Your authorised marriage celebrant will then give you a ceremonial certificate of marriage on the day. This is known as a Commonwealth ‘Party Certificate’.
To explain: This commemorative Party Certificate is a beautiful memento of the day. It is not the final processed official marriage certificate which you can obtain after you get married. Even though the party certificate is required to have its unique serial number (found on the back) recorded by your authorised celebrant into the Government digital portal, and it is signed by all relevant parties who participated in the legal marriage on the day.
If you lose or misplace this certificate after the marriage your celebrant is not permitted to issue another one.
Your celebrant must then (within 14 days of the marriage) submit your marriage paperwork to the registry of births, deaths and marriages in the state or territory you got married in.
If you would like to obtain a copy of your final processed marriage certificate, you should apply for a copy of your official marriage certificate from the registry.
You can request that your celebrant order this on your behalf, currently at a cost of $64.40 for local express post delivery to your chosen address. And this cost is higher if you wish to have it posted internationally. Check with your celebrant for current costings.
You will need this final processed official marriage certificate if you wish to change your name after you get married, or to prove that you are married for any legal purpose.
If you choose to get married in Australia, you can take the surname of your partner, wife or husband, or add their surname to yours, without registering a name change.
You can use your official Commonwealth issued marriage certificate to prove your new name to all the relevant authorities and utilities.
You can only use your Commonwealth issued marriage certificate for your name change and cannot use the party certificate for that purpose.
Alternatively – if you live in Australia, but choose to get married overseas, you cannot change your name after marriage without going through a process of an official name change via the registry of births, deaths and marriages in the state or territory you live in.
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