.
Flight times guests can plan around, city by city.
Places your guests will want to see before or after the celebration.
Take a ferry from Circular Quay past the Opera House sails, then lunch on the harbour.
Watch the sandstone monolith turn deep red at sunset in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Limestone stacks rise from the Southern Ocean beside Victoria's Great Ocean Road, seen from clifftop lookouts.
Walk the circuit around Dove Lake, past the old boatshed, beneath Cradle Mountain's jagged peaks in Tasmania.
Swim in the ocean pool at Bondi Beach's southern end as waves spill over its edge.
Climb to the lookout in Freycinet National Park for the curve of white sand below granite peaks.
Tell us your date, roughly how many guests and where in Australia you are drawn to. Your advisor replies in writing.
