Planning your wedding ceremony is another important process in planning a wedding. Whether your having a civil style ceremony or religious ceremony in a private or public location their are some questions that many of our couples ask or need advice when planning their ceremony.
Choosing your ceremony location determines the steps you will need to plan, style and complete the legal requirements in getting married in Melbourne and Australia Here are just few ideas on locations and styles:
- Church
- Winery
- Garden
- Beach
- Town Hall
- Reception Venue or Location
You also need to determine if they are a public location or private location as the process of booking determines what other steps you will need to take to secure your location for your special day.
Are you ready to plan and book your wedding ceremony?
Q1. Getting married in a public location – Do I need a Permit or Permission to get married ?
A. Yes you will need to contact the local council which the Gardens or Beach are attached to you apply for a permit to get married. Each council has a dedicated section that looks after weddings and events and when you fill out the application and submit to the council they can advise if the location is available for your date and requested time allocation.
Each council is different and determines their own charges / costs , permitted time allocations and terms and conditions associated to the permit for a wedding to be held. These may include:
- Time allocation for the permit in most cases between 2 hours and 4 hours
- Restrictions such as confetti , limitations on hire items allowed such as number of chairs, marquees etc
Please note: A council permit in most cases does not give you exclusive rights to the location to get married but permission to use the allocated location to have a wedding ceremony. For example if a family of 50 are having a family picnic in the gardens in your desired location As this is a public park it would be impossible to ask them to relocate and you will need to find another location close by. It’s a rare but it can happen. In most cases when their are only a couple or small family sitting enjoying the day the general public are happy to move on when asked nicely,
Council will issue the permit in most cases about 2 weeks to a month before the wedding date. We here at Wedding Hire Melbourne like to have a copy for our records as we are usually the first ones on site so should their been any issues we can deal with any unexpected circumstances accordingly on your behalf without you having to worry about anything.
Q2. Getting Married in a Private Location – Do I need a permit ?
No you don’t need a permit to get married a private location such as a church , winery, reception venue, private gardens. You will need to contact the wedding and event coordinator or owner of the private location to see if they host wedding ceremonies and what the process is. Most private run venues will charge a fee and this can vary from a booking fee to hire the space, ceremony packages and will have terms and conditions to follow regarding having a wedding ceremony at their location.
Q3. Is there any legal requirements in getting married in Victoria ?
A: Yes no matter whether you are having a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony their are legal requirements on getting married in Victoria which you can find all the details here that will redirect you to the Attorney Generals website which will detail the legal requirements needed to get married.
Your celebrant and priest will guide you through the legal requirements needed and documentation to be filled out. They will submit it to Births Deaths and Marriages for you.
Q4. When do I Book a Celebrant or Priest for my wedding ?
A: Early in the wedding planning process. Due to legal requirements paperwork needs to be completed and their is a legal requirement that a minimum time frame of one month So any time after this the wedding ceremony will not be legal. Also for some couples choosing a civil celebrant can take time with so many to choose from couples like to click with the celebrant knowing their day is going to be fun. For a religious ceremony in most cases the family church is an automatic choice. But in both cases to make sure you get the date and time you want book as early as possible. Popular celebrants can be booked well in advance especially for popular dates each season.
Q5. What questions should I ask my celebrant and priest?
Your celebrant and priest will guide you through the legal requirements and help fill the required documentation. Most couples have an idea of what they want in their vows whether it’s traditional religious meanings and readings for a church style wedding or legals only or personal words of love for a civil ceremony your Priest or Celebrant will guide you through this process.
The question most couples are not aware of that need to be asked if not already provided as part of the setup on the day
- Signing Table will your celebrant be providing this or will you need to provide or hire this as part of your hire requirements on the day which includes a minimum of a table and 2 x chairs
- PA system so during the ceremony guests can hear what is being said which includes speakers and microphone by the celebrant or priest. Most celebrants and priests will have this but it is best to ask
- PA System for Music. Many couples who put a playlist together with an ipod, iphone, ipad etc will need a speaker system. Check with the celebrant to see if their PA system is available to use and if not alternative arrangements will need to be made.for a speaker system.
You now have your ceremony location booked and either a celebrant or priest to officiate your ceremony to get married.
So What Next You Ask?
Time to style your ceremony and some of the most common items to do this include”
- Chairs
- Arch/Arbour or backdrop
- Carpet Runner
- Flowers
- Signing Table
Q6: Where do I get these items from to style my wedding ceremony?
