What's the Deal with "Solemnise" your Marriage?

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What does the word solemnise mean??

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It's not just about the ceremony! In Australia, the term "solemnising a marriage" refers to the legal and formal ceremony that binds two individuals in marriage, together with all the legal paperwork that is part of the process:

• Notice of Intended Marriage form which must be given to the celebrant at least one month before the wedding. This form requires proof of identity and proof of how any previous marriage ended
• The Declaration of No Legal Impediment to Marriage, which must be signed before the marriage can take place, and close to the date of the wedding
• The three Marriage Certificates, which must be signed immediately after the ceremony
  

The legal requirements of the ceremony can only be performed by an authorised marriage celebrant who can be a registered minister of religion, a civil marriage celebrant, or a state/territory official authorised to solemnise marriages. But other people can participate, to the extent of leading all the non-legal parts of the ceremony, which, in practice, means almost the entire ceremony.

Terminology and titles

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Anyone can call themselves a celebrant and hang their shingle out to perform non-legal ceremonies, including weddings. But in Australia it is a criminal offence to pretend you are able to legally marry couples if you aren't officially authorised to do so.

Unlike Ireland, where "Solemniser" is the term used, very sensibly, to indicate civil celebrants authorised to marry people, in Australia we use the term "Marriage Celebrant", of which there are three types!

• Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrants who are independent overseen by the Attorney General's Department in Canberra and provide their services as a Sole Trader.
• Commonwealth Registered Religious Marriage Celebrants who  are also overseen by the Attorney General's Department in Canberra, also operate as independent small business owners, but are legally allowed to discriminate on the grounds of their own personal beliefs. Typically, this means they refuse to solemnise the marriages of couples whose lifestyle they don't approve of
• Commonwealth Registered Marriage Celebrants who work as state government employees and solemnise marriages in registry offices and court houses.

When it comes to clergy, not all clergy are licensed to solemnise marriages. Only those nominated by their religion are. They too are allowed to discriminate on belief grounds as dictated by their religion.

Do those who solemnise civil marriages, marry you?

Technically, no. Because it is your consent to your marriage and your statement, in the presence of witnesses, that creates the marriage.

So, to be nit-picking, while I can and do solemnise marriages, I, along with every other civil celebrant, do not marry you, because I don't create your marriage, you do.

And that's why the pronouncement or declaration that you are married, is not a legal requirement. But it is a lovely tradition that everyone looks forward to as the great big exclamation mark after you've said your vows.

How to check whether a celebrant is authorised to solemnise marriages

The Attorney General maintains two registers

• Commonwealth registered celebrants
• Ministers of Religion of a recognised denomination

Thanks for reading!