With all the hype and romance attached to some shows on
the TV re surprise weddings I on numerous occasions have
been rung and asked if my services were available.
In fact I had one lady ring to ask if the
impending husband had to be present as he was serving an
8 year sentence in prison in the USA and could this be
done by proxy.
I told her of the legal requirements for a
wedding in Australia and also gave her a recipe for a
double choc sponge cake, no eggs, with a file.
Just imagine this scenario; one of the parties decides
to surprise the other by presenting them with a
ceremony.
Section 42(3) of the Marriage Act states that the
parties consent must not be assumed and a Notice of
Intention in writing must be signed and dated by the
celebrant and both parties to the marriage at least 1
month and 1 day before the intended ceremony.
So I can assure you that the fabulous weddings that do
take place are for real but they would be a commitment
ceremony rather than a legal and binding marriage
ceremony. I
have been the officiating celebrant at many surprise
weddings but not as a surprize to the couple, but a
surprise to the relative and friends.
It is a fabulous way of making emotions come to the fore
but a word of warning; you should be careful who you
tell as I performed one surprise wedding and the dear
old grandparents became quite distressed and upset with
the surprize and the parents were cross that they were
not told.
They were also upset that the witnesses knew before the
family and the situation ended up having undercurrents
of ‘peevishness’.
There are a lot of reasons why people chose a surprise
wedding. It
is often so that the couple can exercise control over
their big day and keep a lid on the costs.
Sometimes when a couple have been living together
for some time and have offspring it is a delicious
surprise especially when people are convinced that the
couple will never marry.
A great way of doing this is to organise it to coincide
with another celebration such as a housewarming or a
birthday. It
prepares the guest for a special occasion so that no one
arrives in their stubbies or thongs but you must
strongly reiterate the time as people are often late but
actually do make an effort to arrive on time when it is
a wedding.
To make a surprise wedding work you need to prepare, you
need to discuss in detail with your celebrant the hows,
where’s and when’s and who is going to be involved.
Finally if you are going to pull off a surprise
successfully you must have a rehearsal to make sure that
all the pieces fall into place seamlessly.
Regards,
Annie.
This weeks ZIP or ZAP
Place a disposable camera on each table for guests to
use throughout the reception.
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