A: If you having a private location some locations may provide some of these items for you such as chairs and signing table for your ceremony and anything else to make it your desired style and look you can engage a hire company , stylist and florist to help create your dream ceremony setup,
We here at Wedding Hire Melbourne offer a wide range of items for hire to help create your wedding ceremony including arches, chairs, carpet runners, signing tables and other styling items to create that perfect look. Check out our Ceremony Hire Section on our website for our full range of items for hire. You may like to choose from one of our ceremony and bar packages to make it all very simple for you.
Q7. Do I Do It My Self or Get a Company to Setup For Me?
A. This is one of the most common questions couples ask and their are a number of depending on their budget and support network that in some cases help determine which option to go for?
The main question to ask yourself do I or do I want friends or family running around setting up a ceremony for me and do I want to have a professional company do if for me and take away the stress and allow me to enjoy getting ready and spend time with my family and friends on the day and let them enjoy the day without running around for me.
Q8. What is involved for a professional company in setting up my ceremony for me?
A. We here a Wedding Hire Melbourne have done 100’s of ceremony setups from beach weddings to gardens weddings and everything else in between. The main reason couples book us we know what we are doing and we take away the stress of relying on family and friends doing this for them and allow everyone to enjoy the day.
We arrive approx 1.5 hr to 2 hours before the ceremony start time depending on the location and what needs to be setup. We like to be ready 30 mins prior to the ceremony start time as this is the time guests start to arrive including the celebrant and some of the wedding party. We are their to greet early guests especially for guests who don’t know the location and want to be early and be sure there in the right location. We always get asked is this ……. and …….. Wedding and we can confirm this.
We are also manning the ceremony location making sure that your ceremony is ready for you when you are ready to get married. We are their to provide support where needed and that may include helping the florist attaching flowers to the arch, any changes such a moving a chair to allow for a grandparent or guest in a wheel chair,,,, its all about the service we provide to help make your day run smooth as possible.
Once all the guests have arrived and we are not required we head back to our vehicle and wait for you to get married or we provide bar service for one our bar packages after the ceremony is completed. Once the ceremony is completed and drinks have been served you are free to move on to have more professional photo’s taken and or head to the reception with your guests without worrying about the hire company packing down as we are already their. We are their to clean and pack up the ceremony area and one it is respectable to do so.
Q9. We want to Do It Yourself can we do this?
A: Yes you can. WIth a DIY option you choose a range of hire items to hire. It’s a 4 Day hire process. You can pick up on a Thursday from our Factory at 1/15 Hi Tech Place Seaford as arranged and return on the Monday. This is perfect couples who not only want save on money but their location allows them to setup extra early or have a big family and friends network who can assist with the setup and packdown.
Q10. How do we go about booking Wedding Hire Melbourne to do our wedding ceremony setup ?
A. Go to our ceremony hire section or packages section and choose what you would like to for your ceremony and submit your enquiry through to us. We will then complete the quotation and email back toyou. If you are happy with our quote reply back to our email and we will book this in for you. We will then send you an invoice for deposit payment , secure your booking and reserve your items for your wedding day. We will then request further information that we have not yet received that may include:
- Copy of the Council Permit if applicable
- Confirm the Ceremony Start Time
- Details of the Ceremony Location
- Any venue contact details should we need to contact the venue directly for any reason
Once we have this information and deposit has been paid we are all set to go. You are all booked and you can now tick off your ceremony styling off the list. We will be in contact with you closer to the date of your wedding to finalise all the final details of your wedding.
But I would like to ask more questions?
No Worries We here to answer as many questions that you need as your wedding ceremony is about you and we are here to assist to make your day special and for your ceremony to run as smooth as possible
You Can and We Can…..
- Make changes to your booking we can do this for you
- Make part payments along the way yes we can accept part payment to help with budgeting and paying off your hire
- Provide a copy of our Public Liability Insurance to the necessary vendors in support of your ceremony setup
- Complete forms as needed for locations that may require further details from your hire company
- We here to answer any questions that you may feel is silly is not silly to us better to ask than assume
Ready to enquire or book click here to direct you to
Ceremony Hire Section – List of items to choose to create your custom ceremony styling
Ceremony and Bar Packages – Set Packages to make it simple and easier for you
