The Legal Side of Getting Married - Sunshine Coast Celebrant Tips
A marriage celebrant doesn’t just ‘get you married’, they are your wedding day storyteller - part legal expert, part cheerleader, and the person who officially makes your “I do” real.
Getting Married in Australia - The Legal Stuff Made Simple
If you’re newly engaged, chances are your head’s already spinning with Pinterest boards and venue inspo. But before you get too swept up in the details, there’s one big question: How do you actually get married in Australia?
According to Sunshine Coast marriage celebrant Stacey Morris, there’s one key form every couple needs to complete - the Notice of Intended Marriage, or NOIM.
“The Notice of Intended Marriage form needs to be completed and signed with your chosen celebrant one month prior to your wedding day.”
– Stacey Morris, Sunshine Coast Marriage Celebrant
To fill it out, you’ll need your original birth certificates and driver’s licences. Stacey says you can grab a copy from your celebrant or download it directly from the Attorney General’s website.
So, before you start worrying about flowers and playlists, tick off this legal must-do - it’ll make everything else a breeze.
Why You Should Book Your Vendors Early
One of Stacey’s biggest pieces of advice for newly engaged couples? Don’t wait!
“As soon as you’re engaged, start searching for wedding vendors you connect with. The good ones book up quickly - especially here on the Sunshine Coast!”
She’s not kidding - Stacey’s already taking bookings into next year and even 2027. Locking in your celebrant early not only secures your date, but also gives you time to work together on crafting a personal ceremony that reflects your story.
That’s the beauty of having an experienced celebrant: they help you tick off the legal boxes and bring heart and personality to your vows.
Making Your Ceremony Personal
After 18 years and hundreds of weddings, Stacey knows how to create ceremonies that feel warm, joyful, and uniquely “you.”
She’s seen it all - including a bilingual ceremony with a German translator at Secrets on the Lake, one of my all-time favourite venues. Stacey’s calm, friendly energy makes every couple feel at ease (even if you’re not big on public speaking!).
She believes every ceremony should celebrate who you are as a couple - your story, your humour, and your quirks - because that’s what makes the day truly memorable.
Book Your Celebrant Early (and Have Your Paperwork Ready!)
One of the most important steps in making your wedding official is booking your celebrant early - ideally as soon as you’ve chosen your date. This ensures your Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) form can be lodged at least one month before your wedding day, which is a legal requirement in Australia.
Bonus tip: have your original birth certificate and current driver’s licence ready when you meet your celebrant. These documents are used as photo ID and proof of your birth date, birthplace, and marital status - all essential for completing your NOIM correctly. Getting organised early not only keeps things stress-free but also means your celebrant can guide you smoothly through the process without any last-minute paperwork panic!
Listen to the Full Episode
I loved chatting with Stacey - she’s fun, down-to-earth, and so full of knowledge. My biggest takeaway? Get your legalities sorted early, then enjoy the creative side of planning. You can listen to the full episode featuring Stacey Morris, Sunshine Coast Marriage Celebrant, right here:
👉 Pop the Question – Legal Wedding Tips You Need with Stacey Morris
Planning Your Sunshine Coast Wedding?
Hey, I’m Lou O’Brien - long-time local and wedding photographer behind Pop the Question! I’ve photographed hundreds of beautiful Sunshine Coast weddings and love helping couples plan their dream day with ease.
If you’re still searching for the perfect photographer to capture all the love, laughter, and in-between moments, I’d love to chat!
📷You can view my packages here - Wedding Photography Packages
🎧 Want more wedding wisdom? See all Pop the Question episodes here
📘 Download my FREE Sunshine Coast Wedding Planning Guide - it’s full of local tips and insider advice to help you plan with confidence.
And a big thanks to my guest, marriage celebrant Stacey Morris, for joining me and sharing her expert advice on how to get legally married in Australia. You can find her here:
💻 Stacey Morris Celebrant
📸 Instagram: @sunny_coast_celebrant
💬 Facebook: Stacey Morris Celebrant
Episode Transcript
Lou (00:00.62)
Hi, welcome to the very first episode of Pop the Question podcast brought to you by Sunshine Coast Wedding Collective and hosted by me, Lou O'Brien, Sunshine Coast Wedding Photographer and your guide to all things I do. Each episode, we are going to be talking to a different wedding vendor here on the Sunshine Coast to help all those newly engaged couples out there plan their wedding. So this is our very second episode and Kiki is here again to say hi.
And today on our episode, we have the beautiful Stacey Morris. So Stacey is a wedding celebrant and Stacey and I met a few years ago when we did our first wedding together up at Secrets on the Lake, which I absolutely loved. mean, it's a beautiful venue. But when I met Stacey, her ceremonies are just so beautiful. They're warm and bubbly. She just feels like a friend who's there for you on your ceremony day. But one thing that she did, which blew my mind is she had a
Stacey (00:30.734)
you
Lou (01:00.372)
bilingual ceremony with a German translator, which I thought was incredible. It was so much fun. Anyway, I would like to say hi to Stacey and thank you so much for joining me for our second episode. Yes, we've got to have our dogs with us, don't we?
Stacey (01:15.106)
Hey Lou, thanks so much for inviting me! Me and Tilly with a ball in her mouth. my god, I have our dogs. Dog lovers all around.
