Couples from around the world are welcome to marry in Victoria, Australia, and many international visitors choose Melbourne for their wedding ceremony.
Melbourne Marriage Registry – Victoria regularly assists overseas couples who wish to organise a simple, fully legal registry-style wedding in Melbourne, with ceremony options starting from under $300.
Before you can legally marry in Australia you must complete and lodge a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) with an authorised marriage celebrant.
If you are currently overseas there are specific witnessing requirements for completing this form. The NOIM can be downloaded from this website or obtained through an Australian Embassy, High Commission or the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. When completing the form you must also provide identification documents, usually your passport or birth certificate and, if either partner has previously been married, evidence of how that marriage ended such as a divorce certificate or death certificate. If documents are not written in English they must be translated by an accredited translator (www.naati.com.au).
Couples may lodge their NOIM while still overseas by having their identity documents sighted and the form witnessed by an authorised person such as an Australian Consulate or Embassy official, a Notary Public or a local police officer. Once completed, the documents may be emailed to marriage@getmarriednow.com.au or posted to Melbourne Private Marriage Registry, P O Box 680, South Yarra VIC 3141, Australia. If the NOIM is submitted by email you must bring the original document with you to Australia so the celebrant can sight it before the ceremony takes place. Australian law requires the NOIM to be lodged at least one month before the wedding and it remains valid for 18 months.
On the day of your ceremony you will receive a commemorative Party Marriage Certificate, however the official government Marriage Certificate must be ordered separately from the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you would like assistance organising your wedding in Melbourne, please contact our team on +61 (03) 9820 1119 or +61 424 778 800 and we will happily guide you through the process.