Marriage License
Applying for your marriage license in New Zealand is really straight forward. You do it online on the NZ government website here. It takes up to 5 working days. Once it is issued it is valid for 3 months. Although you might want to be super organised, don’t apply any earlier than 3 months before your wedding or it will be expired by the time your day comes round.
For ceremonies with Siobhain the Celebrant, select personalised ceremony and you’ll find my name.
A few hot tips….
- Check the spelling of your info as that’s what’s going to be in the history records
- Opt to have it emailed to you. Check it over and then send the 3 x attachments onto me. I will bring them on the day.
- Location – no worries if you don’t have a back up. If you are eloping and things change on the day, I make any updates when I submit your papers.
HOT HOT TIP…
- Order your marriage certificate too. This means that once your marriage is registered by me on the day, you’ll receive your official certificate in the post in aout 6 – 8 weeks after your wedding. Often it’s not until you need it for proof of something urgently that you realise you don’t have one, and then I get an email to say they haven’t received it and I have a mini heart attack, but it’s because they didn’t order their certificate at the time of applying for their license. Phew!
Other legal bits and bobs:
- I will check your IDs in the lead up to match against your license
- You need to say vows in your ceremony
- You need 2 x witnesses on the day to sign your papers
- We need to say your full legal names during your ceremony
I will make sure all of the legal elements are covered off. For now, apply for your license, order your cert and forward your 3 x attachments to me via email!
Now it all gets real!
Relationship Questionnaire
This is for both of you to fill out individually. This is all the goodness I use to write your ceremony from. Don’t be shy and write for as long as you want. The more information I have here, the better and more personalised I can make your ceremony. On the link below, you need to do it in one sitting as it doesn’t save your information. If you would prefer to do it over more time, you can download this word doc, type your answers in and email it to me too.
This is not a quiz, there no right or wrong answers. If you don’t want anything to be mentioned your ceremony, but are including it for context – just outline that. Carve out some time and get it done and often couples enjoy the bit of reflection too!
Doing this questionnaire will set you up nicely for writing your vows too if you are choosing to do that.
Vows
If you want to write personal vows, here is a structure I recommend. Think of them like a story or letter with a beginning, middle and end.
Ceremony Structure
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