Lou (01:27.059)
Yeah, absolutely. Now, Stacey, for people that don't know you, just tell us a little bit about yourself and about your business.
Stacey (01:36.12)
Sure, well, I'm Stacey obviously. I am a marriage celebrant, so I marry couples here in Australia. And I've been a celebrant now for 18 years. I just celebrated my 18th Cellie anniversary. And I started off in Perth and then moved over here to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and have been marrying couples ever since. Love my job.
Lou (01:48.138)
Yes.
Lou (01:57.93)
That's great. Wow. 18 years. Congratulations. That's pretty cool.
Stacey (02:01.833)
It's nuts. Absolutely nuts.
Lou (02:06.09)
For our Pop the Question podcast, what I like to do is to ask our vendor question to help our newly engaged couples. So a very important question is, How do you get married in Australia?
Stacey (02:21.195)
Wow, there's a delightful form called the Notice of Intended Marriage form. And that needs to be completed by all couples getting married in Australia with their chosen celebrant. And that needs to be filled out and completed and signed with their chosen celebrant one month prior to their wedding date. And to also complete that form, they need their original birth certificates and their driver's licenses.
Lou (02:44.445)
Okay, and so I've heard at weddings before that, what were you calling it? The notice of intention to marry. Sometimes it's called something else like a, what is it? I always get it wrong, NOM?
Stacey (02:58.57)
You can call it the NOIM, the acronym is NOIM, so N-O-I-M, but Notice of Intended Marriage Form. And your celebrant can give you that copy of the form, or couples can just jump online and literally download it from the Attorney General's website.
Lou (03:16.072)
Okay, awesome. So I would probably just ask my celebrant to help me with that because that would just make it a lot easier, I think. Yeah, awesome. Okay, so the second part of our podcast is the fun part. This is Pop the question So with my trusty little camera here, I have some mystery wedding thing question. And I'm gonna ask Stacey a question, which she has no idea what it is. Neither do I.
and let's see what her answer is. So I'll just put this back up there. Perfect. Okay.
Stacey (03:52.508)
is the cutest Lou, where did you get the camera from?
Lou (03:55.728)
It's a money box.
Of course, I have everything camera things, of course. Okay, here we go. a wedding song that always makes you smile.
Stacey (04:09.093)
that's easy. At the moment, it's gotta be Alex Warren's Ordinary. That is just, yeah, there's something about that song. I don't think it will ever go out of fashion. There's something about that song. And I think it's because he wrote it actually for his wife on their wedding day. Yeah.
Lou (04:13.388)
Ugh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lou (04:20.38)
No.
Yes, yeah. my gosh, I get goosebumps with that one too because it just is so beautiful. He wrote it with his wife and if I follow them on TikTok and I just love like their relationship with each other and everything. So it just kind of hits a little bit more I think when you know that it was actually written with so much love. So, great answer. I love that. Cool. Okay, so the next part of our podcast before we wrap everything up.
Stacey (04:32.189)
Yeah. Yeah!
Lou (04:52.481)
is I would love for you to give our couples a special tip to help them plan their wedding. So what's something that you could tell them to do today or this week to help make their planning journey easier?
Stacey (05:07.743)
think first and foremost Lou is to get in quick with your chosen vendors, your wedding vendors. So they need to as soon as they're engaged start searching and finding vendors that they are aligned with and that suit their wedding day vibe. I think that's really important and when it comes to celebrants you want to get in quick as well with them so that they can help you get the legalities out of the way and help you create that personal ceremony.
Lou (05:22.522)
Hey.
Lou (05:30.2)
Yes.
Stacey (05:33.002)
So yeah, getting super quick with your vendors. They book up pretty quickly here on the Sunny Coast So I'm taking bookings for November next year, for instance, and a couple of inquiries for 2027 have come through, which is crazy. I know, it's mental. So get in quick with those vendors, especially if celebrate. Get the legalities out of the way, write your personal ceremony, and yeah, get in quick. Be organised.
Lou (05:38.883)
Yeah.
Lou (05:42.852)
Yeah.
Oh, Okay. Wow. Yeah.
Lou (05:56.194)
Yeah.
Lou (06:00.814)
Sounds good. And then you can kind of do all the fun stuff later. All the fun little bits. Yep. Perfect. Okay. Well, Stacey, thank you so much for joining us today. So for people who would like to find you, could you tell me where they can find you on the social?
Stacey (06:04.115)
Yeah, exactly.
Stacey (06:16.667)
Easy done. Instagram is sunny_coast_celebrant with an underscore in between each word. So nice and simple. And on TikTok, it's just sunshine coast celebrant.
Lou (06:26.372)
Okay, fantastic. And thank you everyone for joining us today for Pop the Question. I will have all the show notes on my website, which is imagesbylouobrien.com/pop_the_question forward slash pop the question. You'll be able to find Stacey's details there and all other information to help you plan your wedding. So thanks again, Stacey. I really enjoyed talking to you and I'll see you soon.
Stacey (06:50.937)
so much, Lou. Thanks for inviting me.
Lou (06:52.291)
No worries. Bye!
Stacey (06:55.25)
Goodbye!
Podcast link - Legal Wedding Tips You Need with Stacey Morris
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