WELCOME:
Celebrant:
My name is Jeff Oates and I am duly authorised by Australian law to solemnize marriages according to the law. I am very pleased to officiate here today and on behalf of ______________ and ____________ I would like to welcome you all and ask that you join with us as we unite these two people in marriage.
ADDRESS:
Celebrant:
______________ and ______________ we are gathered to unite the two of you in marriage, which is an institution ordained by the state and made honourable by the faithful keeping of good men and women throughout all ages.
Before you are joined in marriage, in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter, and is not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly.
Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a women to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
THE ASKING:
The Celebrant says to the groom:
Do you, ____________, take ____________ to be your wife, to love, comfort, and cherish from this day forth?
Groom:
Yes.
The Celebrant says to the bride:
Do you, ____________, take ____________ to be your husband, to love, comfort, and cherish from this day forth?
Bride:
Yes.
VOWS:
Groom:
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I __________ take you __________ to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death shall part us. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
Bride:
I call upon the persons here present to witness that I __________ take you __________ to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death shall part us. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
THE RING CEREMONY:
Celebrant to the groom:
Place the ring on ___________ finger and repeat after me:
____________, with this ring I thee wed. Take it and wear it as a sign of my love and as a symbol of all we share.
Celebrant to the bride:
Place the ring on ___________ finger and repeat after me:
____________, with this ring I thee wed. Take it and wear it as a sign of my love and as a symbol of all we share.
Celebrant:
Having thus pledged yourselves each to the other, I do now, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Australian law, pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss your bride
SIGNING OF REGISTER:
The Celebrant invites the bride and groom with the bridal party and the parents to retire to sign the register and certificates.
PRESENTATION OF THE NEWLY MARRIED COUPLE:
Celebrant:
Ladies and gentlemen please be up-standing and welcome for the first time Mr and Mrs _____________________.